Noctua completes €15 million first close for Austrian deeptech fund
The pre-seed investor has begun backing research spin-offs and plans to make up to ten investments a year.
Noctua Science Ventures has completed a €15 million first close and started investing in Austrian deeptech spin-offs. The fund focuses on research-based businesses seeking pre-seed financing, with ERSTE Group, Verbund and Allocator One among its first-close investors.
The fund says it plans up to ten investments annually and can provide as much as €500,000 to each spin-off, acting as lead investor in its initial financing round. It has already made several investments, including two publicly disclosed deals: Vienna’s Turn-Motion and Graz’s DiLt Analytics.
Established by Speedinvest and TU Wien as a joint venture, Noctua has broadened ownership of its operating company. Alongside TU Wien, shareholders now include TU Graz, Montanuniversität Leoben, the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (“BOKU”) and Johannes Kepler University Linz.
Noctua’s investment remit also covers spin-offs from institutions that are not shareholders. It does not restrict investments to particular technologies, and its selection criteria include scalability, market size and defensibility. The fund says its approach includes early work on intellectual property and technology transfer, as well as pairing scientist-founders with experienced entrepreneurs.
Other capital providers include AWS (Austria Wirtschaftsservice), VERBUND X Ventures and deeptech entrepreneurs. Noctua plans to accept additional investors selectively over the coming months.
