Lakestar
VC Fund
Zürich, Switzerland
Lakestar is a venture capital firm investing in technology companies led by exceptional entrepreneurs. Early investments included Skype, Spotify, Facebook, and Airbnb. Since raising the first fund in 2013, Lakestar manages an aggregated volume of over EUR 1bn across three early-stage funds, and more recently a growth fund. The company has expandedand broadened its portfolio and holds investments in the likes of Opendoor, Oscar, GetYourGuide, Glovo, Sender, Eigen, Five, Revolut, and Hometogo to name a few. Lakestar has a presence in Berlin, Zurich, and London.Lakestar helps companies to identify new markets and expand into them rapidly, with a focus on the US and Europe. The team advises and supports portfolio companies in business development, recruitment, technology, and marketing. The investments range from early-stage companies to those in their growth stage.
- Total investments:
- 248
- Last investment:
- Lead investor:
- 35%
- Fund size:
- $300M
- Last fund:
Last updated:
For AI agents: llms.txt
Industries Lakestar invests in
Stages Lakestar invests in
Countries Lakestar invests in
Round sizes
Contacts
| Name | Phone | Socials | |
|---|---|---|---|
| See all 10 contacts → | |||
Round size
- Seed
- $2.2M–$19M
- Series A
- $6.7M–$65M
- Series B
- $16M–$91M
Investment Focus
Industry
- Software 37 (15%)
- Artificial Intelligence 24 (10%)
- FinTech 21 (8%)
- Financial Services 21 (8%)
- Information Technology 19 (8%)
Stage
- Seed 50 (20%)
- Series A 39 (16%)
- Series B 33 (13%)
- Funding Round 23 (9%)
- Series C 13 (5%)
Country
- Germany 34 (14%)
- United States 33 (13%)
- United Kingdom 29 (12%)
- France 7 (3%)
- Switzerland 7 (3%)
Team
| Name | Title | Investments | Links | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mathias Haniel
Partner
|
Partner | Total investments: 1 | Find email | |
Mika Salmi
Managing Partner
|
Managing Partner | Total investments: 15 | Find email | |
Oliver Heimes
Partner
|
Partner | Total investments: 21 | Find email | |
Stephen Nundy
Partner & Chief Technology Officer
|
Partner & Chief Technology Officer | Total investments: 13 | Find email | |
Steven Jacobs
Partner & Chief Product Officer
|
Partner & Chief Product Officer | Total investments: 7 | Find email | |
| See all 10 team members → | ||||
Investments
| Company | Description | Round | Links |
|---|---|---|---|
Exein
|
Exein develops embedded cybersecurity solutions designed to secure Internet of Things (IoT) and connected devices. The company provides a platform that integrates security directly into the firmware of embedded systems, enabling real-time threat detection, monitoring, and response. Exein’s technology focuses on runtime protection and behavioranalysis at the edge, helping manufacturers secure devices without requiring major hardware changes or external software agents. Its solution is compatible with widely used real-time operating systems (RTOS) and Linux-based environments, allowing for flexible integration across different devices. The company also offers tools for vulnerability assessment and threat intelligence tailored for firmware-level defense. Exein supports developers with APIs and SDKs to incorporate security features during the product development phase. Through its platform, the company addresses growing security risks in critical sectors such as automotive, industrial automation, and consumer electronics. | $270M / Venture - Series Unknown / Sep 15, 2026 | |
Twin1 AI
|
Twin1 is a privacy-first platform that gives every professional an AI-powered digital twin to scale their expertise. | $20M / Seed / Aug 20, 2026 | |
Mindgard
|
Mindgard is the leading provider of AI Red Teaming solutions. | $30M / Series A / Aug 12, 2026 | |
Cambridge Aerospace
|
Cambridge Aerospace is a defence tech startup that provides defense engineering and manufacturing services. | $300M / Series C / Aug 10, 2026 | |
Agon
|
Agon wants to help customers prepare for current military scenarios, such as allowing counter-drone systems to practice reactions to virtual drone swarms. | $23M / Seed / Jul 29, 2026 | |
Dominion Dynamics
|
Dominion Dynamics is an advanced technology firm building a dual-use, AI-driven Arctic sensing network designed for both military and civilian applications, focusing on seamless multi-domain coordination and persistent regional surveillance. | $97.6M / Series A / Jun 30, 2026 | |
SE3 Labs
|
SE3 Labs creates Spatial AI tools to improve real-time awareness in defense, construction, and smart systems. | $6.3M / Seed / Jun 26, 2026 | |
Timefold
|
Timefold is a company that provides PlanningAI solutions for complex scheduling and routing challenges. The platform allows users to create and manage schedules in real-time while ensuring compliance with operational constraints. With seamless API integration and scalable models, Timefold enhances planning efficiency for enterprise organizations. | $13M / Series A / Jun 23, 2026 | |
Isar Aerospace
|
Isar Aerospace develops and operates launch services for small and medium-sized satellites, supporting both dedicated and rideshare missions to orbit. Its core offering is the Spectrum launch vehicle, a two-stage rocket designed to deploy satellites and satellite constellations into low Earth orbit with flexible launch configurations. The companydesigns and manufactures its launch technology in-house, using automated production processes and a vertically integrated approach to vehicle development. In addition to launch services, Isar Aerospace works with commercial, institutional, and space industry customers seeking access to orbital transportation for satellite missions. The company focuses on expanding launch capacity and supporting the growing demand for satellite deployment and space-based infrastructure. | $311.6M / Series D / Jun 09, 2026 | |
Pit
|
Pit is an AI productive team that learns how its clients' business works and builds systems accordingly. | $16M / Seed / May 07, 2026 | |
| See all 248 investments → | |||
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FAQ
What does Lakestar invest in?
Lakestar invests primarily in Software, Artificial Intelligence and FinTech startups, most often at Seed and Series A stage. Most of the 248 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in Germany. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.
What is Lakestar's check size?
Lakestar typically joins rounds of $2.2M–$19M at Seed, $6.7M–$65M at Series A and $16M–$91M at Series B. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds Lakestar participates in.
How do I contact Lakestar?
Public channels for Lakestar include LinkedIn and the website linked on this profile. For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.
Who are the partners at Lakestar?
The team at Lakestar includes Mathias Haniel (Partner), Mika Salmi (Managing Partner) and Oliver Heimes (Partner), among 10 team members tracked by Shizune. The Team section lists each member with their title, investment count and links.
Is Shizune's investor data accurate?
Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Sep 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.
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