# Lucas Merle > Lucas Merle is a seed investor at eCAPITAL ENTREPRENEURIAL PARTNERS backing Artificial Intelligence. See 3 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug… - Type: Angel Investor - Fund: [eCAPITAL ENTREPRENEURIAL PARTNERS](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/ecapital-entrepreneurial-partners-ag) - Location: Münster, Germany - Total investments: 3 - Last investment: Apr 2026 - Lead investor: 100% - Last updated: Aug 2026 - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucasmerle/ Lucas Merle is a seed investor at eCAPITAL ENTREPRENEURIAL PARTNERS in Münster focused on Artificial Intelligence and Automotive. Lucas P. Merle is the Principal at eCAPITAL ENTREPRENEURIAL PARTNERS. He attended ESCP Business School. ## Investment focus ### Industry | Industry | Investments | Share | | --- | --- | --- | | Artificial Intelligence | 2 | 67% | | Automotive | 1 | 33% | | Machine Learning | 1 | 33% | | Autonomous Vehicles | 1 | 33% | ### Stage | Stage | Investments | Share | | --- | --- | --- | | Seed | 1 | 33% | | Series A | 1 | 33% | ## Investments | Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | VisioLab | VisioLab combines human-centric artificial intelligence with the responsibility of making data-driven decisions in order to establish a more sustainable agricultural economy. VisioLab was founded by Tim Niekamp and Justin Shenk. | $11M | Series A | Apr 21, 2026 | | | Cleafy | We help banks and financial institutions scale up their fight against online fraud.Cleafy is the first solution to introduce full detection and response in online fraud prevention.A revolutionary technology that combines all the most advanced fraud detection capabilities, with automated responses that stop attacks at scale. All in one centralplatform.Recognized as a selected vendor for Online Fraud Detection in Gartner Market Guide, we today protect over 60M users of top-tier retail and corporate banks. | $13.9M | Series B | Mar 12, 2026 | | | MOTOR AI | Motor AI is a developer of AI systems based on cognitive neuroscience for autonomous driving. The company offers explainable and certifiable decision-making for complex traffic situations. The company implements a full sensor suite—including LiDAR, radar, cameras, audio, GPS, and ultrasound—and fuses data to navigate real-world environments withoutrelying on large-scale training datasets. Its proprietary active‑inference AI architecture enables structured, deductive decisions that satisfy EU and German safety regulations. | $19.9M | Seed | Jul 14, 2025 | | 3 of 3 investments shown. ## Co-investors - [APX](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/apxberlin) — VC Fund, 1 deal together - [HTGF (High-Tech Gruenderfonds)](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/high-tech-gr%C3%BCnderfonds) — VC Fund, 1 deal together - [Segenia Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/segenia-capital) — VC Fund, 1 deal together - [Simon Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/simon-capital) — VC Fund, 1 deal together - [United Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/united-ventures) — VC Fund, 1 deal together - [zwei.7](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/zwei-7) — VC Fund, 1 deal together ## About eCAPITAL ENTREPRENEURIAL PARTNERS VC Fund · Münster, Germany Founded in 1999, eCAPITAL is an entrepreneur-led venture capital investor focusing on early- and growth-stage deep-tech companies with a positive impact on society. eCAPITAL is based in Germany and invests with its own funds with a total volume of over € 340 million in the areas of Sustainability, Enterprise Software, Cybersecurity, IoT and NewMaterials. In addition to financial resources, eCAPITAL offers its portfolio companies strategic support and access to an international network of entrepreneurs, scientists, investors and founders and was lead investor in various deep-tech companies such as sonnen, Novaled or Jedox, which were sold very successfully to international corporates or investors. 5 contacts available at eCAPITAL ENTREPRENEURIAL PARTNERS. | Name | Title | Profile | | --- | --- | --- | | Bernd Arkenau | Managing Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/bernd-arkenau | | Dirk Seewald | Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/dirk-seewald | | Katharina Frie | Investment Manager | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/katharina-frie | | Lucas Merle | Principal | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/lucas-merle | | Michael Mayer | Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/michael-mayer | ## Similar investors ### Similar stage - [Antler](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/antler-be9c) — VC Fund - [Alumni Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/alumni-ventures-group) — VC Fund - [Right Side Capital Management](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/right-side-capital-management) — VC Fund ## FAQ ### What does Lucas Merle invest in? Lucas Merle invests primarily in Artificial Intelligence, Automotive and Machine Learning startups, most often at Seed and Series A stage. Most of the 3 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in Germany. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio. ### When did Lucas Merle last invest? The most recent investment recorded for Lucas Merle closed in Apr 2026. Shizune tracks 3 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly. ### 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 Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page. # About Shizune Shizune.co is an investor database. 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