2025 End Year Review

Dear Founders, Investors and Friends of the Venture Community, 

‍Across sectors, AI and frontier technologies are reshaping every corner of society; from how we govern and defend, to how we power our homes, manage our money, and deliver healthcare. And yet, we are still in the early chapters of of this transformational era.

Hardly a day went by without new headlines announcing record-breaking funding rounds, rapid technological breakthroughs or capabilities that seemed out of reach years ago. Today, nearly every second VC dollar globally is invested in AI companies, more than double their share just a year ago (PitchBook). As the volume of noise continues to rise, the real challenge is knowing how to filter signal from hype.We believe the solution lies in being close to founders, especially those building in the most critical and complex domains. Those who engage earliest and deepest with the them are best positioned to build conviction and shift capital decisively. In 2025, we saw the center of gravity in innovation increasingly move toward areas that drive strategic independence and long-term impact, including Digital Infrastructure, DeepTech, agentic AI, and Defense & Security.

‍Heliad in 2025

‍For us, this evolving landscape translated into another year of meaningful growth and deeper conviction. 2025 was not only about investing in outstanding founders, but also about evolving how we partner with them. With our early-stage strategy Collective Ventures fully integrated, we moved closer to founders, extending our platform to curate access, relationships, and hands-on support where it matters most. Our objective remains unchanged: to be a high-efficiency, low-overhead force that helps navigate complexities early and throughout the entire journey.

This approach contributed meaningfully to absolute NAV growth. In 2025, our NAV increased by EUR +68m, driven primarily by the strong performance of flatexDEGIRO which continued its positive momentum as Europe's leading online broker. As a result, our portfolio grew to over EUR 250m, with our NAV per share increasing from EUR 22.45 (as of December 31, 2024) to EUR 29.55 (as of September 30, 2025). This also reflects the increase of our share price from EUR 9.95 (as of December 31, 2024) to EUR 14.90 (as of December 15, 2024).

Keep reading to discover more highlights and milestones of 2025.

Our Portfolio

‍While we are proud of the many companies we back, there are some special cases we would like to highlight in 2025:

These four companies alone now account for over EUR 200m of our portfolio (as of Q3), exceeding our current market cap, while our longer tail including MODIFI, Workmotion, ChefCoco, and BURNHARD continues to make strong progress.

We additionally remain focused on companies aligned with our thematic convictions in AI, DeepTech, FinTech, and Defense & Security, deepening engagement in sectors critical to Europe’s resilience and strategic independence. This approach has generated robust deal flow and several high-conviction investments.

‍New Investments

• We invested as the only European investor in Gaia's USD 14m funding round along Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures, backing the company’s mission to make AI-driven, outcome-based fertility care more accessible.
• We joined in both ARX Robotics’ EUR 31m Series A (led by HV Capital) and EUR 11m extension round (led by Speedinvest). The company develops AI-driven autonomous ground systems to strengthen European defense capabilities and just recently secured Deutz AG as a strategic investor and partner.
• We participated in StratifAI's EUR 12.5m funding round led by Picus Capital and Alven, supporting the precision oncology company developing AI-driven biomarker platform Polaris™ to advance cancer diagnostics and personalized treatment.
• We joined Albacore’s USD 6.5m Seed round, backing the DefenseTech startup developing long-range unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs). Albacore has already tested prototypes and will demonstrate the system to defense partners in 2026. The company’s strong technical team and strategic backing position it to become a leader in maritime ISR and defense solutions.
• We additionally invested in lette.ai, limetax, ada.ai – more news to come!

Follow-On Investments

• We participated in Nelly's EUR 50m Series B round led by Notion Capital and Cathay Innovation, supporting the Health-/FinTech company that streamlines administrative and financial workflows for medical practices across Europe.
• askLio secured Series A funding by a tier one US investor as the team delivered world-class execution by scaling ARR through major enterprise wins, expanding its global pipeline and automating sales and implementation to drive strong margins and highly repeatable growth. More news to follow soon!

Building Community & Strengthening Our Platform

‍Community remained a priority. In 2025 we hosted four major events across the country bringing together 500+ founders, investors, and partners. We explored the future from every angle: envisioning 2050 through AI, robotics, media, sovereignty, AgeTech, and sustainability; unpacking how aging, defense networks, and global supply chains will reshape society and examining the real-world impact of AI already transforming the status quo.

As part of our platform extension, we developed new capabilities to support founders at every stage. Through strategic workshops, we provide hands-on guidance for high-level decision-making, while showcasing our internal expertise across the portfolio. Founders benefit form expertise across alternative financing, as we help navigate complex processes such as M&A preparation or IPO readiness, and activate our network of co-investors through Collective Ventures.

These initiatives create a mutually beneficial dynamic that strengthens our community, empowers our partners, and, most importantly, drives success for the companies we serve. See the full insights on our website under Founder Spotlights.

With the rising importance of media, we took a more visible approach to thought leadership, sharing insights with a broader audience. To complement this, we overhauled our website, making our mission, focus areas, and approach more transparent and better reflecting the opportunities we create for founders and partners. For more insights visit our newsroom here.

Where are we headed next?

‍As we close 2025, we remain uniquely positioned to support founders across all stages, doubling down on finding and backing category-defining teams.

To all our founders, co-investors, and shareholders: thank you for your trust. We are energized to capture the transformational opportunities ahead.

For now, we are wishing you a festive holiday season and an inspired start to 2026,

‍The Heliad Team