The venture team of LEA Partners has transitioned into an independent entity, LEA Ventures, based in Karlsruhe. The firm is led by partners Nils Seele, Alexi Malikotsinas, and Martin Trenkle, who previously managed the venture business across two fund generations.
Since 2017, the team has deployed capital into approximately 40 companies through three distinct funds. Notable portfolio investments include Aleph Alpha, Black Forest Labs, Flip, Codesphere, and Q.ANT, with successful exits such as sevDesk and understand.ai.
The firm focuses on three core investment areas: Physical AI, which includes robotics and autonomous machinery; sovereign infrastructure, covering computing architectures and secure software; and industrial transformation, aimed at digitizing manufacturing operations.
LEA Ventures targets founders across Europe’s industrial heartland, including regions in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Italy, and the Netherlands. The strategy emphasizes long-term support for companies to achieve global scale.
