Project A is a Berlin- and London-based operational early-stage VC that backs 'the next generation of European icons' from the idea stage through pre-seed, seed and Series A, writing €1-6m initial cheques. It concentrates on four interlinked themes - European Resilience, Fintech, the Future of Autonomous Work, and Global Supply Chains - and differentiates with an in-house operational platform of ~140 functional experts that works only for portfolio companies. It backs founders who can 'see a version of tomorrow that's radically different from today,' who execute with speed and precise prioritization, and who go deep into unglamorous workflows where step-change technical advantages convert hard problems into solvable cost curves.
A large problem that is also structured and tractable, ideally inside an unglamorous workflow or a broken system, where solving it has macro-scale significance rather than a vague 'big market' claim.
“We were drawn to Pactum not just because the problem was large, but because it was structured.” — From Early Conviction to Category Leader: Pactum's Agentic AI for Procurement
“there is one particular thing that excites us about the idea: the potential to break out of the system and solve one of its most painful symptoms — down to its root cause.” — Mila Cramer
“Some of the most valuable companies of the next decade will emerge from deep inside the enterprise. Often, it starts in the workflows no one wants to touch.” — Philipp Werner
“Hades is tackling a problem that matters with an approach that could reset the economics of going deep.” — Jack Wang
A solution built on a genuine technical step change that converts a hard physical or workflow bottleneck into a solvable engineering/cost problem - clearly differentiated from the static, decade-old status quo.
“The common thread among winners is a technical step change that converts a physical bottleneck into an engineering problem with a solvable cost curve.” — Energy and Critical Minerals Made in Europe: Why we invested in Hades
“Pactum helps companies unlock value from their long tail by automatically negotiating contracts on a massive scale.” — Mey Cezairli
“Architect AI is building the world's first agentic website platform, that turns any site into an autonomous, self-learning AI agent.” — Daria Gneusheva
“Most players add unnecessary complexity to the order process, it takes on average 12 clicks to buy or sell an asset” — Nina Jetter
A market whose addressable footprint expands dramatically if the technical bet works, or a large under-penetrated category - sized through structural reasoning and macro tailwinds, not headline TAM figures.
“If drilling costs at depth improve even by a multiple, the addressable footprint for geothermal and select mineral deposits expands dramatically.” — Energy and Critical Minerals Made in Europe: Why we invested in Hades
“In the US, about half of American adults say they have money invested in the stock market. In Europe, this figure is still significantly lower” — Nina Jetter
“Procurement is one of them. It's the quiet engine room of the global economy.” — Philipp Werner
Evidence of remarkable execution speed - a complex product built fast, early marquee customers signed, and measurable lifts in the metric that matters - rather than vanity growth.
“Their execution speed has been remarkable, building a complex product, signing early customers, and demonstrating measurable lifts in engagement and conversion.” — Giving Websites a Brain: Why we invested in Architect
“Over 50 large enterprises now use Pactum, including Walmart, Novartis, Honeywell, BMW, Tetra Pak, Johnson & Johnson, and Rolls-Royce.” — Philipp Werner
“A mind-boggling 82% [of vendors] currently prefer Pactum to human negotiations.” — Mey Cezairli
Driven, singularly focused founders with deep domain expertise, swift execution and precise prioritization - people who keep recruiting relentlessly and build at the edge of what is technically possible.
“We're particularly interested in collaborating with ambitious individuals who can exhibit swift execution, precise prioritization skills, and a clear vision.” — Introducing the Project A Studio
“3 pioneers with a clear vision and a growth mindset. Real product pickers and tech enthusiasts at heart, who execute with speed” — Nina Jetter
“Max is one of the most driven founders we've met: singularly focused, relentlessly recruiting, and comfortable living at the edge of what's technically possible.” — Jack Wang
“The agility, ambition, and expertise of the team have truly blown us away, to say the least.” — Mey Cezairli
A transparent, structurally advantaged model - clear, honest pricing versus opaque incumbents, or dual-use paths that open multiple customer and exit angles.
“Each trade at Trade Republic is at zero commission and only costs €1 external settlement fee” — Tap, Tap, Trade… Why we invested in Trade Republic
“hide their costs in complex and opaque pricing schemes” — Nina Jetter
“There is potential, especially in dual-use concepts. There you are dealing with a multi-purpose role with different angles in terms of customers, use cases, and exit opportunities.” — Uwe Horstmann
A defensible, non-obvious position - a contrarian bet incumbents dismiss, or a structural advantage (bias-free, simultaneous scale) competitors cannot match.
“This was unquestionably a contrarian investment. Even within Project A, not everyone was excited at first.” — Backing Quantum Systems: Investing in Defence When the Case Wasn't Obvious
“The market for Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) drones from Western supply chains that actually meet stringent operational requirements was virtually non-existent.” — Uwe Horstmann
“A mind-boggling 82% [of vendors] currently prefer Pactum to human negotiations.” — Mey Cezairli
A genuine inflection - a technology reaching a viability threshold, a regulatory shift, or a paradigm change - that makes the company inevitable now rather than five years ago.
“The current generation of reasoning models offers a step change in generating contextual copy.” — Giving Websites a Brain: Why we invested in Architect
“The war in Ukraine has led to a paradigm shift in the way we think about the defense sector.” — Uwe Horstmann
“Whenever large, culture-shifting platforms emerge, great entrepreneurs jump at the opportunity to build products on top of this newly born ecosystem.” — Mila Cramer
“European sovereignty has transformed from aspirational rhetoric into a strategic imperative.” — Uwe Horstmann
A raise framed around what an operationally hands-on partner can unlock at the earliest stage - using capital plus practical operational resources to navigate initial complexity, not just a number.
“provide not just crucial initial investment but the practical operational resources and deep expertise necessary to navigate the initial complexities” — Project A launches €325 million fund to fuel Europe's earliest-stage tech right from idea stage
“Project A's collaborative Studio offers support for the very earliest activities, from idea validation, to team development, and early market fit” — Project A launches €325 million fund to fuel Europe's earliest-stage tech right from idea stage
“The Studio is Project A's approach to supporting founders during ideation and validation with the objective of turning this collaboration into a long-term working relationship after a joint Pre-Seed investment.” — Introducing the Project A Studio
“By the time we invested in 2022, Quantum had already been operating for seven years. Most VC playbooks would've dismissed it outright. Too slow. Too hardware-heavy. Too unconventional.”
“be an indispensable partner for founders from their earliest days”
“We were drawn to Pactum not just because the problem was large, but because it was structured.”
“The common thread among winners is a technical step change that converts a physical bottleneck into an engineering problem with a solvable cost curve.”