The venture capital industry runs on a well-known hierarchy: partners grab the headlines, control the checkbooks, and shape the narrative. A fresh wave of investors, however, operates just below that surface, and their early bets often signal where serious money will flow next.
This dynamic matters now because a small group of younger, non-partner investors across Europe has begun to build outsized influence. They source deals, champion founders before anyone else pays attention, and push their firms toward spaces older partners might overlook. Over time, several of these individuals have steered household-name funds into sectors such as climate tech, AI-driven biology, defense, and decentralized infrastructure.
One such investor, Sivesh Sukumar at Balderton Capital, joined the firm back in 2023 after a stint running his own startup. He zeroes in on agentic AI and digital biology. “Decentralized science is inevitable,” he told Sifted, pointing toward platforms like Pump Science. “AI agents running autonomous biotech companies won’t sound futuristic forever.”
Manal Belaouane, a Paris-based principal at HV Capital, concentrates on consumer tech and AI-powered products. She also backs female-founded companies through another vehicle called Female Funders. “You need a strong thesis about what’s shifting culturally,” she explained. “I’m extremely conviction-driven, eager to go where others haven’t looked yet.”
Isabel Zhang works deep tech and hardware at HCVC. She arrived after co-founding a venture that collapsed, an experience she credits with sharpening her BS detector. “Knowing how to underwrite risk and filter out nonsense came directly from watching my own startup fail,” Zhang noted.
Quentin Calleja, operating from Atlantic’s Paris office, scouts founders at the very earliest stage. He spends his time embedded inside university labs and student hacker communities. “Half of my meetings happen at 6am before the rest of the fund logs on,” he said. “The best technical minds rarely respond to cold LinkedIn messages. You find them in person.”
Said Haschemi, also at HV Capital, arrived after running a €6 million e-commerce company while still in school. He focuses on marketplaces and consumer businesses. “I’m extremely competitive by nature,” Haschemi stated. “The real game is finding talent that wants to win on a global stage, not just build a lifestyle.”
Veteran Insight Partners hired Alessandro Luciano earlier this year, tasking him with accelerating AI deals in Europe. He previously ran growth for a GenAI startup. “Passion matters enormously,” he said. “Work-life balance belongs to people who see their job as a chore.”
Alena Redeker launched Auxxo in 2021. She specializes in backing female entrepreneurs, particularly at the seed stage, encouraging them to write larger first checks. “I’m drawn to deeply unsexy problems,” Redeker noted. “Think automation for Germany’s vast Mittelstand rather than the next viral consumer fad.”
Katharina Schild, a Berlin-based investor at Cathay Innovation, joined from a founder role at KEWAZO, a construction robotics company. “My KEWAZO experience taught me how Europe’s best robotics ventures can commercialize faster by targeting the US market from day one,” she stated.
Hilmar Eggertsson joined 6 Degrees Capital in 2024. Operating from Iceland and Sweden, he focuses on pre-seed and seed-stage founders who obsess over genuinely hard problems. “Speed is my purest edge right now,” Eggertsson explained. “I’ll fly anywhere within 24 hours if the founder chemistry is right.”
Hugo Hazon started his career at Amazon before shifting to pre-seed investor Concept Ventures. “The core instinct stays the same,” Hazon said. “Spotting customer obsession. At Amazon, that meant the bar was whether you’d trust a teammate with your child.”
Victor Jolly sits on Atomico’s growth team, focusing on climate and sustainability. He previously worked at the nonprofit Purpose. “The historic line between ‘tech’ and ‘impact’ has blurred completely,” Jolly explained. “Europe now frames climate resilience as a core economic strategy.”
Louis Dussart covers B2B SaaS at RTP Global, looking at vertical software, fintech, and applied AI. He pays close attention to founder-product fit. “The best founders obsess over a problem they’ve personally experienced,” Dussart said. “That authenticity shows up in sales velocity.”
Djoni de Vos operates out of Amsterdam for Keen Venture Partners. He sources heavily through GitHub and Discord communities rather than traditional networks. “Cold outreach works, but a co-investor introduction works better,” he noted. “The goal: become the first call a founder makes after seeing a big competitor’s raise.”
Sophie Heijenberg brings a different lens to Graduate Ventures. An ex-recruiter, she evaluates teams before the product. “I spent years watching startups hire themselves into bankruptcy or growth,” Heijenberg said. “Now I assess a founder’s ability to build a high-caliber team before I look at the deck.”
These emerging investors now wield enough influence to quietly reshape how Europe’s most ambitious startups get funded. Their collective bets over the next two to three years will likely determine which sectors and founders command premium attention from the continent’s largest funds.
