One of Europe’s oldest deep technology specialists is opening a London office and introducing it as a new expansion into new territory. Companies House tells a slightly different story. Vsquared Ventures is famous for being founded and bred in Munich It is one of Europe’s largest early stage deep technology fundsIn October 2024, almost 18 months before he said a word in public, he quietly merged the UK institution.
The firm has been building in London for longer than advertised.
The move puts Vsquared, which manages more than €450m in 50 companies in 13 countries, into direct competition with two local London giants: $4.7bn Atomico, run by Skype co-founder Niklas Zennström, and Balderton Capital, which has raised $4.5bn.
While incumbents are pushing back deep tech as a slice of a broader portfolio, Vsquared is only writing deep tech checks from pre-seed to Series A in AI, robotics, quantum, new space, energy and tech bio, and doing so before the category pulls in major money. His portfolio already includes Aerospace deliveryquantum unicorn IQM, encryption firm Zama and NEURA Robotics.
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The timing of going public is no accident. London attracted more than £7bn of venture capital in the first quarter of 2026, its strongest in four years, thanks to AI, advanced computing, climate and defence. European deep tech attracted €15 billion in 2024, nearly a third of all venture capital on the continent, with London second only to Paris with $2.2 billion of this.
For a foundation that promotes the creation of “global category leaders from Europe”, the subtext is highlighted: even the Munich engineering champion feels it needs a London base for capital, markets and talent.
The office is led by general partner Lise Rechsteiner, who explains the background. He co-founded Norwegian deep-tech fund Propagator Ventures and has a PhD from ETH Zurich, more Nordic and pan-European roots than a post on Munich LP connections, suggesting Vsquared wants London to win deals, not just raise money.
A number of promotions to an investment partner and a concurrent staffing change with a new platform and communications leader indicate the firm is poised to acquire a larger operational footprint.
Whether London becomes a true second hub or just a capital-raising base will depend on whether a specialist can outbid the generic giants, Atom and Baldertonon their own turf.
The opening is real: the European Commission has earmarked €1.4 billion for deep technologies in its 2026 innovation programme, governments are treating the sector as industrial policy, and the sector is predicted to have more than $5 trillion in global economic impact over the next decade.
Vsquared gave itself an 18-month head start. The question Rechsteiner now has to answer is whether that’s enough.
