Lakestar

Lakestar is a major European venture firm founded by Klaus Hommels, with €2.8B+ in AUM and the latest fund at €600M closed in 2024. The firm operates from Zurich, London, and Berlin, with a thesis built around four sectors: Deep Tech, Healthcare, Fintech, and Digitalisation. The positioning around European digital sovereignty has driven a separate $250-300M defence fund targeting 20-30 European security tech companies across AI, cybersecurity, and quantum sensing. Notable portfolio includes Isar Aerospace in launch, Helsing in defence AI, Aleph Alpha in EU LLMs, Terra Quantum, and Poolside.