How one venture firm is investing in an increasingly fragmented world

The satellite contiguous is riven by taste differences, governmental divisions, and geopolitical disputes — a challenging situation for immoderate capitalist hunting for startups that tin turn ample capable to present venture-scale returns.

Kompas VC has developed a regionally delicate strategy to assistance it navigate, and put in, this fragmented world. And it’s putting caller superior towards this attack with a caller €160 cardinal money ($187.5 million), the steadfast told TechCrunch.

“We spot the satellite truly falling into 3 main spheres of economical activity, of governmental enactment — the U.S., Europe, and China,” Sebastian Peck, spouse astatine Kompas VC, told TechCrunch. “We surely spot contiguous that these 3 domains travel very, precise antithetic trajectories.”

Kompas has staked its estimation connected backing startups that tackle halfway concern competitiveness challenges, from manufacturing and proviso chains to captious infrastructure and sustainability. Those themes haven’t disappeared, but antithetic regions stress them to varying degrees.

“There was a batch of enthusiasm astir these themes backmost successful 2021,” Peck said. “In 2026, we’re successful a very, precise antithetic paradigm. It’s each astir AI, it’s each astir accelerated growth, precise explosive growth. A batch of large topics that we partially play to but besides are not truly portion of what we basal for.”

“Our absorption is successful the carnal world, thing astir producing carnal goods,” helium added, saying that Kompas focuses connected startups moving connected decarbonization, productivity, and hazard management. “We’ve recovered our niche.”

Kompas VC partners, from left: Talia Rafaeli, Andreas Winter-Extra, and Sebastian PeckImage Credits:Kompas VC /

That niche turns retired to beryllium beauteous broad. Reshoring is en vogue successful astir each market, and depending connected the startup, those markets typically person much than capable standard for a steadfast similar Kompas.

Though dwarfed by immoderate task funds these days, Kompas’s recently raised 2nd money should springiness it ample accidental to pb aboriginal signifier rounds with checks ranging from €3 cardinal to €5 million. 

As a European fund, Kompas has entree to a scope of founders and startups successful the region. But it indispensable measurement however planetary fragmentation mightiness bounds the imaginable for immoderate to present task returns. Peck cites prefab lodging arsenic an example. The attack is wide utilized successful Scandinavian countries, but it isn’t arsenic communal successful Germany oregon the remainder of Europe, fto unsocial the United States.

“It feels similar specified an intuitive solution. It’s a merchandise that is efficaciously an concern product. It should beryllium highly scalable,” helium said. Ultimately, the crushed it doesn’t resonate extracurricular Scandinavia has much to bash with “cultural conditioning” than the exertion itself, helium said. “In that industry, if the U.S. isn’t the marketplace you tin spell to, you request to look very, precise cautiously astatine whether there’s a ample capable addressable market.”

The fragmentation extends beyond housing. For example, successful Europe, sustainability is inactive broadly attractive, successful opposition to the U.S., wherever the taxable doesn’t person the cachet it did respective years ago. 

Still, a batch tin alteration quickly, Peck acknowledges. “We are investing implicit 10-, 15-year horizons. That’s a fewer legislative periods to bridge, and sometimes things plaything successful unexpected directions.”

The shifting scenery poses a challenge, but besides an accidental for a smaller capitalist similar Kompas. “I deliberation there’s a large abstraction for highly focused, highly specialized, smaller funds similar ours to beryllium the archetypal check-in and bring expanse up definite themes and definite founders,” Peck said.