Deep Tech · VC Firm

BlueYard Capital

Thesis-driven early-stage firm betting on 'utopia or oblivion' technologies across computation, defense, biology and crypto. Quantum exposure is concentrated in SEEQC: BlueYard backed its 2019 seed first and has followed on through the $30M January 2025 round, backing SEEQC's superconducting digital chips that now link QPUs to NVIDIA GPUs.

Active Berlin, GermanyFounded 2016

Investment thesis

Berlin-anchored partnership (BY Capital Management GmbH) operating across the US and Europe; founded 2016 by Ciaran O'Leary and Jason Whitmire, now five General Partners.

$500 million AUM across three funds (Funds I and II roughly $120 million each, Fund III $185 million closed 2022, still deploying); writes $500k to $5 million checks, pre-seed to Series A, lead or co-lead.

2025 manifesto 'Utopia or Oblivion': backs n-of-1 companies across four verticals: Computation & Intelligence, Engineering/Aerospace/Defense, Biology & Chemistry, and Crypto.

Quantum exposure runs through SEEQC (first named investor in the 2019 seed, followed on through the $30 million January 2025 round); IonQ and Groq were bets by team members from prior funds, not BlueYard fund positions.

Anti-thesis

The patterns that trigger a fast no with this fund.

  1. Single quantum position: SEEQC is the only quantum company on the fund's portfolio; a pure quantum hardware or software startup is competing with defense, fusion and crypto deals for the same $500k-$5M checks
  2. Quantum is framed as one computation bet among many (AI chips, photonic interconnects, liquid cooling), not a dedicated practice; no quantum-specialist partner on the team
  3. IonQ and Groq on the website are flagged as prior work by individual GPs, so the firm's visible quantum brand overstates what the current funds actually hold
  4. Still deploying a 2022-vintage $185M Fund III in 2026; reserve discipline for a concentrated portfolio may limit appetite for new capital-hungry quantum hardware plays
  5. The 2025 manifesto prizes n-of-1 contrarian stories; a quantum startup positioned inside a crowded category (another QPU modality, another control stack) fails their core filter

Notable quantum portfolio

Full portfolio
SEEQC

Frequent co-investors

  • EQT Ventures
  • M Ventures (Merck)
  • NordicNinja
  • Booz Allen Ventures
  • SIP Capital