Deep Tech · VC Firm

First Momentum Ventures

Pre-seed deep tech VC for technical founders out of European technical universities (KIT roots, runs the Spinoff Summit); three-time quantum backer via Kipu Quantum, QuantumDiamonds and ZuriQ, writing EUR 250k-1.5M first checks from its EUR 35M Fund II.

Active Karlsruhe, GermanyFounded 2018

Investment thesis

Student-founded VC out of KIT Karlsruhe (firm started 2017-18); EUR 4M Fund I (2018) and oversubscribed EUR 35M Fund II (closed April 2025); writes EUR 250k-1.5M first checks at pre-seed, as lead or co-investor.

Quantum is one repeated bet inside a broader deep tech thesis: Kipu Quantum (pre-seed co-lead 2022, seed follow-on 2023), QuantumDiamonds (TU Munich spin-out, seed 2023) and ZuriQ (ETH Zurich trapped-ion spin-out, seed announced Jan 2025), covering software, sensing and hardware.

Always syndicates its quantum deals with specialists: Quantonation and Entrada on Kipu, IQ Capital and Earlybird on QuantumDiamonds, Founderful on ZuriQ; Onsight Ventures appears in all three cap tables.

University spin-out machine: team of engineers and scientists, Venture Scouts program, Spinoff Summit and the Deep Tech Hardware Napkin report anchor its dealflow in European technical universities.

Anti-thesis

The patterns that trigger a fast no with this fund.

  1. A EUR 35M fund writing EUR 250k-1.5M checks cannot carry capital-intensive quantum hardware alone: every quantum deal so far has needed specialist co-investors (Quantonation, IQ Capital, Founderful) to complete the round
  2. First Momentum has never led a quantum round solo; on Kipu's EUR 10.5M seed the leads were HV Capital and DTCF, so expect them as a syndicate member, not your anchor beyond pre-seed
  3. Reserves from a EUR 35M vehicle thin out fast past Series A; neither QuantumDiamonds nor Kipu has raised a publicly announced Series A as of mid-2026, so its follow-on behavior at that stage is unproven
  4. DACH-centric playbook: portfolio and grant strategy lean on German public money (EIC, Bavarian grants in QuantumDiamonds' round); founders outside the German/Swiss university ecosystem fit less naturally
  5. David Meiborg, one of three founding partners, left in 2026; the partnership is now two founding partners plus two newly promoted principals, a thinner senior bench during Fund II deployment

Notable quantum portfolio

Full portfolio
Kipu QuantumQuantumDiamondsZuriQ

Frequent co-investors