HedgeCo.Net — Swiss venture firm redalpine has held the final close of its early-stage fund, redalpine capital VIII (RAC VIII), at $250 million, the firm announced on November 10. The fund closed oversubscribed and marks 20 years since redalpine was founded in Zurich in 2006.
RAC VIII will invest in about 20 early-stage companies across Europe, primarily leading seed and Series A rounds with initial checks of $1 million to $15 million. The firm says it screens more than 5,000 companies a year. Its first investments from the fund include Enact Intelligence, which develops force intelligence technology for robotics; Helical, which is building a virtual AI lab for drug discovery; and Arlequin AI, which is developing an AI architecture to protect critical systems.
The fund drew both returning and new limited partners, including Aviva Investors, Flexstone Partners and KfW, alongside entrepreneurs and executives. Cynthia Chen, head of fintech at Aviva Investors, said the partnership would help the insurer gain access to high-growth start-ups across the UK and Europe for the benefit of its pension investors.
Redalpine, which reports more than $1.4 billion in assets under management, has backed companies including Proxima Fusion, Mistral AI, N26 and Basecamp Research. The firm says 11 portfolio companies have exited since 2023, and that companies in its previous early-stage fund, RAC VII, which closed in 2024, have since raised more than $1.1 billion in total funding. Half of its investment team are trained scientists.
The close adds to evidence that European institutions are leaning into domestic deeptech even as global venture fundraising remains competitive. For LPs, the appeal is early access to science-heavy companies before later-stage valuations reprice them; the risk is the long and capital-intensive path to exit that frontier technologies typically require.