Helsinki · Pre-Seed–Seed · 3 people tracked
Find your way into Failup Ventures
207 people in our graph share verified history with the Failup Ventures team — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.
Investment thesis
Failup Ventures invests on the conviction that AI is transforming every industry, and that the strongest opportunity lies in backing exceptional technical founders tackling system-level problems. The firm positions itself as an AI generalist rather than committing to predefined industry categories, reasoning that the best founders create new categories rather than fitting existing ones. It focuses on areas where it sees outsized value creation emerging in the current AI era.
Source: firm website, verified Aug 3, 2026.
Team · 3 people
from public directories
What they invest in
from 28 of 33 portfolio companiesAI & Machine Learning ×18Enterprise Software ×12SaaS ×8Consumer ×5Data & Infrastructure ×4E-commerce ×3Fintech ×3Future of Work ×3
HQs:United States×11Finland×7United Kingdom×2France×1
Who they back
founder profiles across 19 portfolio companiesFounding team size:solo founder×42 founders×113 founders×34+ founders×1
Where their founders studiedfrom 30 founders with education data
Aalto University ×5University of Pennsylvania ×3MIT Sloan School of Management ×2Parsons School of Design - The New School ×2The Wharton School ×2University of Cambridge ×2University of Oxford ×2
What their founders studiedfrom 26 founders with field-of-study data
Computer Science ×12Engineering ×4Business & Management ×2Design & Architecture ×2Finance & Accounting ×2Mathematics & Statistics ×2
Where their founders worked beforefrom 29 founders with career history
Capgemini ×3ConfidentialMind ×3Tuxera ×3Docker ×2Leapto ×2
Accelerator rootsportfolio companies that came through a program
1 founders hold a PhD · 2 hold an MBA (of 29 with degree data)
Investments · 33 tracked
founders shown can be your intro pathBy year:2026 · 32025 · 22024 · 49 dated
Sono (Closio Oy) builds AI-powered voice phone assistants that automate high-volume customer-service and sales calls, handling tasks such as booking appointments, routing calls, answering FAQs, and running satisfaction surveys.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareSaaSSales TechHelsinki, FI
Co-investorsWave VenturesMaki.vc
Studio 555 is a Nordic tech company building a digital interior design product that blends interior design with elements of mobile gaming and social apps, using AI and a design-first approach.
AI & Machine LearningConsumerPropTechHelsinki, FI
Co-investorsHOF Capital
AfterQuery is an applied research lab that curates training data solutions for foundation model development by capturing expert reasoning and decision-making processes.
AI & Machine LearningData & InfrastructureDeep TechEnterprise SoftwareSan Francisco, US
Carlos Georgescu(Co-Founder)inSpencer Mateega(Co-Founder)in
Co-investorsBoxGroupY CombinatorAltos Ventures
BIM Engine is an AI platform for architects and engineers that reduces documentation work and covers construction project workflows from RFQ to payment, including AI-driven material suggestions matched to project specs and site scanning via smartphone or robot fleet.
AI & Machine LearningConstruction TechPropTech
Bracket provides a treasury management platform that connects to banks and ERPs to consolidate financial data and automate workflows, offering cash visibility, FX exposure capture, hedging insights, and forecasting.
Enterprise SoftwareFintechSaaSUK, GB
Co-investorsCornerstone VCBlackfinch Ventures
Capitol builds sovereign AI infrastructure for regulated institutions including financial services firms, professional services organizations, and government agencies.
AI & Machine LearningData & InfrastructureEnterprise SoftwareFuture of WorkGovTechWashington, US
Shaun Modi(Founder & CEO)inthomas hallaran(Founder)in
Co-investorsY CombinatorDesigner FundImagination CapitalTogether Fund468 Capital
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ConfidentialMind provides a software platform for building and deploying generative AI applications and agents that can safely process confidential data while maintaining security.
AI & Machine LearningCloud ComputingEnterprise SoftwareEspoo, FI
Markku Räsänen(Co-founder & CEO)inSeveri Tikkala(Co-founder & GM North America, Field CTO)inEsko Vähämäki(Co-founder & CTO)in
Co-investorsD11ZInnovestor Ventures
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Cytronic operates robot-automated fulfillment centers that run order fulfillment as software with no human handling, aimed at DTC brands frustrated with traditional 3PLs.
E-commerceLogistics & Supply ChainRobotics
Kevin Gibbon(Founder)inScott Moen(Founder)in
Co-investorsGeek VenturesSpacecadet VenturesAlumni VenturesMana VenturesRice CapitalScript Capital+1 more
Los Angeles, US
Jon Van Caneghem(Founder)
Co-investorsKoyamaki VenturesRSE Ventures
Ever operates an AI-native electric vehicle retail platform, buying and selling EVs both online and in-person across the United States.
AI & Machine LearningE-commerceMarketplacesMobility & TransportationRetail TechSan Francisco, US
Lasse-Mathias Nyberg(Co-Founder & CEO)inTJ Casner(Co-Founder & CTO)inMaximilian Quertermous(Co-Founder & COO)in
Co-investorsLifeline VenturesStrawberry Creek VenturesFinTech Collective
AI agents that work alongside employees to automate routine tasks and help workers focus on higher-value activities.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareFuture of WorkSector AgnosticSan Francisco, US
Topias Soininen(Partner)
Co-investorsTesi (Finnish Industry Investment Ltd)Blackfinch Ventures
FounderNest operates a company intelligence platform that aggregates data on over 50 million companies globally from regulatory filings, patents, news, and other sources.
AI & Machine LearningData & InfrastructureEnterprise SoftwareSaaS
Miguel González(Founder)in
Co-investorsAlexia VenturesDunamu & PartnersUlu Ventures
it's electric installs and maintains curbside Level 2 EV chargers on partner properties in U.S. cities, using the property's spare electrical supply at no cost to the owner.
CleantechEnergyMobility & TransportationNYC, US
Tiya Gordon(Executive Officer, Director, Promoter)inNathan King(Executive Officer, Director, Promoter)in
BoardTopias Soininen(Director)
Co-investorsChloe CapitalClean Energy VentureFamily Angel Management FundGraham Walker VentureHalogen Ventures Management Company LlcHelm+7 more
Kidre operated an online marketplace for children's second-hand items, where sellers could consign products for resale to parents.
ConsumerE-commerceMarketplaces
Otto Laitinen(Founder)inDaniel Gato(Founder)in
Liquid Sun develops technology to convert CO₂ into sustainable jet fuel, targeting the aviation industry.
CleantechClimate TechEnergyTampere, FI
Dr. Pasi Keinänen(CEO, Co-founder)Panu Nordlund(Co-Founder)inSamuel Thesleff(Chairman, Co-Founder)inProfessor Mika Valden(Technology Advisor, Co-Founder)
Co-investorsVoima Ventures
Lotus.ai is building healthcare technology serving patients and clinicians.
AI & Machine LearningConsumerDigital HealthHealthtech
KJ Dhaliwal(Founder & CEO)inZekka Nelson(Founder & CTO)inAidan Cole(Founding Chief Growth Officer)in
Co-investorsBlack Jays VenturesCRV (Charles River Ventures)Kleiner Perkins
Motives conducts AI-moderated video interviews with real people to gather consumer insights for insights teams.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareMarketing TechSaaSLondon, GB
Sean Conley(Founder)inSam Stoll(Founder)in
Co-investorsLobster CapitalOxonian VenturesY Combinator
Nvelop offers an AI-driven platform for creating and managing procurement sourcing projects, with built-in compliance controls.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareSaaSHelsinki, FI
Mikko Valorinta(Co-founder & CEO)inNithin Nadagouda(Co-founder & CSO)inIlkka Uuhiniemi(Co-founder & CTO)in
Co-investorsAntler
Optivian builds Ollie, an AI sales co-worker that reads interactions across a sales pipeline and produces work products such as business cases, mutual action plans, meeting prep, follow-ups, forecasting, and CRM hygiene.
AI & Machine LearningSaaSSales Tech
Topias Soininen(Founder)in
OSCAR is a mobile app for booking over 200 home services — including cleaning, repairs, assembly, gardening, and pest control — with fixed upfront pricing, real-time tracking of the assigned professional, and vetted workers.
ConsumerMarketplacesPropTech
João Marques(Founder)in
Co-investorsBoost Capital Partners
Paradigm provides an AI agent orchestration platform that works with spreadsheet-like structured data, allowing users to deploy multiple intelligent agents to work with tabular information.
Enterprise SoftwareSan Francisco, US
Anna Monaco(Founder)inKelli Newman(Cofounder)
Co-investorsRoar VenturesThe MBA FundY Combinator
New York, US
Joshua Baiad(Executive Officer, Director, Promoter)Mary Margaret Diehl(Executive Officer, Director, Promoter)
Purple is a financial technology company offering benefits-aware banking for individuals with disabilities who receive SSI or SSDI, along with their families, caregivers, and organizations like representative payees.
FintechImpact & Social Good
Co-investorsMorgan Stanley
Routine builds an AI-powered work platform that integrates and centralizes data from third-party services like GitHub, Salesforce, Slack, and Dropbox into a unified workspace for project tracking and team collaboration.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareFuture of WorkSaaSParis, FR
Julien Quintard(CEO)inQuentin Hocquet(Founder)in
Co-investorsFjor FoundersMarket One CapitalTarget GlobalY Combinator
Seven Stars is a mobile game studio that develops casual games, including "Castaway Isle," a merge-and-restore game with a mystery narrative.
ConsumerGaming
Co-investorsBehold VenturesSisu Game VenturesSpintop VenturesSapphire PartnersStepstone Group
Taiki builds AI solutions.
AI & Machine LearningFintechSaaS
Richard Zhang(Co-Founder)Alan Lu(Co-Founder)
Co-investorsRosecliff Ventures
The Token Company builds a compression model called Bear-2 that reduces the size of LLM inputs such as documents, websites, and transcripts before they enter an LLM context window.
AI & Machine LearningData & InfrastructureDeveloper ToolsEnterprise SoftwareSan Francisco, US
Otso Veisterä(Founder)in
Co-investorsInception FundWave VenturesY CombinatorVisionaries Club
Viven offers a 360° women's health analysis in Finland that combines a 75-marker blood test panel (including sex hormones, thyroid, metabolic, and cardiovascular markers) with a biological age (PhenoAge) assessment.
Digital HealthFemTechHealthtech
ZSCC designs AI silicon chips (XPU) optimized for energy efficiency in machine learning inference and training, targeting the infrastructure demands of recursive self-improvement and advanced AI systems.
Advanced ManufacturingAI & Machine LearningDeep TechSemiconductorsSan Francisco, US
Elias Almqvist(Founder/CEO)inPrithvi Raj(Founder/CTO)in
Co-investorsGeek VenturesOlive Tree CapitalWave VenturesY Combinator
Other
Tracked investments with no reachable website or further public details — typically companies that wound down, renamed, or were absorbed.
Digital Insight GamesExamplePingYou
Portfolio news
latest coverage across their companiesPurple · enablersinvestment.com · Sep 10, 2026
AfterQuery · techcrunch.com · Sep 1, 2026
Cytronic · x.com · Jul 20, 2026
Lotus · thequantuminsider.com · Jul 17, 2026
Paradigm · crowdfundinsider.com · Jul 9, 2026
Routine · opensecrets.org · Jul 8, 2026
Capitol AI · ionanalytics.com · Apr 23, 2026
Frequently asked questions
- How many investments has Failup Ventures made?
- Failup Ventures has 33 tracked investments, including 8 dated in the last 24 months.
- What stage does Failup Ventures invest at?
- Failup Ventures invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed stages.
- What is Failup Ventures's typical check size?
- Failup Ventures typically writes checks of $200K – $1M.
- What sectors does Failup Ventures focus on?
- Failup Ventures focuses on AI & Machine Learning, Consumer, Enterprise Software, Healthtech, Media & Entertainment, Retail Tech, SaaS, Sector Agnostic.
- Where is Failup Ventures located?
- Failup Ventures is headquartered in Helsinki, FI.
- Does Failup Ventures lead rounds?
- Failup Ventures has led 3 of the 6 rounds where its role is on record.
- Who does Failup Ventures co-invest with?
- Failup Ventures most often shares deals with Y Combinator, Wave Ventures, Geek Ventures, among 45 tracked co-investors.
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