Empirical Ventures

Navigare Ventures is an early-stage investor specialized in science-driven companies. Through our investments, we strengthen the industrial and societal impact of research, as well as the long-term financial capacity of our owners, Wallenberg Investments AB. Our core investment themes within deep tech are underpinned by our knowledge and network in a number of scientific fields and industries. These include advanced computing and quantum technologies, synthetic biology and bio innovation, advanced materials and nano technology as well as data-driven life science. We are long term investors - Seed and Series A and beyond - and form deep and lasting partnerships with founders and entrepreneurs. Our extensive industrial and scientific networks gives us the opportunity to provide capital, network, and know-how to transform promising science start-ups into successful companies. Who we are Navigare Ventures, based in Stockholm, is a fully owned subsidiary of Wallenberg Investments AB. We are a team of scientists, industrialists and entrepreneurs who understand the challenges of turning cutting-edge technologies to successful ventures. As part of the Wallenberg ecosystem, our returns fuel the next generation of scientific advancement through research funding from the Wallenberg Foundations to Swedish universities. What we are looking for We partner with experienced entrepreneurial teams that combine scientific excellence with strong business acumen. In this respect, your company should have a unique offering based on a profound understanding of your scientific or technological field and its market and industrial environment. You should also be capable of demonstrating the viability and commercial potential of your product by engaging with real customers. You are raising capital to scale the R&D, production, marketing, and sales capabilities of your company. Our investment philosophy We only invest in companies we understand. While this is an important general principle in any investment activity, it is even more important when making early-stage investments in new technology. If we don’t understand your science, we won’t understand what experts tell us about the value chain and how it works, or what the competitive landscape looks like. And most importantly, we won’t be able to help you develop your strategy and navigate through the challenges of deep-tech start-ups. So, when preparing a meeting with us, don’t put too much emphasis on future revenue projections. That’s important too, in due time. But first, be prepared for long sessions in front of a whiteboard, explaining to us how your material, algorithm, or antibody functions. We don’t need to understand all the equations, but we need to get the heuristics. We are scientists at heart, eager to learn, and we carry a deep conviction that the world is fundamentally understandable. Core investment themesAdvanced computing and quantum technologies: Digitization and automation deepens in industry and society, driven by breakthroughs in computing and AI. Our focus includes improving existing technologies as well as finding completely new platforms in AI and other areas of applied mathematics as well as in novel computer architectures, communication technology, hardware and design. Synthetic biology and bio innovation: Synthetic biology and bio innovations contribute to a more sustainable society. Companies in this field often combine principles of biology, engineering, and computer science for the development of new biological products and manufacturing methods. Advanced materials and nano technology: New materials and nanoscale technology enable disruptions with the potential to benefit numerous existing industries. From quantum materials to biomaterials and biologically inspired nanostructures, we look for the most promising technology platforms in the field. Data-driven life science: Combining digital technology and data with life science drives scientific understanding and enables novel products. Our focus is on data-driven methods to increase personalization and precision of medical interventions, accelerate product development, digitalize care among other advancements.

Our portfolio boasts over 300 active patents covering world-changing innovations. We back the teams we believe are best able to deploy revolutionary technologies. We have board representation at over 80% of our portfolio companies. We're committed to working alongside our founders to commercialize scientific discovery. Our portfolio companies have collectively raised over two billion dollars. We invest across the life cycle of a company from pre-seed to pre-IPO. Our Name The name, Fine Structure Ventures®, is perhaps most meaningful to the scientist-entrepreneurs we partner with. In physics, the fine-structure constant, commonly denoted by α (the Greek letter alpha), is named for the spacing between the spectral lines in the fine structure of the hydrogen atom. It is a dimensionless, fundamental physical constant which describes the interaction between elementary charged particles, such as electrons, and an electromagnetic field. If the value of alpha were much different from the one we know, it would impact whether nuclear fusion within stars produces carbon or whether atoms can form stable molecules–both of which are critical for life. The fine structure constant is moreover the single best predicted constant in all of physics. Quantum electrodynamics, a field founded by Julian Schwinger, Richard Feynman, and Freeman Dyson, predict its value from first principles, and the associated experiments match to 11 digits. At Fine Structure Ventures, we are also making predictions to realize alpha, used in this context to represent excess return on investment. We take a first principles approach, looking for technologies that, if realized at scale, would have obvious, dramatic, global impact. While we only aspire to the brilliance of Dyson or Feynman, we nevertheless seek unprecedented accuracy in our evaluation of investment opportunities. A Rich Legacy Fine Structure Ventures is rooted in one of America’s great entrepreneurial success stories. Fidelity Investments was founded in 1946 and grew from a single mutual fund into one of the largest asset management firms in the world, with over $2 trillion under management. For the last fifty years, our independent venture capital group has had the privilege of backing other great entrepreneurs as they built ground-breaking companies, including Atari and MCI in the early days. A Focused Team of Specialists Although we are backed by a resourceful global platform, we are a small team passionate about the impact science can make and singularly focused on the success of the entrepreneurs we are privileged to work with. We bring together decades of experience in investments, operations, entrepreneurship, and in scientific research.

TUM Venture Labs are new entrepreneurial innovation hubs re-enforcing in a unique way tech-based business creation at the interfaces of engineering, natural, life and data sciences and medicine. The joint initiative of TUM and UnternehmerTUM supports entrepreneurial talents in tech-based business translation from science, offering an entire ecosystem with the necessary development environments. Our offers range from technical and social infrastructure to entrepreneurship training and support through our top-class industry and investor networks. Discover and strengthen your entrepreneurial qualities and develop a business idea into a successful enterprise at TUM Venture Labs! Our offerings for talents and founders Whether you are a student, a scientist or a well-established team, the TUM Venture Labs offer tailored support within your technological domain. Various formats along our four pillars are available to you -- from initial inspiration to founding your company. Training formats to deepen specialized knowledge in an application-oriented way, to develop start-up ideas or to grow personally. Domain-specific startup support on your journey from initial idea or technology to starting your venture. Our network of top-class entrepreneurs, mentors, industry partners, scientific/domain experts and investors. Access to spaces and infrastructure in the form of workstations, labs or technical infrastructure (e.g. MakerSpace), individually tailored in each Venture Lab. Discover and strengthen your entrepreneurial skills and develop your business idea into a successful company at the TUM Venture Labs! 11 Venture Labs with entrepreneurial know-how in your tech-domain In order to bring high-tech start-up projects to success, teams need deep knowledge of technology, management know-how as well as specific industry and market understanding. The TUM Venture Labs can support you in enriching your tech know-how with management expertise and deep understanding of your industry and market. To this end, the TUM Venture Labs focus on 11 technology domains and thus create a support offering that specifically addresses the needs of founders and founding teams in the respective technology fields. Discover the Venture Lab that's right for you! Aerospace ChemSPACE Built Environment Robotics/AI Food/Agro/Biotech Software/AI Healthcare Quantum Additive Manufacturing Sustainability & Circular Economy Legal Tech Colab Additional venture lab "mobility" is currently being planned.

LiquidMetal Ventures is a newly established venture capital fund based in Boston, aiming at investing in early-stage (Seed, Angel, and pre-A round) in a minority group, particularly deep-tech startups. LiquidMetal Ventures is based on deep-tech start-up communities and has a unique advantage in reaching out to ‘off-the-market’ early-stage deals and cooperating with peer VC funds tightly to reduce the risk, overall a high return could be expected. LiquidMetal Ventures focuses on biotech and healthcare, carbon neutrality, AI and data, infrastructure, and consumer tech. There is a huge tide of startups among Boston entrepreneurs in the US on the way. We would like to be the first to check VC with the founders. Investment FocusBioTech Medical Device Sustainability AI & Data Science Advanced Energy Technology Robotics & Advanced Manufacturing

We are in the midst of technological shifts at a pace faster than ever before. Calculus VC capitalizes on these shifts to deliver returns and impact. We invest in the Series A and Series B stages of startups in the below sectors: FUTURE OF COMPUTING AND AI Continued advancements in AI will demand new developments in hardware and software. New computing materials and interfaces may emerge. Computing power may be more distributed, and the world will be infinitely more connected. These and more, are our areas of interest: Intelligence beyond language: We expect AI to understand quantitative models and physical phenomenon just as well as it understands language. Large Quantitiative Models are a focus for us. New hardware, materials, and architectures: We expect that demand for computing power will grow exponentially. Quantum computing, as well as distributed computing are expected to grow. We expect advancements in computing materials beyond silicon. Immersive and neural interfaces: These interfaces already exist, we expect they will become more mainstream. Spatial computing, integrating the physical world with digital environments may be our future. COMPUTATIONAL LIFE SCIENCES AND HEALTHTECH Breakthroughs in biology, materials, sensors, and data science are converging to redefine healthcare. Precision and personalization will take center stage as AI enhances how we detect, monitor, and treat disease. Areas of interest include: AI-First Therapeutics and Discovery Platforms: ML-powered platforms designing drugs and biologics via simulation, predictive modeling, and data-rich experimentation. Infrastructure for Programmable Biology: Tools that make biology engineerable – lab automation, bioinformatics, 3D bioprinting, next-gen diagnostics and R&D devices. Continuous, Data-Driven and Personalized Care: Wearables, medical devices, and diagnostics to deliver patient-centric care. These models turn users into real-time data streams, enabling adaptive treatment and personalized interventions. ADVANCED INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGIES As we expand the frontiers of possibility, we expect industry to evolve with intelligence, autonomy and environmental sustainability at its core. Areas of focus include: AI and automation in industry: Intelligent machines will optimize production, reduce waste, and enable new workflows. From predictive maintenance to robotic manufacturing, automation will power the next industrial revolution. We support startups enabling this vision. Land, ocean, and space transport and communications: We are interested in advanced materials, robotics, sensors, systems and software that will unlock new frontiers from deep-sea mapping to planetary missions. Resource efficiency: Building the future will demand large reserves of energy and natural resources. Technologies that can serve our energy, food, water, and agricultural needs while supporting a better planet are of interest to us.

Vsquared Ventures backs entrepreneurs engineering the seemingly impossible. We are early-stage investors in deep-tech companies tackling society's most pressing challenges, with an emphasis on quantum and novel computing, green energy, robotics, Al/ML, new space, synthetic biology, and healthcare. Our team of founders, academics, operators and innovators has invested in over 30 companies to date and built one of Europe's strongest deep-tech portfolios, forging alliances with key players in industry, research, and a global startup ecosystem along the way. The companies we've partnered with so far include Isar Aerospace, IOM, Zama, The Exploration Company, and Custom Cells.