Moonfire sets sights on AI with sophomore fund

• Moonfire was launched in 2020 by former Atomico co-founder Mattias Ljungman
• Ljungman says, ‘We are entering a new decade of AI’
• Moonfire team has led 23 deals and co-invested in another 27 companies with Sequoia, Accel, Index and General Catalyst 

Moonfire Ventures, a London-based early-stage venture firm, has raised $115 million for its second fund, according to an announcement. The fund will back European tech start-ups and is especially interested in those working in artificial intelligence.

The firm, which was launched in 2020 by former Atomico co-founder Mattias Ljungman, did not disclose the names of investors in the new fund. LPs for its vintage-2021 debut fund of $60 million included fund-of-funds manager Cendana Capital and The Utah School and Institutional Trust Fund Office, according to Venture Capital Journal research.

In addition to the new early stage fund, Moonfire closed on $25 million for Moonfire Ventures Opportunity Fund I, VCJ research shows.

“We are entering a new decade of AI that is transforming the possibilities of technology and redefining how tech companies are built through greater access, efficiency and product quality,” the Moonfire team said in a statement. “We want to be there for the founders at the earliest stages powering their growth and being true partners from the very beginning. Europe has been a leader in AI and we find our best fit is to support the next generation of founders solving some of our greatest challenges within health, work, finance and gaming.”

To date, Moonfire has invested in nearly 50 companies “where we have had follow-ons from and co-invested with Sequoia, Accel, Index and General Catalyst,” the statement said.

The firm takes a “quantitative” approach to venture capital. “We’ve built a custom tech stack from the ground up, integrating cutting-edge AI models and software throughout our operations, from founder discovery to exit,” the statement said.

“Our first fund demonstrated the efficacy of our approach, and we’re now ready to take it to the next stage with Fund II. We now review up to 50,000 companies every week – 600 times more than the average traditional VC – to identify the finest founding teams in Europe using AI, Web3, and AR/VR to disrupt health, work, finance and gaming.”