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The startup ecosystem in the Iberian Peninsula — the region that includes Spain and Portugal — has been booming for the past two years. The value of Spanish startups exceeded €100 billion in 2023, according to Dealroom data, with venture investment worth €2.2 billion across around 850 rounds. At the same time, Portugal produced a large number of venture capital firms such as Shilling, Indico, Armilar, Bynd and others.
Lisbon based project company Faber It has become the latest institution to double down on its efforts in the region – recently launching its third fund, recording an initial close of €31 million (about $33.9 million). The fund is anchored by the European Investment Fund (EIF), and has received significant contributions from NATO’s Innovation Fund and Portugal’s Caixa Capital, as well as family offices. It aims to raise 60 million euros (about 64.2 million dollars) in total.
The new fund, titled Faber Tech Fund III, will target pre-seed and seed stage startups in deep technology, artificial intelligence, robotics and biotechnology across Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands.
Alexandre Barbosa, managing partner at Faber, told TechCrunch that the new fund aims to focus specifically on deep technology, artificial intelligence/machine learning, and data-related technologies. “The first investments are in photonic chips, analog chip design, and synthetic biology,” he said.
Barbosa said the company’s hypothesis is supported by the fact that scientific and technical talent continues to flow towards southern Europe, especially since Portugal and Spain are among the top five destinations for exchange programmes.
“Maintaining Europe’s technological edge is critical to ensuring the region’s security and resilience,” Chris O’Connor, managing partner of the NATO Innovation Fund, said in a statement.
Faber’s latest fund raised about $24 million, and the company also has a “blue” fund, Faber Blue Pioneers, through which it invests in ocean technologies. The most prominent companies in its portfolio are: Sword Health, Smartex, Mitiga, Luminate Medical, Unbabel, and Microharvest.
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