Aspire11 Invests €100 Million in Revolut, ElevenLabs, and Other Tech Companies
Prague-based VC Aspire11 has deployed the first €100 million of its €515 million fund into a portfolio including Revolut, ElevenLabs, and Vinted. The fund aims to bridge European pension capital with innovation-driven companies.
First Deployment from Pension Fund
Prague-based venture capital firm Aspire11 has announced the deployment of €100 million from its €515 million pension capital fund. The investments include stakes in Revolut, Databricks, VAST Data, Vinted, ElevenLabs, and Baseten. Alongside the news, the firm revealed that Zaya Kadyrova, a former investor at Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, has joined as a co-founder.
Addressing the Pension Capital Gap
Pavel Mucha, founder of Aspire11, emphasized that Europe has ample innovation and talent but lacks connections to long-term capital needed for scaling. Aspire11 was created to bridge that gap and demonstrate how pension funds can support future economy companies.
European pension funds currently allocate only about 4% of assets to private markets, compared to approximately 21% for leading Canadian pension funds. The median time to IPO has extended from seven to 11 years over the past decade, while private unicorns are now worth an estimated €6.4 trillion. AI is accelerating wealth creation in private markets, with over half of global venture capital flowing into AI companies.
Dual Investment Strategy
Aspire11 employs two complementary strategies: Tribes and Eternals. The Tribes strategy, led by Tülin Tokatli, invests in early-stage venture managers backing pre-seed and seed companies. The Eternals strategy, led by Kadyrova, builds concentrated positions in later-stage growth companies in Europe and the US.
The firm believes that the public is missing out on gains from private markets. By combining these strategies, Aspire11 aims to provide pension capital exposure across the innovation lifecycle, from early-stage startups to mature global leaders.
