Evercurious VC
- Feb 5
- 8 min read
Investment Thesis
Evercurious VC backs deep-tech founders who use hard science and engineering to solve real, pressing global challenges, and to help them turn those breakthroughs into scalable companies. We focus on research-driven teams, often at the intersection of hardware and software, with defensible technology and a clear path to real-world impact.
We believe Europe is at a turning point. The continent already produces world-class research, but fragmentation means too little of that becomes industrial scale-ups. Our role is to bridge what is missing: between research and industry, between regions and disciplines, and between established hubs and untapped talent.
Evercurious VC is based in Athens and invests across Europe. We connect leading innovation hubs such as Zurich, Munich and Berlin with Greece’s deep pool of technical talent. By bringing these ecosystems together, we aim to create deep-tech champions that are born in Europe but built for the world.
Experience in Maritime
Evercurious VC has not yet invested directly in maritime, but the our focus on hardware-heavy deep-tech makes it naturally adjacent to many of the sector’s emerging needs . Our investment activity spans clean-tech, advanced materials, robotics, industrial automation and energy systems, all highly relevant to challenges faced in shipping, port and logistics optimisation, and marine infrastructure, such as decarbonisation, vessel autonomy, and industrial efficiency across shipyards and maritime supply chains. Beside our Greek origin, maritime is highly interesting to us due to the shift and the technological and sustainability transition it undergoes, where deep-tech solutions can meaningfully improve efficiency and environmental performance. At the same time, we recognise the sector’s structural challenges (slow adoption, capital intensity, regulatory complexity, and legacy systems) which mirror the dynamics we already navigate in the deep-tech area and where our approach can add real value.
The team’s engineering background and emphasis on hard-tech gives them affinity with problems like industrial heat decarbonisation, advanced sensors, robotics and AI systems that can be applied to maritime operations and infrastructure.
What types of companies or business models have done well in your portfolio?
Evercurious Fund I is a new vehicle, so the portfolio is still young. The patterns we deliberately select for:
● Research-driven startups, often spun-out of universities or R&D labs.
● Strong IP and technical moats, even if go-to-market is non-trivial.
● Global potential in markets where long development cycles and regulated environments are the norm.
Teams that fit us best are comfortable with deep-tech timelines and are happy to discuss both technical detail and commercial strategy in the same meeting.
Do you focus on specific geographies?
Evercurious VC invests across Europe, with a deliberate bridge between Greece and leading Western European deep-tech hubs such as the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and the UK.
As we are based in Athens, we are leveraging the Greek local ecosystem to tap into the local talent pool and set up pilot projects in relevant sectors, such as the maritime industry. Other than that, we are engaging the broader Greek ecosystem, including the extensive diaspora networks and founders returning to Greece with international experience.
Long-Term Vision
5–10 years outlook
We believe Europe is at a critical crossroad, where it must leverage its engineering strengths to solve global challenges. While the continent already produces world-class research, the real gap lies in turning that research into scaled industrial companies. Over the next decade, we expect European deep-tech founders to build globally scalable businesses by combining local talent with international commercial networks.
A successful exit
For Evercurious VC, a successful exit is one that feels meaningful for everyone around the table. It is the moment when years of hard work, risk and patience turn into a step change for the founders, the team and the company’s technology.
In practice, this often means joining forces with a larger industrial or technology group, or raising a major later-stage round that opens up a much bigger stage. We are early-stage investors, so a small number of these big, well-timed outcomes will drive most of the fund’s performance. But we only consider them “successful” if they also make sense for the people who built the company.
That is why we care about clean, standard deal structures and realistic expectations. We prefer simple terms and straightforward cap tables, so that when value is created it flows fairly to the actual builders, founders, employees and investors. Our economics work best when teams build durable, valuable businesses and exit on healthy terms, not when we optimise for clever structures at their expense.
Strategy
Evercurious Fund I has an initial size of €12.5m, with a target final size of approximately €20m. We are currently in the early deployment phase: actively building the first-fund portfolio while continuing to raise additional commitments.
Our core focus is on pre-seed and seed rounds, with selective participation in Series A when there is a very strong fit with our deep-tech thesis. Initial cheques are typically up to €300k at pre-seed and seed, with additional capital reserved to follow-on into the strongest companies.
Duration
Deep-tech is a long journey. While we do not yet have realised exits from this fund, we underwrite with the expectation of 7-10+ years from first cheque to major liquidity events for the outliers, and several years of technology and market development before large-scale commercialisation. Our reserve strategy and founder support are designed around this reality.
Leading of following investment rounds?
Evercurious VC is comfortable leading or co-leading pre-seed rounds, including shaping the round, terms and syndicate with founders. At seed and Series A we often invest alongside other funds, including sector-specific and later-stage investors.
We lead ‘first cheque’ rounds (no prior institutional investors). We don’t lead second rounds, there should always be a strong lead. We always seek 18 months of runway after the round.
Deals per year
Our portfolio target is to back approximately 20–25 companies over the life of the fund, which implies a pace of roughly 4–6 new investments per year, , prioritizing always quality over volume metrics.
Capital for follow-ons
We strictly reserve 50% of the Fund for follow-on investments to support our winners. The idea is to have enough capacity to support the most promising companies through multiple rounds, not just to build a broad but shallow portfolio.
Help with future fundraisings (or exits)
Fundraising support is a core part of how we work with founders. We help them refine the funding strategy (target investor list, round size and timing), shape the narrative and materials so that both the technical and commercial stories are clear, and make targeted introductions to relevant VCs, corporates and strategic partners across Europe. This level of support is standard whenever a company is preparing for a significant milestone round; for earlier bridge or opportunistic rounds, we adapt our involvement to what the team actually needs.
On exits, our involvement is more situational. When there is serious inbound interest or a dual-track process, we work with founders and co-investors to evaluate options and structure the process, always with the understanding that founders ultimately steer the company and make the final call.
Conflicts between portfolio companies?
We avoid backing directly competing companies where our involvement would clearly create conflicts of interest. When opportunities arise in adjacent spaces, for example, different parts of the same value chain, we are transparent with founders about any potential overlaps and careful with information flows. Our aspiration is to build a portfolio of complementary positions.
Track record
We bring a deep pre-Fund I track record as individual investors and investment professionals:
● George Georgiadis led Technology Strategy and Innovation Management initiatives at Volkswagen Group and managed corporate investments into startups. He combines a PhD in Engineering with academic work as a visiting lecturer, over ten years based in Germany, and a personal portfolio of seven angel investments. This blend of corporate innovation, technical depth and hands-on startup investing shapes how we evaluate and support founders.
● Alex Vamvakas previously managed a €70m PE/VC portfolio, overseeing 19 fund investments and 3 direct investments, with at least one realised exit. Before launching Evercurious, he spent more than nine years in Switzerland, developed medical technologies at CERN, and built a personal angel portfolio of eight early-stage tech companies. That experience gives us practical insight into both fund-of-funds dynamics and direct company building.
Together, we have been investing side by side for several years before raising Fund I, with a combined 15+ angel investments across deep-tech and software. These pre–Fund I deals, alongside Alex’s institutional portfolio and George’s corporate startup investments, form the foundation of our investment judgement and our approach to portfolio construction.
Decision Process
Investment process and timeline
Our goal is a clear, focused process rather than a long, unclear one. While timelines vary, a typical path to a term sheet looks like:
Initial conversation and fit check: meeting the founders, understanding the problem, the technology, the stage and whether it fits our deep-tech thesis.
Technical and market deep-dive: a working session on the core science or engineering, IP position, validation to date, regulatory environment and go-to-market plan.
References and ecosystem checks: talking to people who have worked with the founders, and where relevant, to early customers, partners or academic collaborators.
Internal discussion and decision: a focused investment committee discussion where the same partners decide whether to proceed.
Term sheet and confirmatory work: agreeing key terms, followed by light confirmatory due diligence (legal, IP, cap table) and closing.
We aim to complete this in a matter of weeks rather than months, especially at pre-seed and seed, while leaving enough time to do real work on the technology and team.
Who signs off deals?
Deals are approved by a small investment committee composed of the Evercurious VC's partners. In practice, this means that founders interact early with the people who ultimately make the decision; there is no separate “IC” that they never meet.
Support & Involvement
Founder–investor relationship
The relationships that work best for us are built on three things. First, honest conversations about what is working and what is not. Second, a shared ambition to build something meaningful rather than simply chasing optics. Third, respect for the founders’ time and focus.
After we invest, we usually agree on a simple rhythm of collaboration, often with monthly or bi-monthly check-ins supported by structured but lightweight written updates. Between those touchpoints, we remain available for ad hoc discussions whenever a critical topic arises, whether it is a key hire, an important customer opportunity, a regulatory milestone or a new fundraising round.
Governance
Our approach to governance follows our portfolio construction:
● At pre-seed, where we typically lead, we often take a board seat and play a more hands-on role.
● At “seed plus” and early Series A, we usually take a board observer seat when we follow a lead investor.
When a formal board role is not the right fit, we stay involved through regular check-ins, structured updates and ongoing support on hiring, strategy and fundraising.
Support of portfolio companies
Regarding fundraising, we supported an early portfolio company of ours with a total revamp of their investor deck and data room, in order to make them 'investor ready'. Subsequently, we introduced them to our co-investor network, securing commitments for their next round.
In another case, soon after our investment, we organized a strategy workshop. We dedicated a full two days to interview the whole team to find insights about the unique value characteristics of the company, but also the strengths and weaknesses of each team member. After that, we sat down with the founders to plan the next few months and the key areas, both for the internal technology roadmap and outreach and business development activities.
Hands-on, advisory, or hands-off?
When things go wrong in early stage deep tech, we stay close. Our instinct is to be engaged and constructive rather than distant. Problems are easier to solve when investor and founder look at them together in a calm and honest way.
We are clearly founder first, within the boundaries of our responsibility to our LPs. Founders are the ones in the arena, making decisions and carrying the weight of execution. Our role is not to run the company but to bring clarity, outside perspective and meaningful connections to other investors and potential clients.
What’s something you wish more founders asked you?
We value questions that go beyond the pitch and get to the heart of how we will work together. It is very helpful when founders ask where we think the company might be wrong, how we behave when things do not go to plan, or what would need to happen for us to lead a future round.
Questions like these open the door to a more honest discussion about expectations, support and long term partnership. They also let both sides check whether there is real alignment on how to navigate the hard parts of building a company, not only the highlights.
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This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a solicitation.
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