Auxxo Closes Second Female Catalyst Fund at 33.3 Million Euros

The Berlin-based venture capital investor Auxxo has announced the final closing of its Female Catalyst Fund II at 33.3 million euros. This makes the second fund approximately 75 percent larger than its predecessor, which had a volume of 19 million euros. At the same time, Auxxo is launching a Europe-wide matching platform for female founders, male founders, and potential co-founders.

The European Investment Fund (EIF) is participating as the anchor investor. Other limited partners include Aurum Impact, EnBW New Ventures, Cherry Ventures, and Speedinvest, as well as family offices, business angels, founders, and high-net-worth individuals from Europe. More than half of the investors are women.

Female Founding Teams

Auxxo was founded in 2021 and, through its Female Catalyst Funds, focuses on investments in companies with female founding members. According to the investor, companies founded by women continue to receive a comparatively small share of European venture capital.

We are incredibly proud of the trust placed in us by the EIF and our other LPs: investors who understand that diversity drives returns.

Bettine Schmitz, Co-Founder and General Partner at Auxxo

The Female Catalyst Fund II has invested in eleven companies to date. The portfolio includes, among others, Emidat, Resolutiion, Stanhope.ai, Marble Imaging, Delta Labs, and Radiogenesis. According to Auxxo, two portfolio companies have already secured follow-on financing from other VCs.

Matching platform aims to bring new founding teams together

Auxxo is launching a second initiative alongside the fund closing. A new pan-European founder matching platform is designed to bring potential co-founders together and, in particular, to promote the formation of gender-diverse founding teams.

The platform is aimed, among others, at solo founders whose teams lack technical or operational expertise, experienced startup employees with entrepreneurial ambitions, and teams seeking pre-seed or seed capital.

To achieve this, Auxxo is drawing on its existing European network, which includes entrepreneurs, business angels, and organizations such as Evangelistas and EncourageVentures.

“We want to ensure that more women start startups—not someday, but now,” says Dr. Gesa Miczaika, co-founder and general partner at Auxxo.