{
  "id": 9334008,
  "title": "Connect Ventures announces first close of $80M Fund V to back Europe's technical founders",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/23/connect-ventures-announces-first-close-of-80m-fund-v-to-back-europes",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-23T12:10:32.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Tech.eu",
    "slug": "tech-eu",
    "url": "https://tech.eu/2026/09/23/connect-ventures-announces-first-close-of-80m-fund-v-to-back-europes-technical-founders/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "Connect Ventures has successfully closed its first $55 million round of Fund V, a $80 million investment fund focused on early-stage technology companies across Europe. Anchored by the British Business Bank, the fund has attracted participation from returning limited partners such as Aldea Ventures, Sella Venture Partners, and Molten Ventures, as well as new investors including European family offices and founders of previously backed Connect Ventures companies. Connect Ventures leads pre-seed rounds, providing $500,000 to $5 million in funding to teams with strong technical expertise. The fund's GP-only investment team, led by Pietro Bezza, Sitar Teli, and Rory Stirling, works closely with founders from the earliest stages of their companies. Sitar Teli, co-founder and co-managing partner at Connect Ventures, emphasized the fund's commitment to thesis-led, low-volume, high-conviction investments and a focus on technical founders to build outlier companies across Europe.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}