Earlybird

Each fund family has an independent investment committee. The Digital West funds are led by partners including co-founders Hendrik Brandis and Christian Nagel, alongside general partners like Thom Gersch. Digital East operates under partner Dan Lupu's leadership from Istanbul, while the Health fund has a dedicated specialist team. Co-founder Roland Manger is involved across the platform. No single person controls all allocations.

Earlybird operates three legally distinct fund families: Earlybird Digital West, Earlybird Digital East, and Earlybird Health. Each has its own limited partners, investment committee and capital pool. A growth fund also operates alongside these strategies. This partitioned structure is uncommon among European VCs, allowing specialist teams to operate with genuine autonomy while sharing the Earlybird platform brand.

Earlybird is a direct investment firm, making primary equity investments into private technology and health companies. The firm leads or co-leads seed and Series A rounds across its digital funds, with the growth fund targeting later-stage follow-ons and new positions. There is no fund-of-funds activity within the platform.

The Digital West and Digital East funds are predominantly seed and Series A investors, though they maintain reserves for follow-on investments through the growth fund. Earlybird Health targets early-stage companies from pre-seed through Series B. The firm can deploy from €500K initial checks to €10M+ across the growth-stage vehicle.

Earlybird Digital West covers Western European markets including Germany, the UK, France and the Nordics. Earlybird Digital East is anchored in Istanbul and covers Turkey, Central and Eastern Europe — most notably producing the UiPath investment from Romania. The Health fund is geography-agnostic across Europe. The firm maintains offices in Berlin, Munich, London, Cologne and Istanbul.

Earlybird leverages its multi-decade presence and geographic office structure. The Digital East team provides access to Turkish and CEE markets that most Western VCs do not actively mine. The Health fund's specialist partners and academic networks bring deal flow distinct from generalist tech firms. Co-founders Brandis, Nagel and Manger have been active in German enterprise networks since the late 1990s.

Earlybird typically leads or co-leads rounds rather than participating passively. The firm does syndicate with other major European VCs — the N26 cap table included multiple co-investors across rounds. The platform's growth fund also cooperates with later-stage investors when scaling portfolio companies, but Earlybird generally seeks board seats and active involvement.