Fly Ventures

Fly invests from day zero to seed stage, writing first institutional checks when technical risk is highest and most other VCs stay on the sidelines. The firm’s positioning — backing founders that other investors find too early or too unproven — creates a proprietary entry point into AI, autonomy, and deep-tech teams before they are widely known. Its portfolio draws heavily from founder networks in Europe’s technical university ecosystems and early-stage research labs.

Fly is structured as a seed-stage venture manager but operates with an unusually concentrated appetite for technical risk. Rather than spreading capital across a diversified early-stage portfolio, the firm focuses on a small number of day-zero bets where it has deep technical conviction. It does not publish fund sizes or AUM and maintains a deliberately lean team.

Fly targets pre-seed and seed rounds, frequently writing the first institutional check. The firm’s website describes its scope as ‘from day-zero to seed,’ and portfolio evidence — such as the 2017 seed investment in Wayve and the 2022 pre-seed check for Orbital — confirms this narrow and early focus.

Fly does not publish explicit avoidance criteria. However, the portfolio reveals no exposure to direct consumer apps, DTC brands, or non-technical enterprise services. The firm’s investments center on AI and machine-learning infrastructure, autonomous systems, developer tools, industrial automation, and cybersecurity — sectors where deep technical moats exist at inception.