FOE Investment

Managing Partners Benjamin Ruschin and Tom Urbanek lead the investment process. They operate within a five-person co-founder structure that includes Peter Steinberger, Larissa Kravitz, and Kambis Kohansal Vajargah. The group does not publicly separate an independent investment committee from the general partner, consistent with a syndicate model where partner consensus drives allocation.

Deal flow combines several distinct channels. Kambis Kohansal Vajargah's role as Head of Startup Services at the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber provides direct access to early-stage companies across Austria. Peter Steinberger's product-leadership position at OpenAI connects the firm to elite technical networks. Benjamin Ruschin's board seat at Invest Austria and the partners' World Economic Forum Digital Leader status add policy and corporate introductions. Tom Urbanek's real estate network across Austria and Germany offers a parallel set of entrepreneur relationships outside the venture ecosystem.

FOE Investment operates more like a partner-run investing syndicate than a traditional venture fund. No publicly disclosed fund vehicle or AUM figure exists. The firm deploys its own capital through a co-founder vehicle rather than a blind-pool fund with external limited partners and fixed fee-and-carry terms. This allows indefinite holding periods and avoids fund-cycle deployment pressure.

FOE targets pre-seed, seed, and early start-up rounds, with a likely check-size range typical of Central European pre-institutional rounds. The firm's emphasis is on first institutional capital or operator-led early rounds rather than Series A+ growth-stage mandates. Specific round sizes and ownership targets are not publicly disclosed.

Tom Urbanek maintains a separate residential real estate portfolio across Austria and Germany and founded the Immo Invest Club Austria for real estate investors. These activities are not merged into the venture portfolio but provide co-investor relationships and capital that sit adjacent to the early-stage technology practice. There is no indication the firm blends asset classes within a single vehicle.

The firm's syndicate model suggests co-investment with external lead investors is central to its approach rather than reserved for select cases. Co-founders like Kambis Kohansal Vajargah and Peter Steinberger sit inside institutions that generate deal flow for their primary employers and personal networks alike, favoring a collaborative rather than lead-check orientation. However, specific co-investment track records with named GPs are not public.

The firm's investment mandate depends heavily on five individual partners, each with primary commitments outside the investment vehicle—most visibly Peter Steinberger's role at OpenAI. No publicly disclosed succession plan or institutionalized investment committee exists. For co-investors evaluating a long-term commitment, the key question is whether the platform would survive the departure of one or more key partners without losing its sourcing advantage.