Perikles Ventures

Matthias Rau, the firm's founder and managing partner, serves as the primary investment decision-maker. He previously held a senior investment role at Rocket Internet's investment arm before launching Perikles. Partner Oliver Blume also contributes to deal evaluation and portfolio support.

Perikles Ventures operates a deal-by-deal vehicle structure rather than a traditional commingled blind-pool fund. This allows flexible capital deployment without the fixed fund-life constraints typical of European venture capital firms. The structure also permits the firm to hold positions beyond the standard 10-year fund horizon.

Perikles focuses on pre-seed and seed rounds, typically writing first institutional checks into companies that are still pre-revenue. The firm aims to be the earliest professional capital in a startup's cap table, supporting founders through the Series A transition.

Perikles occasionally leads rounds at the seed stage but frequently co-invests alongside business angels and other small European family offices. For follow-on financing, the firm sometimes organizes co-investment SPVs to bring in external capital without forcing portfolio companies to navigate complex multi-vehicle cap tables alone.

Perikles concentrates on B2B software companies in enterprise SaaS, fintech infrastructure, applied AI, digital health, and climate technology. The firm's portfolio indicates a strong preference for technical founding teams building within the DACH region's deep engineering talent pools.