PUSH Ventures

The firm runs a dual-thesis strategy, concentrating exclusively on energy transition and healthcare. It invests at the pre-seed and seed stages, with a geographic emphasis on startups based in Austria and Germany, though the portfolio includes companies in Spain and Poland. The focus reflects the founding team's operating background in renewables and a conviction that both sectors are undergoing fundamental structural change.

Decisions are led by the two founding partners, Laurenz Simbruner and Lukas Püspök. Simbruner holds a CFA charter and came from investment banking, while Püspök previously co-built a leading Austrian renewables company before transitioning into venture. A venture partner and an investment manager round out the four-person investment team.

PUSH positions itself as a first-check investor, writing initial checks at the pre-seed or seed stage with the capacity to follow on in later rounds. The firm's website and portfolio pattern show it participating both as a lead and in syndicates alongside angels and other early-stage VCs such as First Momentum Ventures.

The firm's public exit track record includes mySugr (digital diabetes management) sold to Roche in 2017, allcyte (AI-driven drug testing) sold to Exscientia in 2021, and Exscientia (pharmatech) acquired by Recursion Pharmaceuticals in 2024. Another portfolio company, reverse.supply, was acquired by Trove in 2025.

The firm differentiates through sector-specific operating experience — Founding Partner Lukas Püspök has direct company-building experience in renewables — combined with a deliberate geographic and thematic concentration on the DACH region’s energy and health markets. This contrasts with generalist, pan-European seed funds that lack domain-expert founding teams.