Sunfish Partners

Sunfish Partners

Sunfish Partners is a Berlin-based early-stage venture capital firm focused exclusively on pre-seed investments in space and defense technology from Eastern Europe. The firm was founded by Marcus Erken, Max Moldenhauer, and Pawel Lipkowski, and invests typical tickets of €150,000 to €300,000 in hardware and software startups headquartered in Central and Eastern Europe. Its investment thesis targets dual-use technologies spanning space, drones, cybersecurity, edge computing, propulsion, and advanced manufacturing. The portfolio, which the firm reports at over 350 jobs created, includes companies such as EU Motors (space and defense manufacturing), HyperBUNKER (space and cybersecurity), C2Grid (space and AI), DefendEye (AI-enabled drones), and Orbital Matter (in-space 3D printing). While the firm is sector-agnostic within its perimeter, the strategy clusters around startups that strengthen European sovereignty, with deal flow sourced from Poland, the Baltics, and the broader CEE region. The firm counts three core team members and operates a lean structure complemented by seven named advisors. In December 2025, Marcus Erken was recognized among EWOR's Global Top 100 Founder Mentors, and the same month the firm announced investments in Sky Spy, a signals-intelligence drone startup. The portfolio lists 21 active companies alongside four realized exits, including Alphamoon (automation) and CodeAlly (tech recruiting). Sunfish occupies a distinct niche as a purely CEE-focused space and defense pre-seed fund — a mandate that combines a narrow regional lens with an expansive vertical thesis. The firm explicitly states “Goal: Secure Europe’s autonomy,” and invests solely at the earliest stage, positioning itself as the first institutional check rather than a generalist early-stage investor.