DIG Ventures Closes $120M Fund III to Back European AI
DIG Ventures closed a $120M third fund to back pre-seed and seed AI infrastructure startups in Europe.
The big picture: DIG Ventures has closed its Fund III, a $120 million vehicle focused on supporting European pre-seed and seed-stage startups developing AI-native enterprise infrastructure. The firm intends to make about 30 investments and has already begun deploying capital.
What it will back:
- Investment Focus: Targets European pre-seed and seed-stage startups building AI-native enterprise infrastructure and technical software.
- Check Size & Volume: Plans to invest between $1 million and $5 million in approximately 30 companies, aiming to lead most rounds.
- Strategic Control Points: Seeks companies that establish “control points” in areas like data, compliance, and orchestration within the AI ecosystem.
Who is behind it:
DIG Ventures was established by Ross Mason, who founded MuleSoft in 2006, took it public in 2017, and sold it to Salesforce in 2018. Melissa Klinger, former UK sales lead at MuleSoft, and Rytis Vitkauskas, co-founder of YPlan and former Lightspeed partner in Europe, have joined Mason. The firm’s first fund, a $50 million vehicle, achieved a 50% return in 2022. Fund II, its first institutional fund, closed at $100 million in April 2025. Limited partners in Fund III include Horsley Bridge, Sofina, Granite, and a large endowment of a US university. Entrepreneur investors include founders of Slack, Datadog, Nord Security, Cast AI, Supercell, and Dash0. Sofina also invested in Fund II.
The catch: DIG’s $120 million fund, targeting 30 investments with $1 million to $5 million checks, implies an average of $4 million per company before fees, which could limit reserves for follow-on support. While the European VC market is growing, capital is increasingly concentrated in larger, multi-stage funds, posing a competitive landscape for smaller, specialized vehicles. The strategy of backing startups aiming for “control points” is strong, but the challenge remains whether these companies can maintain independence long enough to deliver returns for early investors, or if they will be acquired by larger customers or partners, a scenario DIG has experienced previously.
Key Facts
- Firm: DIG Ventures
- Fund: Fund III
- Size: $120M
- Status: Final close
- Stage: pre-seed to seed
- Focus: AI-native enterprise infrastructure, technical software
- Geography: Europe
- Cheque size: $1M to $5M
- Anchor LPs: Horsley Bridge, Sofina, Granite, a large endowment of a US university
- Partners: Ross Mason, Melissa Klinger, Rytis Vitkauskas
- Previous fund: $100M for Fund II