AI Investors in Berlin (2026): Who Is Backing Early-Stage Startups
Who backs early-stage AI startups in Berlin in 2026, from a city-backed fund to an AI-only studio, with the stages they back and their recent Berlin deals.
Investors backing early-stage AI startups in Berlin in 2026 include IBB Ventures, Merantix Capital, Cherry Ventures, Redstone and Robin Capital, from pre-seed through to Series A.
Researched and written by Zeeshan Ali at Platvix. Checked on 2 November 2026.
TL;DR
- Who actually writes Berlin cheques? IBB Ventures is mandated for the city, and Merantix Capital, Cherry Ventures, Redstone and Robin Capital have all put money into Berlin companies in the past two years.
- Can I raise before I have a product? Yes. Robin Capital invests from angel and pre-seed, and Merantix Capital invests from the pre-idea stage.
- What size are first cheques? IBB Ventures states €100,000 to €400,000 at pre-seed, rising to between €200,000 and €1m at seed and Series A.
Early-stage AI investors in Berlin
IBB Ventures
The venture arm of Berlin's state investment bank, backing startups based in the city.
- Invests in: pre-seed to Series A, across healthcare, industrial technologies, consumer and digital, and software and IT. Its own site calls it "the only early-stage investor exclusively focused on Berlin".
- Cheque size: between €100,000 and €400,000 as an initial pre-seed ticket, and between €200,000 and €1m at seed and Series A.
- AI startups backed: xHeron, a Berlin AI-native outsourcing company for short-term-rental guest operations.
- Recent Berlin deal: it led xHeron's pre-seed round, announced on 30 September 2026.
- Website: ibbventures.de
Merantix Capital
An AI-only investor that runs both a venture studio and a fund out of the AI Campus in Berlin.
- Invests in: "pre-idea through pre-seed and seed-stage teams", in AI-native companies.
- AI startups backed: WhyBrilliant, a Berlin hiring platform built around conversational AI agents, and Ficus Health, a Berlin company automating occupancy and documentation in rehabilitation clinics with AI.
- Latest fund: a €103 million AI Fund announced on 4 June 2026, intended for around 40 investments across Europe.
- Latest Berlin deal: WhyBrilliant's €1 million pre-seed, reported on 16 June 2026.
- Website: merantix-capital.com
Cherry Ventures
An early-stage firm that writes pre-seed cheques across Europe and follows its companies into later rounds.
- Invests in: early stage. It announced "$500m in new funds" on 4 February 2025, split between a flagship Early Stage fund and an opportunity fund for Series B and beyond.
- AI startups backed: telli, a Berlin company building AI for customer-facing operations, and Cortea, a Berlin company building AI audit agents for audit firms.
- Latest Berlin deal: a follow-on in telli's $15M seed round, announced on 23 July 2026 and led by redalpine.
- Recent new investment: it led Zaro's $5.1 million pre-seed round, announced on 9 June 2026. Zaro is based in London.
- Website: cherry.vc
Redstone
A Berlin firm that invests through separate thematic strategies, one of which is built around deep tech.
- Invests in: early stage. Its DeepTech strategy covers "AI, photonics, robotics, connectivity, and novel computing".
- AI startups backed: Ficus Health, whose site describes it as automating occupancy and documentation processes with AI for medical rehabilitation.
- Latest Berlin deal: it led Ficus Health's €3 million round, announced on 11 December 2025.
- Website: redstone.vc
Robin Capital
A Berlin solo-GP fund writing early cheques, with a mandate that runs into AI.
- Invests in: "Angel and Pre-Seed to Seed", in what it calls "Software 3.0, such as AI", primarily across Europe.
- AI startups backed: its portfolio page records 2026 investments in sci2sci, Ontora, Colare and Reltix, each tagged AI. The same page dates its holding in Almetra, a Berlin manufacturing intelligence company, to 2023.
- Latest Berlin deal: a follow-on in Almetra's $19M Series A, announced on 25 June 2026 and led by blisce/.
- Website: robincap.com
Also worth knowing
Several firms without a Berlin mandate are worth knowing about too. Speedinvest and DIG Ventures both backed Tower, a Berlin company building a Python-native platform for data engineers, in its €5.5 million pre-seed and seed rounds. redalpine led telli's seed. Antler runs its European residency from what it calls its "main hub in Berlin", commits up to €500K at inception and starts cohorts in March and September.
Other support in the region
The State of Berlin and IBB Ventures launched B# Plus on 7 September 2026, adding €1 million from the State of Berlin and the ERDF to the B# pre-seed fund for deep tech teams with at least one female founder; MyoPax was announced as its first recipient on 13 October 2026.
FAQ
Which of these investors backs AI and nothing else?
Merantix Capital. Its fund is for "AI-native companies" and its June 2026 vehicle is described as a €103 million AI Fund.
I am pre-product. Is it too early?
Not for everyone here. Robin Capital invests from "Angel and Pre-Seed to Seed", and Merantix Capital invests from the pre-idea stage through pre-seed and seed.
How were these investors chosen?
Each one has a dated investment in a Berlin company within the past 24 months or a fund mandate limited to the city, states that it invests at pre-seed, seed or Series A or describes itself as an early-stage investor, has made a new investment since May 2025, and either states an AI focus or has done an AI deal in that window. This guide treats Berlin as Land Berlin and its twelve Bezirke, so Potsdam and Schönefeld are Brandenburg and out, even where a company's own marketing says Berlin. More firms clear that bar than fit on one page, so which five appear here is a judgement about what is useful to an early-stage AI founder.
How do I find which Berlin investors fit my startup?
Platvix is an investment intelligence platform for founders. It helps you through your fundraising journey, from analysing your pitch deck to finding the right capital for your startup, including VC firms, angels, accelerators and grants.
Where to go from here
Find the Berlin investors most likely to back you
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Tags
- Investors
- AI Startups
- Germany Fundraising
- Pre-seed
- venture-capital
About the author
Zeeshan Ali, Co-Founder
Co-founder at Platvix, building an investment intelligence platform and the ecosystem around it so founders become investment-ready faster and VCs make stronger decisions. I focus on operations, partnerships, and community building, turning strategy into execution through programmes, processes, and founder support.