Venture Capital · Profile from Venture Capital Research Companion
Atomico
The London firm founded by Skype co-founder Niklas Zennström to prove that Europe could build global technology companies, which grew from a founder's personal vehicle into one of Europe's largest Series A-to-growth investors and the ecosystem's best-known publisher of data on European tech.
At a glance
- Founded
- 2006, London
- Founders
- Niklas Zennström (co-founder of Kazaa, Skype and Joost), with early partners including Mattias Ljungman and Geoffrey Prentice (founding roster indicative, verify)
- Headquarters
- London; partners and team members historically based in Stockholm, Berlin, Paris and elsewhere in Europe; early offices in São Paulo, Beijing, Tokyo and Istanbul later closed or scaled back
- Ownership / structure
- Private partnership led by its founder; separate venture (Series A/B) and, since 2024, separately branded growth funds
- Leadership (2026)
- Niklas Zennström (CEO and founding partner); partners have included Hiro Tamura, Irina Haivas, Sasha Vidiborskiy, Tom Wehmeier, Siraj Khaliq, Niall Wass and Laura Connell (roster indicative, verify)
- AUM / capital raised
- ~$5bn+ raised across funds since 2006 (reported); last raise $1.24bn in September 2024 (Venture VI $485m, Growth VI $754m)
- Stage focus
- Series A and B in European technology companies, with growth follow-ons and selective growth leads; sectors include software and AI, fintech, deep tech and climate, health, games and consumer
- Signature investments
- Rovio, Supercell, Truecaller, Klarna (reported backer), Graphcore, Lilium, MessageBird, Hinge Health, Varjo, Mapillary, Infarm; failures and disappointments: Lilium (insolvent 2024–25), Infarm (collapsed 2023), Graphcore (sold below capital raised, 2024), Fab and Jawbone (early-2010s consumer bets)
10 deals and moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
2011
Rovio
Series A
2013
Supercell
Growth Round
2014
Truecaller
Series C
2016
Lilium
Series A
2016
Mapillary
Series A
2017
Graphcore
Series B
2017
MessageBird
Series A
2018
Varjo
Series B
2019
Hinge Health
Series B
2019
Infarm
Series B