Revolut Backer Shifts Focus to Existing Deals

One of Europe’s top venture capital (VC) firms is reportedly closing to external investors.

Lakestar, which has backed tech giants like Revolut and Spotify, is now focusing on its existing deals, the Financial Times reported Thursday (Oct. 23).

The VC firm, led by veteran investor Klaus Hommels, plans to focus on its current investments such as defense technology groups Helsing and Auterion, while still backing a new generation of European start-ups.

“Going forward both Lakestar’s and my focus will be on maximizing the potential of the existing portfolio and we will not raise any new generalist venture funds as we have in the past,” Hommels wrote in a letter sent to limited partners — the institutional groups that have funded the company thus far — and seen by the FT.

The report notes that Lakestar is joining other VC groups including Vy Capital — a key investor in Elon Musk’s companies — in pulling back from raising external capital after big windfalls. This strategy is aimed at letting the company focus solely on maximizing gains with more flexibility to spend its own capital, without the constraints and time commitment of raising outside funds.

Hommels wrote that his firm will also “seed promising ventures initiated by talented members of the Lakestar team as they embark on their own entrepreneurial journeys.”

In addition to Revolut and Spotify, Lakestar has also invested in procurement platform Vertice, which raised $50 million in a Series C funding round earlier this year.

In other VC news, PYMNTS wrote earlier this month about artificial intelligence’s (AI) continued dominance in this space, while industries such as healthcare, mobility and climate face slower deal cycles and reduced funding rounds.

CFOs, that report said, are also showing restraint. According to PYMNTS Intelligence, just a little more than 26% of all finance leaders plan to increase generative AI budgets in 2026, down from 53.3% a year earlier. Half of firms reporting strong returns will boost spending, while just 16.7% of those seeing negligible ROI plan to do so.

“That split reflects what PYMNTS has called the ROI paradox: adoption is soaring, with infrastructure spending forecast to reach trillions, but the economics have yet to catch up,” that report said.

“For now, AI dominates venture capital in scale and in focus. The money is flowing to a few large players while the rest of the industries see funding pools shrink.”