Dig Ventures Launches $100M Fund to Fuel Early-Stage European Tech Startups
The Rise of Operator-Led VC Firms in Europe
The European venture capital landscape is undergoing a transformation, with a growing number of “operator VCs”—successful founders transitioning into investment roles. While this model has long been dominant in the U.S., Europe has traditionally favored VCs with banking or finance backgrounds. Notable examples of this shift include:
- Taavet Hinrikus (Wise founder)
- Oscar Pierre (Glovo founder, Yellow Fund)
- Christian Reber (Pitch founder)
Dig Ventures: From Family Office to Institutional VC
Founded by Ross Mason after his \(6.5 billion exit of MuleSoft to Salesforce in 2018, [Dig Ventures](https://www.dig.ventures/) has evolved from a family office into a full-fledged venture capital firm. Partnering with [Melissa Klinger](https://uk.linkedin.com/in/melissa-lester), former U.K. sales lead at MuleSoft, the firm has now closed its first institutional fund at \)100 million.
Investment Focus:
- Stages: Pre-seed and seed
- Sectors: B2B SaaS, AI, and cloud infrastructure
- Geography: Primarily Europe, with selective investments in Israel and the U.S.
Backing and Investment Strategy
The fund has attracted prominent limited partners including:
- The Hillman Company
- Granite Capital
- Sofina
- Grove Street
Notable angel investors include Datadog founder Olivier Pomel and several MuleSoft executives.
Operator-Led Advantage
Dig Ventures differentiates itself through its hands-on, operator-led approach, offering portfolio companies:
- Go-to-market strategy development
- Execution support
- Technical product commercialization expertise
Expanded Leadership Team
The investment team includes seasoned operators:
- Rytis Vitkauskas: YPlan founder (acquired by Time Out), former Lightspeed partner
- Scott Grimes: Stackin’ and Uproxx co-founder (acquired by Warner Music)
Current Portfolio and Recent Investments
Dig’s portfolio showcases its focus on technical, scalable solutions:
Notable Holdings:
- People.ai
- Karat
- Bubble
- ComplyAdvantage
- PlanetScale
Recent Deployments:
Market Insights from Dig’s Leadership
On European AI Potential
“Europe is a real dark horse in AI,” says Klinger. “We have top-tier talent at half the U.S. cost, with groundbreaking research emerging from our universities. The challenge lies in securing sufficient funding for capital-intensive AI ventures.”
On Enterprise AI Trends
Mason predicts: “Enterprises are entering an AI arms race, particularly with in-house LLM development. The foundation layer remains unfinished despite vendor claims. We’ll see more packaged open-source solutions as companies seek data control.”
The Future of European Venture Capital
With geopolitical shifts creating economic uncertainty and Europe demonstrating strong early-stage momentum, the continent may be poised to develop its own influential cohort of operator-VCs, mirroring the U.S. success stories of figures like Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen.
Dig Ventures’ new fund positions it at the forefront of this evolution, combining operational expertise with deep technical knowledge to identify and nurture Europe’s next generation of transformative tech companies.
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