Presto News | Q1 2025

Dear partners & friends of Presto,

Q1 didn’t just come out swinging – it came out sprinting.

Global tensions, defense budgets, and technological ambition: all surged higher. For us, that meant doing what we do best: staying ahead of the curve, backing bold builders (more exciting announcements coming soon!), and unlocking new opportunities across the portfolio.

We’ve entered the second quarter with more conviction than ever – as AI continues to reshape industries at pace and geopolitical shifts influence market dynamics, we’re doubling down on what matters: helping founders navigate change, not just react to it 🧭

The momentum is real. Let’s keep it up.

Without further ado, feel free to jump to the sections that interest you the most:‌‌
1. Highlights ‌‌
2. Market insights ‌‌
3. Brainfood ‌‌
4. #MeetPresto‌‌
5. Department of memes

⭐ Highlights

• From the battlefield to Forbes and TechCrunch – congrats to the Vidar Systems team 👏🏼 It’s been incredible to watch Vidar gain traction: expanding their footprint in Ukraine and beyond, building capabilities across multiple markets, and earning recognition from top-tier global media.
  
• 1000 | 100 | 10 …and counting. What do Wired, Financial Times, and EU-Startups have in common? They’ve all featured our portfolio companies on their latest rankings and watchlists:

• Meanwhile, our portfolio momentum keeps building: Klipy is rewriting how the GIF industry makes money – and has just wrapped up a star-studded funding round. No less ambitious, Outfindo raises €1.2M late seed to transform how people shop online.

Many #portfolioproud moments this past quarter – and plenty more ahead 👌🏼

💡 Market insights

‌‌Global and European market news

• Global VC investment rebounded slightly to $126B, driven by a handful of mega-deals, most notably OpenAI’s historic $40B raise, along with significant rounds from Anthropic ($3.5B), Infinite Reality ($3B), and Groq ($1.5B). However, overall deal count declined, marking a continued shift toward fewer but larger investments, reflecting concentrated capital deployment.
• The US led global investment, attracting over two-thirds of VC funding globally. Europe’s VC value held steady at $18B, led by Binance’s $2B raise, followed by German proptech firm Reneo at $624M. Asia hit a new low, with funding falling to $12.9B.
• The exit environment remained muted, with only a modest uptick in value. IPOs continued to stall amid geopolitical uncertainty – companies like Klarna and StubHub postponed plans. M&A was the primary driver of liquidity: Google’s $33B acquisition of Wiz became the largest-ever M&A deal for a VC-backed private firm.

Market outlook

• AI is firmly at the center of investor interest, capturing 71% of total US VC capital in Q1. The sector is expected to remain a key driver of deal volume and exit activity throughout 2025.
• Geopolitical shifts are fueling investment in defense tech, spacetech, and alternative energy. The US led with major raises by Saronic Technologies ($600M) and ShieldAI ($240M). Even though the cleantech hype has faded, areas like nuclear and next-gen power still present a serious opportunity.
• Tariff-related uncertainty is weighing on sentiment, with investors delaying decisions until market clarity improves. The trajectory of US-China relations and AI-related regulation will be pivotal, particularly for deep tech and semiconductor investments.

For a deep-dive on these market highlights 👆🏼 follow these resources 👇🏼

• Venture Pulse Q1 2025 | KPMG
• State of Venture Q1 2025 | CB Insights
• Venture Monitor Q1 2025 | PitchBook & NVCA
• State of AI Q1 2025  | CB Insights

🧠 Brainfood

‌‌In-house thoughts worth sharing 🙌🏼

• Satellites, drones, mental grit – and beyond | Premysl Rubes
  Premysl breaks down why modern defense is about so much more than firepower. In today's unpredictable world, resilience simply means thinking ahead – and many of the current defense technologies might soon reshape industries far beyond the battlefield.
• We can’t face new threats without modern tech | Lucie Bresova  
  The key to Europe’s competitiveness? Facing reality – and investing in economic resilience through cutting-edge tech. In her interview with E15, Lucie explains how technological sovereignty underpins our ability to respond to emerging threats.  
• What’s Presto focusing on now? | Vojta Rocek
  43 companies, 37 funding rounds from external investors, 1 early exit, and more than €100M in subsequent portfolio funding. With our Fund II now closed, Vojta spoke with The Recursive about the Presto process, principles, and portfolio.
  

More VC thoughts to feed your mind 📚

• The ‘Intangible’ Game: How VCs See You | Omri Drory
  NFX outlines the hidden criteria VCs use to evaluate founders: grit, obsession, and a deep sense of mission. These intangibles, though rarely on a pitch deck, often drive a ‘must-invest’ reaction.
• Why Is Jensen Huang $120B Richer Than You? | Evan Armstrong
  Every analyzes Jensen Huang’s ascent, highlighting his long-game strategy. Evan breaks down how conviction, storytelling, and product-market timing turned technical insight into generational wealth and market dominance.
• Defense Tech Roadmap | Janelle Teng, Christopher Wan, Jason Scheller, David Cowan, Tess Hatch
  Bessemer outlines a framework for investing in defense startups, mapping key categories like autonomy, sensing, and cybersecurity. Learn how and why modern defense innovation is shifting from legacy contractors to venture-backed agility.
• AI 2027 Forecast | Daniel Kokotajlo, Scott Alexander, Thomas Larsen, Eli Lifland, Romeo Dean
  Five futures for AI: ranging from business-as-usual to explosive acceleration. Drawing on forecasting models and expert consensus, the authors outline what the near-future might hold, and what it means for safety, regulation, and societal transformation.

👋🏼 #MeetPresto

From Tallinn to Rome, from Dublin to Tel Aviv – Q2 is absolutely packed 🤯

We’re hitting defensetech and deeptech events at full speed: from hackathons and military expos to startup summits and dual-use showcases. Catch us if you can. ‌‌‌‌

May 2025
🇬🇷 DEFEA | May 6-8 | Athens, Greece
🇱🇹 Baltic Miltech Summit | May 7 | Vilnius, Lithuania
🇮🇹 Rome StartUp Week | May 7-8 | Rome, Italy
🇨🇿 EUDIS Defence Hackathon | May 9-11 | Prague, Czechia
🇬🇧 London Defence Tech Hackathon | May 10-11 | London, UK
🇩🇪 Deep Tech Momentum | May 13-15 | Berlin, Germany
🇵🇱 European Defence Innovation Days | May 14-16 | Krakow, Poland
🇪🇪 Supply Security Defence Expo | May 14-16 | Tallinn, Estonia
🇱🇻 Deep Tech Atelier | May 15-16 | Riga, Latvia
🇨🇿 reVize Česka | May 19 | Prague, Czechia
🇨🇿 IDC CIO Summit | May 20-21 | Prague, Czechia
🇩🇪 CIHBw DisrupTech | May 20 | Berlin, Germany
🇩🇪 GITEX Europe | May 21-23 | Berlin, Germany
🇪🇪 Latitude 59 | May 21-23 | Tallinn, Estonia
🇪🇪 NATO DIANA Demo Day | May 21 | Tallinn, Estonia
🇨🇿 Forbes Women’s Summit | May 22 | Prague, Czechia
🇸🇪 Mashup | May 27 | Malmö, Sweden
🇵🇱 EU Space Days | May 27-28 | Gdańsk, Poland
🇮🇪 Dublin Tech Summit | May 28-29 | Dublin, Ireland
🇨🇿 Defending Europe Together | May 28-29 | Brno, Czechia
🇨🇿 IDET & ISET Fair | May 28-30 | Brno, Czechia

June 2025
🇩🇪 Future of Computing Conference | Jun 2 | Berlin, Germany
🇩🇪 Mission 2044 Rearm Europe Summit | Jun 4 | Berlin, Germany
🇨🇿 EDTH Hackathon Prague | Jun 6-8 | Prague, Czechia
🇧🇪 European Defence & Security Summit | Jun 10-11 | Brussels, Belgium
🇫🇷 VIVA Technology | Jun 11-14 | Paris, France
🇨🇿 BTC Prague | Jun 19-21 | Prague, Czechia
🇮🇱 AI WEEK | Jun 25-26 | Tel Aviv, Israel
🇩🇪 TUM Entrepreneurship Day | Jun 26 | Munich, Germany
🇩🇪 European SpinOff Summit | Jun 30 | Munich, Germany

🤓 Department of memes

That's it from Presto. ‌‌
‌‌Stay tuned for the next issue ✌🏼