London-based Tapestry VC has closed an $80 million third fund to double down on what it believes is one of Europe’s biggest long-term advantages: repeat founders.
The firm says entrepreneurs starting their second or third companies have created more than $2 trillion in enterprise value across Europe, and expects the coming wave of AI exits to produce another generation of experienced founders.
“There’s beginning to be this super cycle of repeat founders in Europe,” co-founder and managing partner Patrick Murphy said in an interview with Crunchbase News. He recently relocated from San Francisco back to London, where the firm has also opened a new flagship office.
Repeat founders bring not just experience, but connections and the ability to hire quickly to the table, according to Murphy.
From its new fund, Tapestry plans to invest in a similar number of companies as it did with prior funds: Around 30 companies at pre-seed or seed.
Prior fund check sizes were around $1 million but checks from the new fund will trend larger, from around $1 million to $3 million, according to the firm.
The team seeks out previous founders even before they have decided what’s next. “Let’s spend time together before you start your new company. Let’s ideate, let’s brainstorm,” said Murphy. “We’re not taking anything for that — we’re not an incubator, we’re not an accelerator.”
The firm’s earlier bets include smartphone and earbud developer Nothing and AI customer service startup Fin AI, which was recently acquired by Salesforce 1 for $3.6 billion.
Other investments over the years include drone delivery startup Manna Air Delivery and Sunrise Robotics, which works to automate manufacturing. It also has a renewed focus around AI security with investments in Tracebit, Maze and Keycard.
New investors in this fund are sovereign investor British Business Bank, alongside pension fund Railpen and fund of fund Molten Ventures. Notably, Sarah Friar, CFO at OpenAI, is also an investor in the fund.
“I think encouraging a vibrant boutique seed environment for funding is very important for encouraging creative new people to start interesting, different and weird businesses,” said Murphy.
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Illustration: Dom Guzman
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