€7M fund to back the most exceptional Gen Z founders
Press release
Helsinki, May 15, 2025 – Wave Ventures, Europe’s largest Gen Z-run VC fund, announces its third fund at €7 million, tripling the size of its previous fund and cementing its position as the leading early-stage backer of Gen Z founders across the Nordics and Baltics. Wave’s third fund is backed by a diverse network of investors, including founders of Slack, Bolt, Skype, Supercell, Wolt, Silo AI, and Smartly.io, as well as European early-stage VCs, and family offices.
The fund launches at a pivotal time for early-stage investing in the region. The rapid advancement of generative AI, no-code tools, and open-source technologies is making entrepreneurship more accessible than ever, while the Nordic startup ecosystem continues to gain global momentum.
Founded in 2016, Wave Ventures has established a strong track record in identifying exceptional early-stage talent. Over its first two funds, Wave Ventures has made over 50 initial investments as the first backer and invested in nearly 80% of VC-backed Finnish startups led by CEOs under 30. Wave Ventures’ previous investments include, for example, Inven, Intergrid, Exa Laboratories (YC S24), Vetnio (YC W25), Paebbl, Normative, and Carbo Culture.
Wave’s model is grounded in a core principle: proximity to the next generation of builders. The fund is operated entirely by a small rotating team of top Gen Z investors embedded in startup ecosystems across Helsinki, Stockholm, and Tallinn. This structure provides Wave with real-time access to the communities where the most ambitious Gen Z founders are emerging, often before they appear on the radar of VCs.
Now, with Fund III, Wave plans to scale this approach across the Nordics and Baltics, aiming to invest in 3 to 10 new teams per country each year, focusing on first-ticket angel and pre-seed rounds up to €100,000.
Antonia Eneh, CEO of Wave Ventures, said: “AI is unlocking a new era of speed and scale: young founders are moving faster than ever, thinking bigger, and building globally from day one. This generation understands the problems that matter and has the tools to solve them. Wave is built to find them and back them first.”
Cal Henderson, co-founder of Slack, said: “Wave Ventures has a truly unique advantage, connecting to the most promising young European entrepreneurs before any other investors could ever have them on their radar. Having seen firsthand the incredible talent and drive of the youth emerging from Finland and the Nordics, I believe we’re about to witness a wave of incredible new companies built by this next generation of founders.”
More information:
Antonia Eneh
CEO, Wave Ventures
+358 45 889 5454
antonia@wave.ventures
Emma Kettunen
Chief Marketing Officer, Wave Ventures
+358 440 56 4114
emma@wave.ventures
