Lisbon and London-based VC, Defiant, has launched a $30 million fund to support early-stage B2B SaaS and fintech startups across Europe. The firm aims to raise $70 million for its inaugural fund.
- Founded in 2024 by Joseph Pizzolato and Cam Rail, Defiant invests in seed rounds with ticket sizes ranging from $1 million to $3 million, and Series A rounds ranging from $2 million to $10 million, primarily across Europe, with occasional investments in the US.
- Defiant aims to enter the investment ecosystem differently by dedicating a third of its budget to product development. The firm has created two main products to streamline deal sourcing and support founders, including:
- Morpheus analyzes pitch decks using AI to extract key data like revenue, acquisition costs, and employee count, which is then used for competitive analysis to identify top and underperforming companies.
- Blueprint allows founders to compare their startup’s metrics with competitors and see how VCs view their business. The tool also helps Defiant gather fresh data for its database.
"We are surfacing insights from 200+ VC Backed B2B SaaS businesses to show you what great looks like - SaaS Blueprint helps Founders understand what their business through the eyes of a VC, while Benchmarks is for those who want to get straight to the data," Partner at Defiant, Cam Rail, commented on LinkedIn.
- The new fund will invest $1 million to $10 million in 15 to 20 early-stage B2B SaaS and fintech startups, focusing on late seed and Series A rounds, with Defiant leading or co-leading funding rounds.
- Defiant's fund has received support from family offices and tech industry professionals, including general partners from Atomico, Cherry Ventures, Hedosophia, Salesforce Ventures, Earlybird, Vitruvian, GRO, Mubadala, and Seek Ventures.
