Headline
About Headline
Global venture firm.
Headline, formerly e.ventures, was founded in 1998. Sources name the founders differently. Vestbee lists Christian Leybold, Andreas Haug, Mathias Schilling, Thomas Gieselmann, Jan Buettner and Akio Tanaka. Mathias Schilling is a co-founder and managing partner. The firm says it manages over $5 billion and has offices in San Francisco, Berlin, Paris, London, Sao Paulo, Taipei and Tokyo. On AI, partner Jon Userovici said the next generation of great AI companies is being founded in Europe and that Headline wants to be their first call. Taylor Brandt, a partner, led the Heidi Health investment.
Headline runs regional early-stage funds in the US, Europe, Asia and Brazil, plus a San Francisco growth fund that invests globally. It closed Headline EU VIII, a US$258.8M fund for European seed and Series A companies, with a stated focus on AI. It also closed Headline Global Growth IV in September 2024, with $865M committed for Series B and later rounds. The firm first backed Mistral AI at seed in 2023, weeks after the company was founded, and has invested in every round since. It led Heidi Health's Series A extension of about $16.6M in March 2025 and took part in later rounds. Headline also says it helps European companies expand into the US.
Headline invests from seed through growth. Vestbee reports checks of $1M to $50M. Dealroom says the Global Growth Fund can lead later rounds of $100M or more. Headline has not published check sizes by stage.
- Mistral AI: European foundation model developer. Headline invested at seed in 2023 and in every round since, including the $640M Series B in June 2024.
- Heidi Health: AI medical scribe moving toward an AI care partner for clinicians. Headline led the 2025 Series A extension and joined the September 2026 Series C, part of a $340M equity and growth financing.
- Black Forest Labs: listed by Dealroom among Headline's European portfolio.
- Skalar: €12M seed round, July 2026, listed on the Lounge deals desk with Headline as lead.
- Plumery: $3M seed, February 2026, from the Lounge deals desk.
- Delfos Energy: €3M seed, March 2026, from the Lounge deals desk.
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headline_(company))
- crunchbase.com/organization/headlinevc
- businesswire.com/news/home/20240918812241/en/Headline-Closes-$865-Mill
- vestbee.com/insights/articles/headline-closes-865-m
- dealroom.co/news/158220-headline-closes-400m-fund-for-european-seed-an
- mobihealthnews.com/news/anz/melbourne-based-heidi-health-expand-ai-scr
- fiercehealthcare.com/ai-and-machine-learning/heidi-lands-340m-build-ai
- headline.com/blog-latest/article-latest/our-investment-in-heidi-health
Investing activity
Headline appears in 6 AI deals tracked by the AI Lounge deals desk, rounds totalling $1.14B, and led 1 of them. The rounds are mostly Seed, Series C and Growth, with a median round size of $150M and the largest at $640M. The most recent are Serval (Series C, $150M, Oct 2026), Heidi Health (Equity + debt, $340M, Sep 2026) and Skalar (Seed, €12M, Jul 2026).
Headline most often invests alongside General Catalyst, Sequoia Capital, Conviction and Evantic Capital, and the companies it backs on AI Lounge are mostly in AI, AI agents for enterprise support and Clinical AI.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Headline
Does Headline invest in AI startups?
Yes. Headline backs Mistral AI and Heidi Health. Its EU VIII fund for seed and Series A has a stated focus on AI.
What check size does Headline write?
Vestbee reports $1M to $50M. Dealroom says its growth fund can lead rounds of $100M or more. Headline does not publish a per-stage breakdown.
Which stages does Headline invest in?
It invests at seed and Series A through regional funds. Headline Global Growth IV targets Series B and later.
How large are Headline's funds?
Headline Global Growth IV has $865M committed, and Headline EU VIII is US$258.8M. The firm says it manages over $5B in total.
Where is Headline based and who founded it?
It is based in San Francisco and was founded in 1998 as e.ventures. Founders named in sources include Mathias Schilling, Christian Leybold, Andreas Haug, Thomas Gieselmann and Akio Tanaka.
What AI companies has Headline invested in?
Headline's AI investments include Serval, Heidi Health, Skalar, Delfos Energy, Plumery and Mistral AI. The 6 rounds on AI Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
Where is Headline based?
Headline is based in San Francisco, US.
What stage does Headline invest at?
In the rounds tracked on AI Lounge, Headline has invested at Seed, Series C, Growth and Series B, with a median round of $150M. Headline led 1 of those rounds.
Who does Headline co-invest with?
Headline's most frequent co-investors on AI Lounge are General Catalyst (2 deals), Sequoia Capital (1 deal), Conviction (1 deal), Evantic Capital (1 deal) and Elad Gil (1 deal).
How can founders reach Headline?
Founders on AI Lounge can see Headline's contact details in AI Investor Contacts (paid plans), check for a warm introduction through members who worked with the firm under Warm Paths, and add Headline to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.