Lakestar
About Lakestar
Lakestar is a venture capital firm investing in technology companies led by exceptional entrepreneurs. Early investments included Skype, Spotify, Facebook, and Airbnb. Since raising the first fund in 2013, Lakestar manages an aggregated volume of over EUR 1bn across three early-stage funds, and more recently a growth fund. The company has expanded and broadened its portfolio and holds investments in the likes of Opendoor, Oscar, GetYourGuide, Glovo, Sender, Eigen, Five, Revolut, and Hometogo to name a few. Lakestar has a presence in Berlin, Zurich, and London. Lakestar helps companies to identify new markets and expand into them rapidly, with a focus on the US and Europe. The team advises and supports portfolio companies in business development, recruitment, technology, and marketing. The investments range from early-stage companies to those in their growth stage.
Klaus Hommels founded Lakestar in 2012 and is its Founder and Chairman. Before that he was an early investor in Skype, Spotify and Facebook. In April 2024 Lakestar closed Lakestar Early IV and Lakestar Growth II for about $600M combined, which brought assets under management to EUR 2bn. LinkedIn now describes the firm as running four early-stage funds and two growth funds. Lakestar has not publicly named a dedicated AI partner. Third-party directories list Andreas Klukas as a partner, but no source ties him to AI investing.
Lakestar treats AI as one of several sectors, alongside fintech, deep tech, healthcare and digitalisation. At the 2024 fund close Hommels named AI among the sectors critical to European sovereignty. Recent AI deals show two patterns. Lakestar led the seed rounds of Antidote, which makes AI billing compliance software for law firms, and SE3 Labs, which builds a spatial AI platform for autonomous defense systems. It has also joined larger seed rounds led by others, such as Twin1 AI, whose $20M seed was co-led by Bessemer Venture Partners, Tribeca Venture Partners and Aramco Ventures.
Lakestar describes itself as investing from Seed to Growth. It has not published check sizes. One third-party database estimates EUR 500K to EUR 50M across stages, but this is not confirmed by the firm. Venture Codex data shows a mix of lead and participating roles. Lakestar led the Antidote and SE3 Labs rounds listed here and took part in the Pit, Agon and Twin1 rounds.
- Antidote: London-based AI billing compliance software for law firms; reported $5M seed in January 2026, led by Lakestar with Concept Ventures and The LegalTech Fund.
- SE3 Labs: Munich-based spatial AI platform for autonomous defense systems; EUR 5.5M round in June 2026, led by Lakestar.
- Twin1 AI: enterprise AI digital twins for knowledge workers; $20M seed in August 2026, co-led by Bessemer, Tribeca and Aramco Ventures, with Lakestar participating.
- Pit: Stockholm-based AI startup; $16M seed in May 2026, Lakestar participating.
- Agon: AI seed round of $23M in July 2026 per the Lounge deals desk; Lakestar participating.
- linkedin.com/company/lakestar-vc
- tech.eu/2024/04/12/lakestar-closes-600m-funds-aims-to-strengthen-europ
- startupticker.ch/en/news/lakestar-raises-600-million
- uktech.news/legal/antidote-ai-legal-tech-4m-seed
- thesaasnews.com/news/se3-labs-raises-5-5m-seed
- siliconangle.com/2026/08/20/twin1-ai-raises-20m-to-p
- theventurecodex.com/funds/lakestar
- venturecapitalarchive.com/venture-funds/lakestar-lakestar-com
Investing activity
Lakestar appears in 6 AI deals tracked by the AI Lounge deals desk, rounds totalling $59M, and led 3 of them. The rounds are mostly Seed, with a median round size of $16M and the largest at $23M. The most recent are Twin1 AI (Seed, $20M, Aug 2026), Agon (Seed, $23M, Jul 2026) and SE3 Labs (Seed, $6.3M (EUR 5.5M), Jun 2026).
Lakestar most often invests alongside Concept Ventures, Tribeca Venture Partners, Aramco Ventures and Bessemer Venture Partners, and the companies it backs on AI Lounge are mostly in AI.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Lakestar
Does Lakestar invest in AI startups?
Yes. Lakestar lists AI among its focus sectors and has recently led seed rounds in Antidote and SE3 Labs. It has also joined rounds in Twin1 AI, Pit and Agon.
What stages does Lakestar invest at?
Lakestar says it invests from Seed to Growth. Its April 2024 funds were Lakestar Early IV for early-stage deals and Lakestar Growth II for later-stage deals.
How big are Lakestar's checks?
Lakestar does not publish check sizes. A third-party database estimates EUR 500K to EUR 50M across stages, which is unconfirmed. Recent led seed rounds were around $5M to $6.3M in total round size.
Who founded Lakestar and where is it based?
Klaus Hommels founded Lakestar in 2012. The firm is headquartered in Zurich and also has offices in Berlin and London.
How large are Lakestar's funds?
Lakestar closed Early IV and Growth II for about $600M in April 2024. Assets under management are about EUR 2bn.
What AI companies has Lakestar invested in?
Lakestar's AI investments include Twin1 AI, Agon, SE3 Labs, Pit, Antidote and Antidote Legal. The 6 rounds on AI Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
Where is Lakestar based?
Lakestar is based in Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland.
What stage does Lakestar invest at?
In the rounds tracked on AI Lounge, Lakestar has invested at Seed, with a median round of $16M. Lakestar led 3 of those rounds.
Who does Lakestar co-invest with?
Lakestar's most frequent co-investors on AI Lounge are Concept Ventures (2 deals), Tribeca Venture Partners (1 deal), Aramco Ventures (1 deal), Bessemer Venture Partners (1 deal) and AGI House Ventures (1 deal).
How can founders reach Lakestar?
Founders on AI Lounge can see Lakestar'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 Lakestar to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.