Brighteye Ventures has announced the first close of its third fund at $72 million. With this new fund, the venture capital firm’s total assets under management (AUM) have reached $245 million.
Brighteye Ventures invests in early-stage European startups working on the future of learning and work. The firm looks for companies that can help people learn, work, and adapt to changing technology.
Since it was founded, Brighteye has invested in more than 50 companies. These startups have collectively raised over $1 billion, while several companies in its portfolio now generate more than $100 billion in annual revenue.
The latest fund has attracted new investors including Lumina Foundation, Zanichelli, and PI Impact. Existing investors, including the European Investment Fund (EIF), Jacobs Foundation, and several European family offices, also backed the fund.
Brighteye’s 2026 report found that funding for European companies focused on learning and work more than doubled from 2024 to 2025, rising from €710 million to €1.6 billion. This was the highest annual funding level since 2021.
The trend has continued in 2026. Companies in the European learning and work sector raised around $1.63 billion (€1.4 billion) during the first half of the year, putting the sector on track for another strong year.
Brighteye’s new HumanOS: Technology that helps people learn, work and adapt Fund III expands its focus to startups that can improve human capabilities. The firm expects to make up to 35 investments across areas such as AI, learning, productivity, and labour infrastructure.
One of the fund’s early investments is imagi, a company that helps schools build AI skills and use AI more effectively in education. Brighteye will also back AI and productivity platforms that can have an impact in important sectors such as healthcare, education, infrastructure, cybersecurity, and climate.
Another early Fund III investment is NEX Health Intelligence, which provides AI-powered support for infection-control teams in hospitals. Brighteye believes the growing connection between learning and productivity will create new opportunities for technology companies.
Brighteye will also invest in managed labour platforms and talent software that help businesses and workers deal with changing labour markets. Its existing portfolio includes European labour marketplaces such as Zen Educate, Ornikar, Shakers, and installer.
Ben Wirz, Founding Partner at Brighteye, said: “The defining opportunity of the AI era is not replacing humans with machines. It is expanding what humans can do with machines. Autonomous intelligence multiplies the potential value of human skills, judgement, and talent. The next generation of category-defining companies will use technology to redefine human capability. We call this the HumanOS and we’re partnering early with the founders building in this space.”
Brighteye Ventures has recently promoted three team members. David Guérin has been promoted to Partner, Isabella Vahdati to Principal, and Rhys Spence to Head of Platform & Research.
The firm’s team is evenly divided between investment and platform roles, with employees based in London and Paris.
