Wave Ventures, the largest Gen Z-led VC fund in Europe, has announced the close of its third fund at €7 million, tripling the size of its previous fund. Based in Finland, the firm has built a reputation as the go-to investor for the most ambitious Gen Z founders in the Nordics and Baltics. With this new fund, Wave doubles down on its unique model: a student-run VC with unmatched proximity to emerging tech talent.
The new fund is backed by a slew of entrepreneurs and institutions, including founders of Slack, Skype, Supercell, Wolt, Bolt, Smartly.io, Silo AI, as well as top-tier Nordic VCs and family offices. It positions Wave Ventures to expand its reach and offer first-ticket angel and pre-seed investments of up to €100,000 per startup, targeting 3 to 10 new teams per country per year.
Built by and for the next generation of founders
Founded in 2016 and led by Antonia Eneh, Wave Ventures is not a typical VC. The fund is operated entirely by a rotating team of top university students embedded in the startup ecosystems of Helsinki, Stockholm, and Tallinn. This distinctive approach gives Wave a frontline view of emerging innovation, often before these ideas reach traditional venture capital.
This strategy has enabled Wave to build a standout track record: nearly 80% of VC-backed Finnish startups led by CEOs under 30 have received early investment from Wave. The firm has made 50+ early-stage investments and continues to lead the way in identifying promising Gen Z-led companies long before they enter mainstream VC pipelines.
Timing the Gen Z entrepreneurship wave
The launch of Fund III comes when entrepreneurship is becoming more accessible thanks to no-code tools, open-source frameworks, and the growing influence of Genai. For Gen Z, digital natives with a global mindset, the barriers to building and scaling technology startups have never been lower.
Wave Ventures is strategically positioned to seize this moment. With its grassroots model, it can deploy capital quickly, connect founders to top-tier networks, and provide support tailored to the earliest stages of a founder’s journey.
Investment portfolio
Since its debut, Wave Ventures has backed some of the most exciting new ventures emerging from the Nordics and Baltics. Its growing portfolio includes:
- Carbo Culture: A climate tech startup transforming carbon into biochar
- Normative: A carbon accounting platform backed by Google and 2150
- Paebbl: A startup developing carbon-negative materials for sustainable manufacturing
- Intergrid: A next-gen smart grid infrastructure
- Noice: A social gaming voice platform
- ThirdTime Games: A Web3 gaming studio
- Iona Health: An AI-driven women’s health startup
- Calqulate: A financial analytics for startups
This strong early-stage portfolio demonstrates Wave’s ability to spot and back high-potential founders across diverse industries, from climate tech and health to fintech and infrastructure.
What’s next for Wave Ventures?
With Fund III now active, Wave Ventures plans to scale its operations across the Nordics and Baltics, deepen its presence in university startup ecosystems, and continue supporting the region’s most driven founders.
By maintaining its hands-on, founder-first approach and surrounding itself with a powerful community of investors and mentors, Wave sets a new standard for early-stage venture capital in Europe. Wave Ventures is ready to invest differently for a generation that builds differently.
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 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, we’re about to witness a wave of incredible new companies built by this next generation of founders.”
