Andreas Klinger is proving that backing “crazy” works. With the launch of PROTOTYPE Capital’s Fund III, the firm is doubling down on European robotics and weird science after hitting massive 5.6x returns. This isn’t just about money; it represents a fight for the continent’s tech soul.
Why weird ideas drive massive returns
It is rare to find an investor who explicitly asks for ideas that sound slightly insane. Most venture capitalists want safe bets that fit neatly into a spreadsheet. Andreas Klinger is the opposite. He wants the founders who are obsessed with problems that shouldn’t technically exist yet. This contrarian strategy is now paying off in a big way.
PROTOTYPE Capital has officially launched Fund III to strong demand. The firm is entering the market with impressive momentum. Their previous investment vehicles are ranking in the top tier of global performance. The numbers tell a compelling story about why taking risks on “weird” science is smart business.
PROTOTYPE Fund Performance:
- Fund I (2019): Achieved a 4.9x Multiple on Invested Capital (MOIC).
- The Growth Fund (2022): Hit a massive 5.6x MOIC with significant capital already paid back to investors.
- Fund II (2022): Currently sits at 2.4x MOIC and is still climbing.
These figures place the firm in the top 1 to 5 percent of funds globally. This success has allowed Klinger to upsize Fund III by 25 percent. The capital comes largely from European family offices and operators who believe in the mission. They are not just looking for software returns. They are looking for tangible innovation in the physical world.
“I want people who cannot stop thinking about their problem,” Klinger says. He looks for founders who would work on their project even if no one paid them. The firm backed 15 European startups in 2025 alone. These companies raised over $1 billion in funding. This proves that deep tech is not a niche market anymore. It is where the smart money is moving.
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From video models to billion dollar giants
The standout success story for the firm is Luma AI. This company started with a focus on video AI models. It has since evolved into a true frontier lab. Luma is now the second company in the PROTOTYPE portfolio to cross the billion dollar valuation mark.
Klinger notes that Luma represents the perfect example of his thesis. The team did not set out to build better software. They wanted to build what comes after software. They are creating multimodal world systems that combine video, physics, and sensors.
“I’ve worked in hyper-growth companies before. Raising huge amounts of capital can also be dangerous. It can make companies explode.”
Klinger admits he gets nervous when companies grow this fast. However, he remains confident in Luma. He points out that their growth has been disciplined compared to other AI labs. They did not just burn cash. They built a product that users loved and scaled it systematically.
This success validates the shift toward “Physical AI.” The frontier of technology has moved beyond simple apps. It is now about robotics, simulation, and embodied intelligence.
The Three Pillars of Physical AI:
- Perception: Machines can now see and reconstruct 3D worlds from video.
- Reasoning: Robots can handle variations and are no longer rigid.
- Action: Systems can learn tasks and generalize them in real environments.
This shift makes small batch manufacturing possible. Robots can finally adapt to changing environments. This is a game changer for Europe. The continent relies heavily on specialized manufacturing rather than mass production.
Reviving the industrial heartbeat of Europe
Klinger is not just an investor. He is an activist for European tech sovereignty. He believes the continent made a strategic error by selling core industrial assets to foreign buyers. The sale of robotics divisions to companies in China and the US has weakened the local ecosystem.
Fund III is designed to fix this. It focuses on the entire stack of robotics and automation. This includes motors, sensors, and power electronics. If Europe loses these capabilities, future startups will have to move to Asia to build their products. Klinger warns that once supply chains move, they rarely come back.
Key Portfolio Examples:
- Sunrise Robotics: A startup based in Ljubljana. They use AI trained in simulation to run industrial robots. This allows for rapid deployment in factories that could not afford automation before.
- Hyperdrives: This company develops advanced electric drive systems. They focus on industrial electrification and autonomous tractors.
- HIGHCAT: A defense tech company building reconnaissance drones.
These companies prove that Europe can still build hardware. They are solving hard problems that require deep engineering talent. Klinger argues that Europe has the best engineers in the world. The problem has been a lack of ambition and capital. PROTOTYPE is solving the capital part.
The firm also encourages cross pollination. Because the fund is thematically focused, portfolio companies help each other. A robotics company might need the sensor tech from another portfolio firm. This creates a network effect that strengthens the entire ecosystem.
Obsession matters more than spreadsheets
The criteria for getting investment from PROTOTYPE are strict but simple. Klinger does not care about market analysis spreadsheets. He cares about obsession. He wants to know if the founder is willing to talk about the problem for the next ten years.
He believes the best founders often come from hacker culture. He advocates for more hacker houses and robotics clubs across Europe. These are places where people build things because they love it. They are driven by intrinsic motivation rather than government grants.
What PROTOTYPE looks for:
- Technical Ambition: The idea must be hard to build.
- Insanity: It should sound slightly crazy or impossible.
- Necessity: It must be something that “has to exist” eventually.
- Obsession: The founder must be emotionally engaged with the problem.
Klinger points out that many stable tasks are better done by specialized machines. He does not believe in humanoid robots for everything. A washing machine is better at washing clothes than a humanoid robot. However, he sees value in generalist robots for the “last step” problem in factories.
The goal is to change the narrative. Europe does not have to be a museum. It can be a factory for the future. Klinger wants founders to know they do not need to move to Silicon Valley. They can build world class deep tech right here.
The launch of Fund III is a signal. It tells the market that the era of easy software apps is ending. The era of hard tech and physical automation is beginning. For founders who are willing to do the hard work, there is now a billion dollars worth of proof that it pays off.
If you are working on something that technically shouldn’t exist but has to, PROTOTYPE wants to talk. They are ready to back the next generation of crazy ideas.
