What Brighteye Ventures does

Brighteye Ventures is a privately held European venture capital firm that invests at Pre-Seed to Series A in startups building what it terms the "HumanOS" — systems that help people learn, work and adapt. Founded by Ben Wirz and Alex Spiro Latsis, the firm operates through three affiliated entities: BRIGHTEYE RESEARCH LONDON LTD (UK), BRIGHTEYE RESEARCH PARIS SAS (France) and GESTRON ASSET MANAGEMENT SA (Luxembourg), where both Founding Partners also serve as CIO/Deputy CIO – Venture Capital. The firm has publicly funded 50+ portfolio companies across Work, Learning and Climate verticals in geographies including the UK, France, Spain, Germany, Italy and Greece, with selected names including Hack The Box, Ornikar, ZenEducate, Youschool, Seven Education, Lasolive, Wikifarmer, Gyver, NEX Health Intelligence and Coachbetter.

The firm's core "product" is venture fund management, monetised through standard European VC management fees and carried interest, but Brighteye layers a differentiated platform on top: the Sidekick content ecosystem (Substack newsletter with 13,100+ operator followers, Sidekick FM podcast on Apple Podcasts/Spotify/YouTube, blog) functions as a deal-sourcing and brand-building engine; the 12-week Founder Studio residency supports pre-seed founders in design-partner acquisition, enterprise pilots and fundraising preparation; and a stream of proprietary research (European Learning & Work Funding Report, AI Companions Report, How To Sell Your Company playbook, Consumer Health Market Framework, Neurodivergence thesis) positions Brighteye as a sector specialist. The go-to-market motion is community-led, relying on content, events (e.g. Brighteye Live), a curated mentor/operator network and direct Typeform pitch intake rather than traditional institutional deal flow.

Brighteye's customers are its portfolio companies (capital and operating support recipients) and its limited partners (capital providers, composition not disclosed). Pricing, fund terms and Founder Studio participation requirements are not publicly disclosed. The firm sits within a broader European learning-and-work funding pool that Brighteye's own 2026 report sizes at €1.6B for 2025, up from €710M in 2024. No public revenue, AUM, fund-size, valuation or cap-table figures are disclosed in the source material.

Name

Brighteye Ventures

Legal name

BRIGHTEYE RESEARCH LONDON LTD

Website

https://brighteyevc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Brighteye Ventures is a European Pre-Seed to Series A venture capital firm investing in startups across Work, Learning and Climate verticals. Operating from London, Paris and Luxembourg, it backs founders building the "HumanOS" via sector-specialist capital, the Founder Studio residency and the Sidekick content platform serving 13,100+ operators.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital

NAICS

Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525), Other Financial Vehicles (52599)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B) (FSANAAAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Pre-Seed/Seed) (FSANAAAA), Accelerators & Incubators (Investor-Operated) (FSANAAAM)

Keywords

• Venture capital investing
• Early stage funding
• Founder residency program
• Education technology investing
• Workforce technology investing

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Venture capital fund management: Brighteye operates as a venture capital firm investing at Pre-Seed to Series A, with the fund management function executed via affiliated vehicles BRIGHTEYE RESEARCH LONDON LTD (UK), BRIGHTEYE RESEARCH PARIS SAS (France) and GESTRON ASSET MANAGEMENT SA (Luxembourg). Founding Partners also serve as CIO/Deputy CIO - Venture Capital at Gestron Asset Management. Standard VC revenue would be management fees and carried interest, consistent with the European venture model.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Brighteye Ventures is a European venture capital firm that invests Pre-Seed to Series A capital into early-stage startups building systems that help people learn, work and adapt — its 'HumanOS' thesis spanning EdTech, HR/workforce, productivity and AI. Around the fund it operates the Founder Studio 12-week residency program for early-stage founders and the Sidekick content platform (Substack, podcast, articles) along with proprietary research publications such as the European Learning & Work Funding Report and the AI Companions Report. Revenue is generated through fund management fees and carried interest on vehicles in London, Paris and Luxembourg.

Product overview

Brighteye Ventures is a European venture capital firm that operates a platform-plus-modules architecture across its proprietary content, research, and program offerings. The core platform is Sidekick, which distributes market insights, articles, and the Sidekick podcast (available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube) to 13,100+ operators in the learning and work ecosystem. Layered on top of the Sidekick platform are several distinct products and publications: the European Learning & Work Funding Report (an annual data-driven analysis of VC funding), the AI Companions Report, the Consumer Health Market Framework, the Neurodivergence in K12 and Higher Education thesis, the How To Sell Your Company Playbook, and the Brighteye newsletter on Substack. The Founder Studio is a 12-week residency program supporting early-stage founders in the learning and work space. The underlying business is the firm's investment Portfolio, spanning 50+ companies funded at Pre-Seed to Series A across Work, Climate, and Learning sectors. Together, these products form Brighteye's "HumanOS" thesis platform backing founders shaping tomorrow's systems that help people learn, work, and adapt continuously.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Brighteye Founder Studio: A 12-week residency for early-stage founders shaping the future of learning and work.
• Sidekick

Products and services

• Brighteye Ventures Pre-Seed to Series A Fund European venture capital fund providing Pre-Seed to Series A equity investment to early-stage founders building EdTech, workforce, productivity and AI startups in the 'HumanOS' thesis (systems that help people learn, work and adapt). Investors include Brighteye's LPs, and the fund generates returns via management fees and carried interest.
• Brighteye Founder Studio A 12-week in-person residency program for early-stage founders shaping the future of learning and work, designed to help founders build pitches for design partners, progress toward enterprise pilots and prepare for fundraising. Operated by Brighteye Ventures as a value-add platform for its deal pipeline and portfolio founders.
• European Learning & Work Funding Report An annual data-driven research publication analysing VC funding into European learning and work companies, structured around Conventional Edtech, Corporate and Workplace Learning, and Productivity and Talent Platforms, with sub-frameworks for 'learn', 'place', 'perform' and 'progress'. Used by Brighteye as both a deal-sourcing and thought-leadership asset, and as a free report distributed to operators and the wider European VC ecosystem.
• AI Companions Report ('Me, Myself, and My AI: The Rise of AI Companions') Comprehensive research report covering the definition, types, design, positioning, market map, sector outlooks (health, finance, education), anatomy of market winners, moats and risks of AI companions for personal use. Published by Brighteye as part of its sector thesis platform.
• How To Sell Your Company Playbook A founder-focused exit-readiness paper covering preparation to paperwork, choosing advisors, managing the team post-exit, shared visions and valuations, incorporating founder and buyer interviews with case studies. Published by Brighteye as part of its operator playbook library.
• Sidekick (content, podcast and insights platform) Brighteye's insights, podcast and articles platform publishing market signals, operator playbooks and podcast conversations from across the learning and work ecosystem to help founders win; includes the Sidekick podcast distributed on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.

Quantifiable outcome

• 50+ companies funded at Pre-Seed to Series A
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, minor and major.

• DFB (German Football Association / Deutscher Fußball-Bund)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 June 2026Both a strategic investor in Coachbetter (where Brighteye re-invested) and a commercial partner; the world's largest sports federation with over 8 million members and 24,000 clubs. DFB has the ambition for Coachbetter to serve as the central digital platform for all grassroots football clubs in Germany.
• Gestron Asset Management SAflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Luxembourg-based affiliated entity (5 rue Jean Monnet, L-2180) where Brighteye's Founding Partners serve as CIO and Deputy CIO of Venture Capital, executing Brighteye's investment strategy through BRIGHTEYE RESEARCH LONDON LTD and BRIGHTEYE RESEARCH PARIS SAS.
• Justified StudiominorGTM or Marketing PartnerBrand and web design partner that built and maintains the Brighteye Ventures website and provides a four-layer brand framework referenced in Sidekick FM episodes.
• Borussia Dortmund (BVB)majorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCoachbetter customer referenced in Brighteye's investment post; BVB's Evonik Football Academy spans over 200 coaches across 35 countries and uses Coachbetter to scale distribution of its coaching philosophy across partner clubs.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Educapital: Paris-based early-stage VC exclusively focused on EdTech and the future of learning in Europe. Direct peer given overlapping European learning vertical mandate and pre-seed/seed cheque size.
• Emerge Education: London-based early-stage fund focused on education and the future of work. Closely comparable on sector focus, geography (UK/Europe) and pre-seed/seed stage.
• Learn Capital: US-based venture firm exclusively focused on education and learning technology. Comparable as a sector specialist investing in learning/work at early stages, though operating in a different geography.
• Reach Capital: Early-stage VC focused on education and workforce technology. Comparable as a sector specialist on the learning/work thesis with a similar founder-first approach, although US-centric.

Broad incumbents

• Point Nine Capital: Berlin-based early-stage VC investing across SaaS, marketplaces and consumer across Europe. Comparable on European pre-seed/seed focus and recurring co-investment relationship (e.g. Wikifarmer seed).
• Speedinvest: Vienna-based pan-European early-stage fund-of-funds-turned-VC across multiple sector verticals. Comparable on European pre-seed/seed posture, though operating across a much broader sector mandate.
• LocalGlobe: London-based pre-seed/seed investor across consumer, software and frontier tech in Europe and the US. Comparable on early-stage European focus, though without Brighteye's learning/work sector specialisation.
• Connect Ventures: London-based pre-seed/seed investor focused on consumer, internet and software across Europe. Comparable on European early-stage focus and founder-first operating model.
• Felix Capital: London-based early/growth-stage fund investing at the intersection of technology and creativity, including work, learning and consumer. Comparable on the work/lifestyle consumer lens but with much larger ticket sizes.

Emerging players

• Antler: Global early-stage VC and founder generator running residencies across multiple continents. Comparable as both an investor and operator of a pre-seed founder residency (analogous to Brighteye Founder Studio), and an existing co-investor in Gyver.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/brighteye-ventures
• YouTubeyoutube.com/playlist?list=PLuqZDPtu1fYU32e05EG_llroRVjs7oa1K

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments60 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Brighteye Ventures