What Criteria Venture Tech does

Criteria Venture Tech is a Barcelona-based evergreen venture capital fund operating as the dedicated technology investment vehicle of CriteriaCaixa, the €30 billion-asset investment holding of 'la Caixa' Banking Foundation. Originally established in 2004 as Caixa Capital Risc and rebranded to Criteria Venture Tech in January 2024, the firm invests in early and growth-stage B2B SaaS and Deep Tech companies across Europe and selectively in the United States. Stated verticals are Cybersecurity, Infrastructure, AI, Data, Climate, and Enterprise SaaS, with disclosed ticket sizes of €0.5 to €3 million at pre-seed to pre-Series A and €5 to €15 million at Series A+.

The fund's revenue model follows standard VC mechanics: management fees on committed capital during the investment period plus carried interest on successful exits. Operations are run by a small in-house team (Managing Director, Portfolio Manager, two Principals, an Investment Analyst, and Legal Counsel). Deal sourcing relies on CriteriaCaixa's broader corporate network across banking, telecommunications, real estate, infrastructure, and technology holdings, supplemented by co-investor partnerships and founder referrals. Cumulative activity reported on the firm's own materials includes 190 participated investments, 46 realized exits, and 27 active portfolio companies representing €11 billion in aggregated portfolio valuation, with portfolio companies raising on average 6x additional capital after the initial check.

Notable realized exits include Vilynx (multimodal AI video analysis, acquired by Apple in 2020), Playgiga (cloud gaming, acquired by Meta in 2019), Kompyte (acquired by Semrush in 2022), Worldcoo (acquired by Glovo in 2023), Argilla (acquired by Hugging Face in June 2024), and vLex (legal tech, sold to Clio for $1 billion in July 2025). Recent investments include Barbara (industrial Edge AI, €4.5 million financing in February 2026 alongside Aramco Ventures and Iberdrola), Scalestack (AI-powered GTM and RevOps, $3 million seed in December 2024), iPronics (programmable photonic processors for AI data centers, €20 million Series A in January 2025), and Enline (sensorless energy infrastructure monitoring, €3.5 million seed in January 2024). The evergreen mandate eliminates conventional 10-year fund-cycle redemption pressure, enabling patient capital from inception through IPO and beyond.

Name

Criteria Venture Tech

Legal name

Caixa Capital Risc, SGEIC, S.A.

Website

https://criteriaventuretech.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2024

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Criteria Venture Tech is the Barcelona-based evergreen venture capital fund of CriteriaCaixa (€30B AUM), investing in early and growth-stage B2B SaaS and Deep Tech startups across Europe and the US in cybersecurity, AI, data, infrastructure, climate, and enterprise SaaS.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital

NAICS

Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259), Other Financial Vehicles (525990)

SIC

Miscellaneous Business Credit Institution (6159)

akta.pro primary industry

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

Keywords

• Venture capital fund
• B2B SaaS investing
• Deep tech investing
• Early-stage startups
• Growth-stage financing

Headquarters

HQ city

Barcelona

HQ country

Spain

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Management Fees: VC funds typically charge management fees on committed capital during the investment period.
2. Carried Interest: Performance-based carried interest from successful portfolio company exits, typically 20% of profits above the hurdle rate.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Criteria Venture Tech is an evergreen venture capital fund that invests patient capital in early-stage (pre-seed to pre-Series A) and growth-stage (Series A+ and B) B2B SaaS and Deep Tech startups across Europe and the US. Backed by CriteriaCaixa with €30B in assets under management, the fund typically leads or co-leads rounds with €0.5–3M initial checks at early stage and €5–15M at growth stage, focusing on verticals such as Cybersecurity, Infrastructure, AI, Data, Climate, and Enterprise SaaS.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Criteria Venture Tech Fund An evergreen venture capital fund investing in early and growth-stage technology startups across Europe, backed by CriteriaCaixa with €30B+ AUM. Provides patient capital with long-term investment horizons and strategic support to portfolio companies.

Quantifiable outcome

• €11Bn aggregated portfolio valuation
• +2 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• 33N VenturesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCriteria Venture Tech partnered with 33N Ventures, a Series A cybersecurity VC fund based in Porto, to collaborate on cybersecurity investment opportunities.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• JME Ventures: Madrid-based early-stage B2B tech VC. Highly comparable given overlapping Iberian anchor and B2B SaaS/deep tech thesis, with similar early-stage ticket size.
• Kfund: Madrid-based European tech VC focused on early-stage B2B SaaS. Closely comparable on Iberia anchor and B2B SaaS thesis, with earlier-stage focus (pre-seed/seed).

Direct peers

• Lakestar: European technology VC with strong deep tech, AI, and B2B SaaS exposure from seed to growth. Directly comparable thesis and European focus, with deeper late-stage capability.
• Earlybird Venture Capital: Pan-European early-stage VC investing in B2B SaaS, deep tech, fintech, and industrials. Closely comparable thesis and stage (seed and Series A), with German rather than Iberian anchor.
• Notion Capital: European specialist B2B SaaS VC investing from Series A onward. Closely comparable on vertical focus (enterprise SaaS) and stage focus (Series A and B), with deeper SaaS specialization than Criteria Venture Tech.
• Dawn Capital: London-based B2B SaaS-focused early-stage VC. Comparable in stage and vertical specialization (enterprise SaaS), with a stronger track record at Series B-C in Europe.
• Octopus Ventures: European multi-stage VC investing in B2B SaaS, fintech, climate and deep tech. Comparable thesis mix, with broader UK and pan-European reach.

Broad incumbents

• Atomico: London-headquartered European tech VC investing across stages from early to growth. Directly comparable in thesis (European tech focus, deep tech exposure) and stage range (Series A-C), with substantially larger AUM.
• Index Ventures: European-anchored multi-stage VC with strong AI/SaaS portfolio. Comparable by stage (early-to-growth) and European focus, with deeper late-stage capital reserves.
• Accel: Pioneer European and US tech VC investing across stages. Comparable because of multi-stage B2B SaaS and deep tech exposure spanning Europe and the US.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CriteriaVT

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments195 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Criteria Venture Tech