What Beta Capital does

Beta Capital (legal entity Beta – Sociedade de Capital de Risco, S.A.) is an independent, privately-held venture capital firm founded in September 2003 in Porto, Portugal, by Roberto Branco and a group of entrepreneurs. It is registered as a venture capital operator under supervision of the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (CMVM) and operates under Portuguese and European legislation including Decree-Law No. 27/2023. The firm manages multiple thematic funds including Beta Innovation (early-stage tech), Sogrape Ventures (food/wine-tech adjacent), Cloudberry Venture Capital Fund, Future of Cities Portugal, and the newly launched BETA BEAT I (pan-European deep-tech), with combined disclosed fund targets exceeding EUR 113M and ~400 investment opportunities analyzed per year.

Beta Capital's core activity is direct equity investment in early-stage technology startups from pre-seed through Series B, with typical ticket sizes of EUR 250k to EUR 1m. Sectors covered include ICT, Lifesciences, Industry 5.0, and Food tech, and the firm explicitly avoids taking majority stakes or management control. Portfolio spans at least 40+ investments across biotech (Immunethep, PFx Biotech, Cell4Food, Nuada), SaaS (Nutrium), IoT (Azitek), circular economy (LoopOS), deep tech (Delox), and sports tech (Zen8), with realized exits including Nonius (MBO, 2015), Heartgenetics (sale to ImpactLab, 2020), and Matera (trade sale, 2021).

The business model is a classic VC dual-revenue structure: recurring management fees (typically ~2% of AUM under management across the five funds) plus carried interest on successful exits. Distribution is direct and relationship-driven, with deal flow sourced via university and R&D-hub partnerships, a recurring syndicate network (Portugal Ventures, Lince Capital, EIC/EIF, Caixa Capital, Buenavista, EIT Food), and outreach through betacapital.pt. The team is approximately 10 members, including founders, partners, investment directors, analysts, and operations staff, anchored by an advisory platform that includes a Venture Partner with 16 years at Google and Senior Advisors with experience at EY, Airbus, and other multinationals.

Name

Beta Capital

Legal name

Beta – Sociedade de Capital de Risco, S.A.

Website

https://betacapital.pt

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Beta Capital is an independent, CMVM-registered Portuguese venture capital firm founded in 2003, providing EUR 250k–EUR 1m early-stage equity tickets and hands-on advisory to tech startups across ICT, Lifesciences, Industry 5.0, and Food tech.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital Management

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

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

akta.pro secondary industry

Micro-VC & Angel Funds (FSANAAAI)

Keywords

• Venture capital funding
• Early-stage investments
• Seed-stage financing
• Technology venture capital
• Private equity funds

Headquarters

HQ city

Porto

HQ country

Portugal

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. VC Management Fees: Beta Capital generates revenue through management fees charged on funds under management, as well as carried interest (performance fees) from successful portfolio exits.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Beta Capital is an independent venture capital firm that manages multiple VC funds and makes direct equity investments in early-stage tech startups from pre-seed through Series B. The firm provides smart funding tickets typically ranging from EUR 250,000 to EUR 1 million alongside hands-on advisory, network access, and strategic guidance to founders. Their investment focus spans ICT, Lifesciences, Industry 5.0, and Food tech sectors, and they maintain minority positions without taking management control of portfolio companies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Beta Innovation Fund Beta Innovation Fund is Beta Capital's EUR 10 million early-stage venture capital fund targeting tech-based start-ups in ICT, Lifesciences, Industry 5.0, and Food tech. It provides smart funding tickets of EUR 250k to EUR 1m alongside hands-on advisory to founders from the MVP/PoC phase through scaling.
• Sogrape Ventures Fund Sogrape Ventures Fund is a Beta Capital-managed venture capital fund with a EUR 5 million target size, deployed into early-stage tech ventures. Millennium BCP acts as depositary bank and KPMG as fund auditor, with Sogrape Ventures serving as Fund Advisor.
• Cloudberry Venture Capital Fund Cloudberry Venture Capital Fund is a Beta Capital-managed venture capital fund with a EUR 33 million target size, focused on technology and growth-stage opportunities. Bankinter serves as depositary bank and Grant Thornton as fund auditor.
• Future of Cities Portugal Fund Future of Cities Portugal Fund is a Beta Capital-managed venture capital fund with a EUR 50 million target size, themed around future-of-cities and urban innovation investments. Bison Bank acts as depositary bank and BDO as auditor, with Future of Cities as Fund Advisor.
• BETA BEAT I Fund BETA BEAT I is a EUR 20 million pan-European deep-tech venture capital fund managed by Beta Capital, targeting European frontier-technology ventures in domains where Europe demonstrates structural competitive advantages. Bison Bank serves as depositary bank.

Quantifiable outcome

• 400+ projects analysed per year
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments1 record

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.

• GelmetixminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBritish therapeutic biomaterials company in co-development partnership with portfolio company Stemmatters to develop an innovative minimally invasive medical device for acute cartilage lesions treatment.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Faber Ventures: Portuguese early-stage VC focused on deep-tech and science-based startups. Direct peer: similar early-stage tech focus, comparable ticket sizes, and overlapping deal sources in the Portuguese innovation ecosystem.
• Indico Capital Partners: Portugal-based early-stage VC focused on tech-enabled startups from pre-seed through Series A. Direct peer: similar ticket sizes, Portuguese portfolio focus, and a comparable co-investor ecosystem to Beta Capital.
• Lince Capital: Portuguese early-stage VC investing in tech and impact-driven startups. Direct peer: co-investor with Beta Capital in Zen8, Vawlt, and Nutrium, with a similar early-stage, Iberian investment thesis.
• Portugal Ventures: Portugal's flagship state-backed VC firm, investing in early-stage tech startups across ICT, life sciences, and industrial tech. Direct peer: co-investor with Beta Capital in Nutrium, GovWise, Azitek, and Cell4Food, operating in the same geography and stage.
• Cedrus Capital: Portuguese private investment firm active in early-stage and growth tech deals. Direct peer: co-invested with Beta Capital in Azitek, comparable Iberian tech-investment mandate and stage.
• Caixa Capital: Portuguese corporate-backed VC arm of CGD group investing across early-stage tech and life sciences. Direct peer: co-invested with Beta Capital in Delox, comparable stage and sectoral focus on Portuguese tech innovation.
• Armilar Venture Partners: Portugal's largest independent tech-focused VC firm, investing from seed to growth in deep-tech and software. Direct peer: co-invested with Beta Capital in Vawlt, operates in the same Portuguese ecosystem with similar sectoral overlap.
• Buenavista Equity Partners: Spanish/Iberian early-stage VC focused on tech and impact-driven investments. Direct peer: led PFx Biotech round alongside Beta Capital and EIT Food, comparable stage and Iberian geographic mandate.
• Shilling VC: Portuguese early-stage VC investing in tech startups with strong founder focus. Direct peer: co-invested with Beta Capital in Vawlt, operating in the same Portuguese tech ecosystem with comparable stage and ticket sizes.
• Antares Ventures: European deep-tech VC investing in science-based frontier technologies. Direct peer: Senior Advisor (Mahir Sahin) holds an advisory role here while being a Venture Partner at Beta Capital, with overlapping frontier-tech investment thesis.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments24 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Beta Capital