What Next47 does

Next47 (operating as N47) is a global venture capital firm founded in 2015 that invests in early-to-growth stage enterprise technology and B2B startups. The firm articulates a 'Product First' investment philosophy, partnering with founders before commercial buzz and metrics when the product itself demonstrates the truest expression of potential, and helping them scale from initial insight through later stages. Next47 concentrates its capital in AI-adjacent themes spanning systems, infrastructure, and applications, with a publicly disclosed portfolio that includes Verkada (cloud-based physical security), Skydio (autonomous-flight drones), VAST Data (AI data platform and operating system), BuildOps (AI-powered platform for commercial contractors), Tractian (industrial AI for equipment-failure prediction), and Encord (data development platform for computer vision and multimodal AI). Its investing cadence has stepped up in 2025, including leading Series A rounds in Nominal ($20M, July 2025, Agentic Performance Management for finance operations) and Patlytics ($14M, December 2025, AI for intellectual property), and participating as an existing backer in BuildOps' $127M Series C (March 2025) at a $1B valuation.

The firm is headquartered in Munich and operates globally, syndicating with institutional co-investors such as Meritech, BOND Capital, Sapphire Ventures, SE Ventures (Schneider Electric), Workday Ventures, and StepStone Group. As a venture capital firm, Next47 does not sell a product or platform and generates revenue through conventional fund economics (management fees and carried interest on its investment vehicles), but specific fund size, AUM, and revenue figures are not publicly disclosed. The firm reinforces its brand through a sustained thought-leadership program of named playbooks authored by partners Lak Ananth and Jonathan Goldberg (covering topics such as 'The Architecture Wars', 'Beyond Transformers', 'Tokens, Thinking, and Speed', 'From Concentration to Diffusion', and 'Intelligence On Tap') and a founder-facing podcast hosted by Matthew Cowan and Jahan Khanna, positioning the firm within the AI and infrastructure investor community.

Name

Next47

Legal name

N47

Website

https://next47.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Next47 (N47) is a Munich-headquartered global venture capital firm founded in 2015 that invests in early-to-growth stage enterprise and B2B startups with a 'Product First' thesis, backing AI-focused companies such as Verkada, Skydio, VAST Data, BuildOps, Tractian, Encord, Nominal, and Patlytics.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital

akta.pro primary industry

Sector-Focused Venture Capital (Vertical Specialists) (FSANAAAD)

Keywords

• Venture capital
• Enterprise technology
• Series A funding
• Early-stage investing
• B2B startup investment

Headquarters

HQ city

Munich

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Next47 (operating as N47) is a global venture capital firm that invests in enterprise technology and B2B startups. The firm follows a 'Product First' investment philosophy, partnering with bold builders early — before the buzz and metrics — when the truest expression of potential is the product itself. Next47 deploys capital across Series A through Series C stages into sectors including systems, infrastructure, and applications.

Product overview

Next47 is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage technology companies. The firm does not offer a standalone product or platform; rather, it provides investment and partnership services to founders building products in sectors including systems, infrastructure, applications, and computer vision AI. The portfolio includes Verkada (cloud-based physical security), Skydio (autonomous drone flight), VAST Data (AI data storage infrastructure), BuildOps (field service management SaaS), Tractian (industrial equipment failure prediction), and Encord (computer vision data development platform).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Venture Capital Investment Partnership

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Sapphire Ventures: Larger enterprise-tech VC and growth investor; co-invested with Next47 in Tractian's Series C — comparable enterprise focus and stage overlap, but operates at meaningfully larger scale.
• Sequoia Capital: Premier multi-stage tech VC with significant AI, enterprise, and infrastructure exposure — comparable sector coverage but operates at vastly greater scale and brand recognition than Next47.
• Andreessen Horowitz (a16z): Major multi-stage tech VC with deep AI, infrastructure, and enterprise applications investing — comparable enterprise/AI thesis but at significantly larger fund and brand scale than Next47.

Direct peers

• Bessemer Venture Partners: Long-standing enterprise-tech and cloud-focused VC investing across Series A through growth stages — directly comparable stage range, sector focus, and founder-led approach to Next47.
• Battery Ventures: Enterprise software, infrastructure, and industrial-tech focused VC investing at Series A through growth — directly comparable sector focus and stage discipline to Next47.
• Lightspeed Venture Partners: Multi-stage tech VC with deep enterprise, infrastructure, and AI exposure across Series A through growth — directly comparable stage range and sector overlap to Next47.
• Insight Partners: Software-focused VC with heavy Series B/C tilt in enterprise and infrastructure — comparable enterprise-tech thesis and overlap with Next47's later-stage deals.
• General Catalyst: Enterprise and AI-focused VC investing across early and growth stages with a strong thematic thesis — closely comparable investment philosophy to Next47.
• Meritech Capital Partners: Late-stage enterprise software VC; led the BuildOps Series C alongside Next47 — comparable Series B/C focus on enterprise SaaS and infrastructure companies.
• Accel: Early-to-growth stage VC with deep enterprise software and infrastructure focus, investing at Series A through C — comparable thesis and stage coverage to Next47.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/n47capital

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Next47