Who's writing cheques
Last 90 daysEvery firm below is here because it was named in a round we collected — not because it filled in a profile. Ranked by how many separate companies it backed, which is the only claim the source material actually supports.
This is deliberately not a directory. Directories tell you a fund exists and who to email; several free ones already do that well. This tells you what a fund has been doing for the last quarter — which is the part that goes stale, and the part nobody keeps current.
20 Jun – 18 Sep · 12 firms backing 2+ companies · rumours excluded
We started recording who backed each round on 7 Aug 2026 (the rounds themselves go back to 17 Jul 2026). Anything announced before then shows no backer because we did not ask — not because nobody invested.
112 of 330 companies in this window named at least one backer (34% of our own coverage — a figure about us, not about the market).
- 1.
Scaleup Europe Fund
3 companieslatest 15 Sept 2026AIHealth Tech & MedtechSemiconductorsSeries ASeries BSeries D+Building energy-efficient chip systems for running large AI models, with the first hardware due from 2028.
An AI medical assistant for clinics that handles doctors' paperwork and admin across European healthcare.
A European AI company building its own models, pitched to governments and firms that want AI systems run under European control.
- 2.
ACE Ventures
2 companieslatest 3 Sept 2026Other B2B SoftwareBiotech & Life SciencesSeries AStage unknownAutomates the data-engineering work of moving and preparing company data, aimed at mid-sized European businesses.
An automated wet lab that builds and tests AI-designed proteins to order.
- 2.
ByFounders
2 companieslatest 7 Sept 2026Biotech & Life SciencesMarketingPre-seedSeries AAn end-to-end platform for brands running marketing campaigns with online creators.
An automated wet lab that builds and tests AI-designed proteins to order.
- 2.
Expedition Growth Capital
2 companieslatest 16 Sept 2026Other B2B SoftwareFintechSeries BStage unknownData and analytics on exchange-traded funds, sold to the firms that pick and sell them.
AI-powered customer-service software that runs automated conversations for enterprise contact centres.
- 2.
IDG Capital
2 companieslatest 10 Sept 2026Robotics ×2SeedSeries ABuilding AI-driven robots that can take a goal, move around and handle objects to carry it out.
Develops humanoid robots, spun out from EV maker XPeng.
- 2.
Menlo Ventures
2 companieslatest 18 Aug 2026AI ×2Series CStage unknownBuilds an AI speech-to-text model designed to stay accurate even in noisy conditions.
AI platform that lets people build working software by describing what they want in plain language.
- 2.
Mirae Asset
2 companieslatest 1 Sept 2026Fintech ×2SeedStage unknownManages investments for wealthy Indian clients; founded in early 2025 and now looking after about $3 billion of assets.
Wealth-management platform for high-net-worth individuals.
- 2.
SBI Group
2 companieslatest 18 Sept 2026Fintech ×2Series AStage unknownPayment processing for merchants in Singapore, moving into markets where payments have just come under regulation.
Issues and operates stablecoin payment infrastructure.
- 2.
Sequoia
2 companieslatest 21 Aug 2026Other B2B SoftwareCybersecurityStage unknown ×2AI-powered accounting software for businesses.
Cybersecurity platform that automates threat detection and speeds up incident response.
- 2.
SFC Capital
2 companieslatest 9 Sept 2026eCommerce & MarketplacesHealth Tech & MedtechPre-seed ×2Technology that picks up disease-related chemical compounds by smell, as a way to detect illness.
A staffing platform matching hospitality businesses with vetted freelance workers, handling training and compliance.
- 2.
Tencent
2 companieslatest 25 Aug 2026AIRoboticsSeries ASeries CDevelops humanoid robots, spun out from EV maker XPeng.
AI platform that lets people build working software by describing what they want in plain language.
- 2.
Y Combinator
2 companieslatest 3 Sept 2026Other B2B SoftwareBiotech & Life SciencesSeries AStage unknownAutomates the data-engineering work of moving and preparing company data, aimed at mid-sized European businesses.
An automated wet lab that builds and tests AI-designed proteins to order.
A further 221 firms were named once each in this window. One cheque is an event, not a pattern, so they are counted here and not listed.
How this is built
Twice a week we read the startup funding press, write one plain sentence about each company in our own words, and record the firms the report names as backing the round. That is the whole source: public announcements, each linked beside the company it describes so you can check it.
The unit is the company, not the round. The same raise is often reported twice, a day apart, sometimes with different figures — counting reports would inflate every number here. Rounds still described as rumoured are excluded entirely.
There is no money column, on purpose. When four firms are named in a $20m round, the public record does not say who put in what. Adding the round total to each of their names would invent a figure for all four. So this page counts cheques written, and leaves the size of them to the people who actually know.
Firms only.Where a report names an individual angel we leave them out — a fund's name is a public commercial fact, a person's is not. A firm also has to appear in 2 separate companies before it is listed at all.
It is a record of what was reported, not a verified register of who invested, and it is only as complete as the outlets we read. Plenty of rounds never name a backer, and plenty of investors never appear in the press at all.