The fund is founded and backed by German intralogistics company Jungheinrich.

Germany’s Uplift Ventures has launched its inaugural €100m fund to back deep-tech start-ups in Europe and the US.

The fund is backed by German intralogistics company Jungheinrich, which founded the venture firm and whose operations span more than 40 countries with more than €5bn recorded in annual revenue.

Uplift, which runs independently to the logistics giant, will deploy funds into seed and Series A rounds across 20 start-ups. The 2025-founded venture platform is based in Hamburg and Berlin and supports companies working in physical AI, energy, enterprise AI and logistics.

“Deep-tech requires patient capital and partners who understand both industrial challenges and entrepreneurial ambition,” said Jungheinrich CEO Dr Lars Brzoska in a statement.

“Uplift Ventures invests in the next generation of industrial leaders, making them an important partner for Jungheinrich, firstly with world-class financial returns and with immense value for our 2030-plus strategy.”

Uplift has already built an AI-powered compliance platform called Turnus.ai in-house. It has also invested in a number of European deep-tech funds, it is understood.

The platform incubates and scales ventures from scratch, backs ideas and supports further growth with access to Jungheinrich’s ecosystem.

The fund comes as European deep-tech start-ups face an acute shortage of scaling investments when compared to their US counterparts. The EU is attempting to remedy some of this with its new Scaleup Europe Fund, which officially launched last month. The €5bn fund has already backed Swedish AI vibe-coding start-up Lovable and Finnish space intelligence start-up Iceye.

“We’ve spent years investing in deep-tech and have seen both the many ways these companies can fail and what it takes to build exceptional outcomes,” said Christian Noske, Uplift Ventures’ new founding general partner.

“I’m excited about launching Uplift Ventures’ new fund. Europe needs dedicated deep-tech investors who are in it for the long run. Founders build great companies – we’re here to have their backs and provide resources, experience and a global perspective.”

Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.