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backtrace, a Munich-based thesis-driven venture capital firm focused on the infrastructure layer beneath modern technology, has announced the final close of backtrace Fund I at €50 million. The closing was announced on March 4, 2026, marking the completion of the firm’s fundraising effort and the beginning of a full execution phase focused on backing pre-seed and seed-stage founders building the foundational technology infrastructure that powers the modern world.
backtrace invests in what its founders describe as the “picks and shovels” behind modern products — the building blocks across software, AI, and hardware that most people never see, but everything depends on. While capital has traditionally concentrated in B2B SaaS or traditional deep tech, backtrace deliberately targets the layer below the application stack, where infrastructure compounds in value once integrated into technology stacks.
The firm’s investment scope spans runtimes and cloud primitives, developer tooling, security, networking and observability, novel compute, and semiconductors and the enabling layers beneath modern systems. backtrace has already built an initial portfolio across areas including infrastructure-as-code, quantum error management, secure hypervisors, agent tooling, edge infrastructure, and AI cybersecurity and compliance.
backtrace was founded to address what it sees as a persistent misconception about tech sovereignty in Europe. Rather than backing “EU versions of what already exists” to meet short-term political and industrial needs, the firm believes Europe can lead again through technological excellence and standard-setting — not protectionism. The firm backs daring founders building truly differentiated infrastructure companies born in Europe and designed to win globally.
Dr. Michael Münnix, Co-Founder and Partner at backtrace, described technology infrastructure as often hidden and abstract — making it hard to grasp and easy to underestimate. He emphasised that Europe has the talent to build global, category-defining infrastructure, but will not lead by copying products. Europe leads by building the primitives the world adopts — and backtrace backs the founders getting ahead of that curve.
With Fund I now fully closed, backtrace has signalled a clear shift from fundraising to execution. Dominik Tobschall, Co-Founder and Partner at backtrace, was direct: fundraising is done and it is now all-in on supporting its portfolio and partnering with new founders building the technology building blocks the world runs on. He noted that infrastructure companies win on execution and adoption, not on headlines.
The firm develops and iterates its investment theses to “skate to where the puck is going,” combining research and deep technical curiosity with close founder collaboration — working hands-on with portfolio companies to support growth and category creation in some of the most technically demanding and strategically important segments of the technology stack.
backtrace is a thesis-driven venture capital firm specialising in the building blocks of modern tech infrastructure. The firm develops and iterates its investment theses combining research and deep technical curiosity with close founder collaboration. backtrace invests primarily at the pre-seed and seed stages, working closely with founders building foundational infrastructure across software, AI, and hardware. Fund I closed at €50 million in March 2026.
