Nico Rosberg
About Nico Rosberg
Nico Rosberg is a German-Finnish former Formula 1 driver based in Monaco. He won the 2016 Formula 1 World Championship with Mercedes AMG Petronas and announced his retirement five days later. He has since built a second career as an entrepreneur and investor.
He co-founded the Greentech Festival, which launched in 2019 as a platform for green technology. In 2020 he founded Rosberg X Racing, a team that competed in the all-electric Extreme E series. He was also a judge on the German TV show Die Hoehle der Loewen (the German edition of Dragon's Den) from 2020.
He is the founder and CEO of Rosberg Ventures, a Monaco-based venture firm. In April 2024 the firm launched a fund of funds with a $75M target. In January 2026 it announced the close of an oversubscribed $100M Fund III, which took assets under management past $200M. The firm backs top venture funds, makes direct co-investments and runs Rosberg's personal angel investing. Crunchbase lists no companies founded by Rosberg as a person.
Rosberg began with personal angel investments soon after retiring from racing. A Spear's profile reports an average early cheque of around $50,000. His early bets included ChargePoint, which went public in 2021, and he has said the return was many multiples of his investment. Early mobility and climate investments cited by the World Economic Forum, CNBC and others include Formula E, Lilium, Volocopter, What3words, TIER Mobility and Lyft.
The Crunchbase data Lounge holds shows 20 investments, 0 lead investments, 0 exits and 0 companies founded. Other trackers show different totals. The Crunchbase public page currently lists 28 investments, and PitchBook lists 38. Treat any single count as approximate.
Crunchbase shows 12 AI investments since 2023. They are Factory, Augustus, Black Forest Labs, SECJUR, BottleCap AI, Applied Intuition, Hyperline, Fyxer AI, MOVEdot, UMA (Universal Mechanical Assistant), Flow Engineering and General Intuition.
Dated rounds that appear in public trackers include SECJUR (seed, November 2024), Black Forest Labs (Series B, December 2025) and BottleCap AI (seed, January 2026). Crunchbase also records a Black Forest Labs round dated March 2024 and an Applied Intuition Series E. Press coverage names Jack & Jill AI, Clyx and Fyxer AI among his personal angel and syndicate investments. In a Boardroom interview he said he had seen his best results in AI and automation companies, and he named ElevenLabs, Applied Intuition and Lovable as examples.
On the firm side, Rosberg Ventures made ClickHouse its first direct investment. ClickHouse is a real-time analytics database. Rosberg described it as AI infrastructure. That deal was made by the firm and is not one of his personal angel checks.
Rosberg has described an ideal company as one that helps large European companies transform, digitalize and decarbonize. He has also said his firm wants to connect German and European corporates with leading global startups. Rosberg Ventures lists AI, healthtech, blockchain, robotics, fintech and consumer technology among the sectors it reaches through its fund of funds.
His personal angel portfolio is mostly seed and Series A, with some later rounds such as Applied Intuition's Series E. His investments are mainly in Europe and the US. NFX Signal lists his angel range as $5K to $50K with a $25K sweet spot. This is third-party data and Rosberg has not confirmed it. The Spear's figure of about $50,000 refers to his early angel cheques. He has not published a current check size.
He has said that getting into hot US deals can take persistence. One example was Ivy, where several cold emails were needed before a co-founder agreed to meet him. Founders should expect a strategic angle, such as access to German industry, to matter more than a generic pitch.
- Black Forest Labs: AI research lab; Crunchbase lists a round in March 2024 and a Series B in December 2025.
- Applied Intuition: software for vehicles and autonomy; Crunchbase lists a Series E investment.
- SECJUR: listed on Crunchbase as an AI investment; seed round in November 2024.
- BottleCap AI: AI startup; seed round announced in January 2026, his most recent Crunchbase investment.
- Jack & Jill AI: AI startup; seed round in October 2025, per Tracxn.
- Fyxer AI: AI startup listed on Crunchbase and named in press coverage of his angel investments.
- Hyperline: fintech startup named in Tech.eu coverage and listed among his AI investments on Crunchbase.
- Factory, Augustus, MOVEdot, UMA (Universal Mechanical Assistant), Flow Engineering, General Intuition: listed on Crunchbase as AI investments; round dates not confirmed here.
- ClickHouse: real-time analytics database; first direct investment by Rosberg Ventures.
- crunchbase.com/person/a4bc10b3-661b-0c04-99cc-b6893286dbb4
- crunchbase.com/person/nico-rosberg
- tech.eu/2026/01/12/rosberg-ventures-closes-100m-fund-iii-as-nico-rosbe
- tech.eu/2024/04/16/nico-rosenberg-launches-new-fund
- vestbee.com/insights/articles/rosberg-ventures-launches-75-m-fund-of-f
- vestbee.com/insights/articles/rosberg-ventures-raises-100-m-fund
- boardroom.tv/nico-rosberg-ventures-formula-1-f1
- sports.yahoo.com/article/nico-rosberg-shifts-gears-f1-080000185.html
AI portfolio
Investing activity
Nico Rosberg has made 20 investments according to Crunchbase. 12 of those investments since 2023 were in AI companies, including Factory, Augustus, Black Forest Labs, SECJUR and BottleCap AI.
Nico Rosberg appears in 2 AI deals tracked by the Lounge deals desk, rounds totalling $28M. The rounds are mostly Pre-seed and Seed, with a median round size of $28M. The most recent are QuTwo (Pre-seed, €25M, Jun 2026) and BottleCap AI (Seed, $7.5M, Jan 2026).
Nico Rosberg most often invests alongside Xavier Niel, Yuri Milner, Dieter Schwarz and Niklas Zennström, and the companies they back on Lounge are mostly in AI.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Nico Rosberg
Does Nico Rosberg invest in AI startups?
Yes. Crunchbase lists 12 AI investments since 2023, including Factory, Black Forest Labs, Applied Intuition, SECJUR and BottleCap AI. He has also said AI and automation have given him his best results.
What check size does Nico Rosberg write as an angel?
He has not published a current check size. A Spear's profile reports early angel cheques averaging about $50,000, and NFX Signal lists a range of $5K to $50K. Both are third-party figures.
What stage does Nico Rosberg invest in?
His personal angel deals are mostly seed and Series A, such as SECJUR's seed and BottleCap AI's seed. He has also joined later rounds, including Applied Intuition's Series E. Rosberg Ventures also makes direct growth-stage co-investments.
How can founders reach Nico Rosberg?
He is on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/nicorosberg and has a personal site at nicorosberg.com. His firm is Rosberg Ventures. The sources I found do not list a public pitch process or email address.
What is Rosberg Ventures?
It is the Monaco-based venture firm Rosberg founded after retiring from F1. It runs a fund of funds, makes direct co-investments such as ClickHouse and manages over $200M after closing a $100M Fund III in January 2026.
Is Nico Rosberg an angel investor?
Yes. Nico Rosberg invests personally as an angel. Crunchbase counts 20 investments.
What AI companies has Nico Rosberg invested in?
Nico Rosberg's AI investments include Factory, Augustus, Black Forest Labs, SECJUR, BottleCap AI, Applied Intuition, Hyperline and Fyxer AI. The 2 rounds on Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
Where is Nico Rosberg based?
Nico Rosberg is based in Monaco.
What stage does Nico Rosberg invest at?
In the rounds tracked on Lounge, Nico Rosberg has invested at Pre-seed and Seed, with a median round of $28M.
Who does Nico Rosberg co-invest with?
Nico Rosberg's most frequent co-investors on Lounge are Xavier Niel (2 deals), Yuri Milner (1 deal), Dieter Schwarz (1 deal), Niklas Zennström (1 deal) and The Twenty Minute VC (1 deal).