Prague’s Aspire11 has introduced the launch of its inaugural €500 million pension-backed fund, led by Pavel Mucha, long-term VC investor within the CEE area to open new pathways for European pension funds to extend their publicity to VC funds and development firms.

Aspire11 launches with a barbell strategy consisting of two methods, named Tribes and Eternals. Mucha is joined by Rentea and LP The Companions Group, in addition to Tülin Tokatli as a accomplice to construct and curate the Tribes portfolio, drawing on her observe report in evaluating VC buyers as a former investor on the European Funding Fund (EIF).

Pavel Mucha, Founding father of Aspire11, stated: “Awakening dormant pension capital and connecting it effectively to VC buyers and lifelong builders has was a mission for me. Because of broader shifts in EU pension and long-term funding guidelines, pension capital can now have interaction with the non-public and enterprise markets.”

Based in 2025, Aspire11 is an funding platform for pension capital with plans to deploy funds over the subsequent 5 years into growth-stage generational firms and VC buyers worldwide. The mission of Aspire11 is to activate and join dormant capital – with an funding horizon of 20 to 30 years – to world non-public (personal) markets, enabling pension funds to take part within the development tales of generational firms past the attain of public markets.

Mucha based KAYA VC, certainly one of CEE’s first enterprise corporations, co-founded the enterprise debt agency Orbit Capital, and has backed among the area’s most profitable enterprise tales, together with Rohlik Group, Mews, Booksy, and DocPlanner. He has additionally been an LP in quite a few distinctive Seed VC funds behind firms akin to Revolut, PhotoRoom, Incident and Yoco.

The platform focuses on development firms with “robust merchandise, entrepreneurial DNA, and excellent execution, in addition to on distinctive early-stage VC buyers who make investments with conviction in breakthrough applied sciences, demographic shifts, and who share the assumption in a world of abundance“.

First pension savers will achieve entry by Rentea, the pension firm beneath the Czech monetary group Companions.

Aspire11 is impressed by the Canadian Maple Mannequin. In accordance with the platform, solely 0.02% of belongings movement into high-growth startups, resulting in globally uncompetitive returns for Europe’s retirees. Aspire11 goals to interrupt this cycle.

“For years, the sample has been the identical. European non-public markets haven’t been deep sufficient, and their progress has been painfully gradual. Entrepreneurs throughout the continent have been scrambling for affected person, long-term capital inside Europe to allow them to construct at scale, whereas VC buyers have been compelled to hunt liquidity abroad. The distinction with the depth of North American markets has been apparent and has lengthy screamed for change,” stated Mucha.

By eradicating the strain of short-term exits and cap desk disruptions, Aspire11 empowers entrepreneurs and VC buyers to concentrate on constructing enduring, industry-defining companies. The fund operates with a long-term horizon, focuses on non-public (personal) markets, prioritises price effectivity and lively participation, with the mission of constructing pensions stronger.

With Tribes, it invests into a brand new technology of early-stage VC buyers, rising ‘tribes’ of formidable Founders specialising in rising applied sciences and demographic shift-driven alternatives. With Eternals, Aspire11 fuels a fund that may maintain for 20 years plus, supporting firms with a long-term imaginative and prescient for generational worth with high quality execution.

Mucha added: “We designed Aspire11 to again each lifelong enterprise builders and frontier VC buyers. With Tribes, we commit ourselves to the subsequent wave of high-conviction VC pickers. Via Eternals, we’re able to help firms not only for years, however many years, to purchase them time to win.”

With pension firm Rentea, which is a part of Czech monetary organisation The Companions Group (a significant LP of Aspire11), the fund goals to display that when pension capital is positioned within the palms of excellent VC buyers and entrepreneurs, it advantages all people and drives lasting prosperity.

Czech firm The Companions Group has €7 billion AUM in investments, pensions, and deposits. With operations throughout 4 European international locations and serving two million purchasers, The Companions Group is ideally positioned for collaboration with Aspire11. They share a mutual imaginative and prescient for the longer term position of European pension funds.

“Aspire11 invitations entrepreneurs and VC buyers to affix in rising this imaginative and prescient. With a horizon measured in many years, our objective is to show dormant pension funds right into a drive that works for the individuals who have constructed and served the nation, guaranteeing that life after work just isn’t solely safe but in addition wealthy in high quality and risk,” stated Mucha.

Evaluation by Aspire11 discovered that redirecting simply 1% of European pension funds’ AUM would unlock an estimated €87 billion – which represents lower than 1 / 4 of their common annual yield – with out undermining societal stability or welfare. Aspire11’s calculations point out that an annual funding of as little as 1% of European pension funds’ AUM into the continent’s financial system over the subsequent decade would unlock a sum exceeding €1.1 trillion. That is as a result of advantages of accelerating valuations and many years of compounding curiosity.

The platform believes that Europe’s efforts to construct a brand new financial system stay considerably undercapitalised and depending on abroad capital. In accordance with the European Central Financial institution, EU pension funds allocate simply 0.02% of whole belongings to enterprise capital, in contrast with virtually 2% for US pension funds.

Aspire11 plans to progressively develop its world footprint within the years to return, whereas at all times maintaining Europe excessive on its agenda.