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Puzzle Ventures

DEGBFRNLSEIEOtherB2B SaaSFintechAI/MLEnterpriseMarketplacesClimate

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Investment thesis

Puzzle Ventures is a €21.5M angel-operator solo GP fund dedicated to partnering with exceptional European pre-seed and seed founders building transformational B2B companies. The fund typically invests €200k–€700k per deal alongside other VCs and angels, and is particularly interested in products that form the backbone of companies' daily operations — at either the infrastructure or application layer. Founded by Gloria Bäuerlein — a former principal at Index Ventures, operator at KRY and Back, and prolific angel investor — Puzzle is backed by 100+ LPs including founders and operators from Personio, Stripe, WhatsApp, Coinbase, and Deliveroo. The fund's philosophy is that 'small is focused, small tries harder, small can make a big difference': rather than optimising for ownership, it optimises for access to the best founders across Europe, aiming to be the highest-value-per-euro investor on any cap table by acting as a true sparring partner throughout the entire founder journey.

Notable quotes

I think founders want to work with people who have been in the trenches before.

Gloria Bäuerlein · Sifted, 'Gloria Bäuerlein closes one of Europe's first female solo GP funds' · 2023-03-28

Adopting a strategy of being small and optimizing for access to top founders rather than focusing on ownership has proven effective.

Gloria Bäuerlein · Robin Capital Blog, 'Puzzle Ventures — Gloria Bäuerlein on Navigating the World of Venture Capital Solo' · 2023

Capital alone was no longer sufficient to support transformational companies.

Gloria Bäuerlein · LinkedIn post, Gloria Bäuerlein, launch of Puzzle Ventures · 2023-03-28

Team

Gloria Bäuerlein

Founding Partner & General Partner

B2B SaaSFintechAI/MLEnterpriseClimate

Recent investments

CompanyRoundSizeDate
DunaSeries A$33m2026-02
DuvoSeed$15m2025-12
Gradient LabsSeed$4m2024-08
ReonicSeries A$14m2024-09
RilletSeed2024-07
Ankar AIPre-seed$3m2024
OmneaSeed2023
PigmentSeed2021
ProcurosSeed2022
AtlarSeed2023

Frequent co-investors

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