Montis VC appoints director for new €50m fund: 'Europe is fighting for its economic sovereignty'

Montis VC has raised €50m in the first close of a new venture fund aimed at backing startups in energy and industrial technology, as investors across Europe ramp up support for sectors tied to economic resilience.

"We're at a moment where Europe is fighting for its economic sovereignty – in semiconductors, in defence, in energy," Michal Bas, Montis VC's new director, tells Impact Loop via email.

Bas recently joined Montis from early-stage investor Venture Friends. He's also held positions at Polish-Israeli venture capital fund TDJ Pitango Ventures, and before that Poland’s state-run venture arm PFR Ventures.

PFR Ventures provided a cornerstone €10m investment in Montis's new fund. Other backers include the European Investment Fund (EIF), which committed through the bloc’s REPowerEU program, and cohort of undisclosed entrepreneurs and family offices from Central and Eastern Europe.

The initial close marks the start of a broader fundraising effort, with Montis VC already in advanced talks with additional investors.

Where Montis will invest

With the new fund, Montis VC plans to scale both its investment pace and ticket sizes, writing initial checks of €500,000 to €2m while reserving roughly half the capital for follow-on rounds.

The firm expects to back between 20 and 25 startups at the pre-seed and seed stages.

Bas said the firm is particularly interested in projects applying AI in sectors such as industry, energy, and infrastructure.

"Energy and industry are fundamentally optimisation problems at massive scale – and that's exactly where AI earns its keep," he says.

"We're talking about grids with millions of variables, industrial processes where a 2% efficiency gain is worth tens of millions of euros," he continues.

"AI doesn't just help you move faster; it lets you see patterns and make decisions that are genuinely beyond human cognitive reach."

Poland's climate tech ecosystem remains nascent

In 2023, Montis was one of four funds to recieve a €55m in funding for PFR Ventures as part of a state-backed plan to boost Poland's climate tech ecosystem. The other three funds were Contrarian Ventures, Eurazeo, and General Atlantic’s BeyondNetZero fund.

A look at the data, however, reveals that effort has yet to pay off. Since 2023, funding for Poland's climate tech startups has dropped significantly, from an modest high of $66m in 2022, to just $12m in 2025, according to Dealroom data.

"[Poland] can't be a sovereignty asset for Europe if its own energy system is still structurally dependent on the past," says Bas. "The window to position ourselves as builders rather than bystanders is open right now, and it won't stay open forever."

Poland remains highly dependent on fossil fuels, with 51% of its electricity generation coming from coal in 2025, according to energy think tank Ember. However, it has made significant progress in deploying more renewables in recent years, with solar and wind making up 25% of its electricity share.

Montis's new fund will invest across Europe, not just in Poland, the firm said in a press statement.