Ruya Ventures goes deep with €43 million fund to get lab-born tech into the real world

London’s Ruya Ventures, a solo GP venture capital firm founded by DeepTech investor Rick Hao, has announced a €43 million ($50 million) fundraise for its first VC fund, aimed at supporting global DeepTech innovation as it moves from the lab into real-world deployment.

The fund reached its final close in less than a year and was oversubscribed.

Rick Hao, founder and solo GP of Ruya Ventures, says: “DeepTech is a marathon not a sprint. Any successful founder in the space will tell you that getting out of the lab is not the hardest part of the journey. Yes, timelines are lengthy and capital requirements hefty but DeepTech failures are not down to the science being wrong.

“Most DeepTech companies stall because no one helps founders figure out how to cross the chasm between a working prototype and a product that can be manufactured at scale and adopted by the market.”

Ruya Ventures’ first fund close comes amid continued EU-Startups coverage in 2026 of capital moving into DeepTech and adjacent areas including semiconductors, robotics, physical AI and quantum computing.

Recent examples include Barcelona-based Openchip’s €115 million investment for AI and high-performance computing chips, Eindhoven-based Invisix’s €20 million Seed round for semiconductor metrology, Barcelona-based THEKER’s €73 million Series A for AI robotics deployment, and quantum-related rounds such as QuantWare’s €152 million Series B, Quobly’s €115 million Series A and eleQtron’s €57 million Series A.

Across these 2026 rounds, funding amounts to approximately €1.75 billion, or about €547.9 million excluding NEURA Robotics’ “up to €1.2 billion” Series C.

Rick Hao also appeared in earlier EU-Startups coverage as a Speedinvest partner in relation to DeepTech startup Astral Systems’ 2025 funding round.

“DeepTech (and the supply chains that underpin it) is an inherently global game. A European lens alone is not sufficient. That is why Ruya Ventures is rooted in Europe but deliberately built with a network that spans Europe, the US, and Asia,” adds Rick.

Founded in 2025, Ruya Ventures plans to build a portfolio of 20 DeepTech companies worldwide. The firm will back frontier technologies tackling meaningful but difficult problems, with a particular focus on targeted technology value chains where it has built conviction through academic research networks, previous investments, and experience in commercialisation.

Rather than taking a broad-based approach, Ruya Ventures will focus on sectors including AI, batteries, robotics, semiconductors, materials science, and novel computing.

The firm is already deploying capital, with its first investments including WLF Energy, which is developing energy infrastructure from generation to grid, and MegaCool, which is building cooling hardware tailored to modern compute needs.

Ruya Ventures has also backed three additional stealth-mode startups working across AI, robotics, and semiconductors.

As a day-zero fund and long-term strategic partner to startups, Ruya Ventures aims to support founders in their first financing round and, in many cases, even before incorporation.

Through its networks across Asia, Ruya Ventures also aims to support founders with some of the more complex aspects of company building, including commercialisation, manufacturing, supply chain development, and international expansion.

“We are interested in the work that happens after the check is written that closes that gap. It’s the commercialisation, the manufacturing strategy, the global network that most early-stage investors are not set up to do well,” says Rick.

While Europe has a strong research base, many startups in the sector need access to manufacturing partners, global customers, specialist infrastructure, and cross-border capital networks. Ruya Ventures’ model is designed to connect founders with this broader ecosystem from the beginning of their company-building journey.