Key Takeaways
- • Mouro Capital has closed its third fund at $400 million (€343.4 million) with anchor investment from Banco Santander, pushing total firm commitments beyond $1 billion and establishing it as a major player in global fintech venture capital.
- • The firm is expanding its investment mandate beyond traditional fintech into AI infrastructure and enterprise software, with seven completed investments including voice-AI pioneer ElevenLabs and Tokyo-based LLM developer Sakana AI.
- • Mouro Capital will open the fund to outside institutional investors for the first time, broadening its limited partner base beyond Santander's sole backing of previous vehicles.
- • The fund targets early-to-growth-stage companies (Seed through Series C) across Europe, North America, and Latin America, with strategic focus on AI-native financial infrastructure including programmable money movement, real-time payments, and identity and data platforms.
- • Fund management remains with General Partners Manuel Silva Martínez and Christopher Gottschalk, operating from the firm's London headquarters independently from Santander.
Summary
Mouro Capital has announced the first close of its third investment fund, securing $400 million in capital from long-standing anchor limited partner Banco Santander. This milestone marks a significant inflection point for the London-headquartered venture capital firm, pushing cumulative investment commitments beyond the $1 billion threshold and solidifying its position as a leading institutional player in the global fintech ecosystem.
The capital will be deployed across early-to-growth-stage companies spanning Seed through Series C rounds, with geographic focus on Europe, North America, and Latin America. Fund management remains with General Partners Manuel Silva Martínez and Christopher Gottschalk, who operate the firm independently. Notably, Mouro Capital plans to open this third fund to outside institutional investors in the near future—a strategic shift from previous vehicles that relied exclusively on Santander backing.
The firm is simultaneously executing a strategic pivot beyond traditional fintech into the intersection of financial services, artificial intelligence, and enterprise software. According to Silva Martínez, the fund will "back the next generation of global founders rewiring financial services through the lens of AI, data, and infrastructure." This thesis is already being deployed operationally: Mouro Capital has completed seven investments from the new fund, including investments in voice-AI platform ElevenLabs and Tokyo-based large language model developer Sakana AI.
The investment strategy centers on identifying AI-native financial infrastructure opportunities, with particular emphasis on programmable money movement, real-time payment systems, and robust identity and data platforms. Leadership views the convergence of financial services and artificial intelligence as a structural shift in the venture capital landscape, positioning the firm to capitalize on infrastructure-level innovations reshaping financial services globally. This thematic evolution represents a substantive expansion of Mouro Capital's historical fintech focus while maintaining geographic and stage-based diversification across its core markets.
The capital will be deployed across early-to-growth-stage companies spanning Seed through Series C rounds, with geographic focus on Europe, North America, and Latin America. Fund management remains with General Partners Manuel Silva Martínez and Christopher Gottschalk, who operate the firm independently. Notably, Mouro Capital plans to open this third fund to outside institutional investors in the near future—a strategic shift from previous vehicles that relied exclusively on Santander backing.
The firm is simultaneously executing a strategic pivot beyond traditional fintech into the intersection of financial services, artificial intelligence, and enterprise software. According to Silva Martínez, the fund will "back the next generation of global founders rewiring financial services through the lens of AI, data, and infrastructure." This thesis is already being deployed operationally: Mouro Capital has completed seven investments from the new fund, including investments in voice-AI platform ElevenLabs and Tokyo-based large language model developer Sakana AI.
The investment strategy centers on identifying AI-native financial infrastructure opportunities, with particular emphasis on programmable money movement, real-time payment systems, and robust identity and data platforms. Leadership views the convergence of financial services and artificial intelligence as a structural shift in the venture capital landscape, positioning the firm to capitalize on infrastructure-level innovations reshaping financial services globally. This thematic evolution represents a substantive expansion of Mouro Capital's historical fintech focus while maintaining geographic and stage-based diversification across its core markets.
Go deeper than the headline
Research every firm in this story, track the ones that matter and get the daily briefing — free for 7 days.