We're not just another Scout program. We're a community of 120+ engineers, scientists, and founders across Europe.
and we're building the next generation of Deep Tech together.
One in fifteen applicants gets in. 75% technical. PhDs, founders, operators, and alumni across TUM, Cambridge, ETH, EPFL, KIT, Delft, Oxford, and beyond. Everyone you meet here speaks your language.
Submit a deal, and hear back from our investment team within a week. Whether we pass or proceed, you learn how a technical investor reads a company (plus if we end up investing in a startup you suggested).
Quarterly Town Halls
Our founding partner walks through recent deals, shares the actual investment memo, and answers anything.
A VC course built for engineers
Twice a year, ten seats, six weeks. From sourcing to the investment committee with real cases.
Lunch & Learn
Scout-hosted sessions on their biggest hacks. Previously: GTM for Deep Tech, Robotics, and TechBio. Bring your sandwich.
“Being part of First Momentum Ventures' scout community is an amazing opportunity to engrain yourself in the European Deep Tech ecosystem. I've made great connections and constantly get exposed to fascinating ventures and perspectives.”
Chris Tagnon
Tech Transfer @ Formula 1 Company
“The community allows you to expand your knowledge in technical and VC topics and provides access to inspiring people from different backgrounds. The First Momentum team lives their motto, „engineers at heart, investors by choice"; they are partners on eye level and super fun!”
Jana Jeggle
Chief of Staff, ex-MIT
“The more you put in, the more you get out of it - true for a lot of things in life and very true for FMV. The community is full of wonderful people, and even the founding partners are open to take time to have a coffee with you. It is truly an amazing organization and a huge privilege to be a part of it.”
Istvan Keszte
NPI Lead @ Stealth Startup, ex Phlair & Lilium
“The First Momentum's Scout Community is mature and professional. It is the next step after the student initiatives for all voluntary and ambitious young (future) entrepreneurs.”
Amelie Wolfgart
Circular Economy Analyst @ Bischof+Klein
“i’ve been genuinely impressed by the caliber of people in the scout community. Many are deeply tecnnical and bring real domain expertise to the table. Just as importantly, they're thoughtful, principled, and generous with their time. There's a contagious intellectual energy to the group, the kind that pulls you in and makes you want to contribute at the same level.”
Jérôme Jaggi
Chief of Staff @ Unikraft
“Being part of the scout community has taught me a lot about VC. I've been exposed to so many smart people from all kinds of backgrounds. Joining First Momentum as a Scout is one of the best things you can do if you're looking to break into venture, or thinking about founding one day.”
Mohammed Thabit
TUM-student
Looking behind the scenes at First Momentum helps you understand how VCs tick and what they expect to see at the Pre-Seed stage.
Examples: Stefan Weirich @ mimic; Fabian Fussek @ Kaiko Systems
How do you source? How do you assess deeply technical products? Learning through constant input, conversations, and your own deal flow is your first step into VC.
Examples: David Ordonez (Deep Tech Investor @ NATO Innovation Fund); Janine de Leeuw (Founder's Associate @ First Momentum; Mohammed Faisal Khan @Sony Innovation Fund)
Use our team as your sparring partner for your own deal flow and discover new deals from our ecosystem.
Leverage our and other Scouts’ networks to learn about jobs before they get posted.
Examples: Max Wenger (Chief of Staff @ 1KOMMA5°, now Stealth); Alexandra Gravereaux @ Nominal
Application
Questionnaire
Interview
Final Decision
If you have made it through, you will become part of our community of hand-selected, curious, and passionate Venture Scouts
Deals we haven't seen. A second opinion on a recycling chemistry founder or an industrial robotics startup when our team needs a reference. A warm intro for a portfolio company hiring its first marketing lead. Whatever fits your skills or network.
To stay in the community, you'll need to contribute. If you sit in the right corner of the ecosystem, you won't notice the bar. The program is designed for people whose week is already full and, according to former Scouts, quietly compounds your main gig rather than competing with it.
If you're up for more, you can step up as a Chapter Lead for one of Europe's deep tech ecosystems.
A title to put on your LinkedIn and forget about. We track activity and offboard scouts who go quiet. It’s the only way to keep the room worth being in.
There’s no weekly quota. No mandatory calls beyond the quarterly Town Hall. The job is simple: keep First Momentum and our portfolio companies top of mind. When you meet someone building something interesting, tell us. When a portfolio company needs a warm intro, make it. When you spot a deal in your corner of the ecosystem, submit it.
First Momentum is a pre-seed deep tech fund run by engineers, scientists, and operators. We invest €250k to €1.5m across Europe in the companies building the hard stuff: energy, compute, manufacturing, robotics, as well as techbio, aerospace, and software infrastructure. Our portfolio is backed by Khosla Ventures, Sequoia, and Insight Partners. We don't just write checks. We've been in the lab, on the factory floor, and in the founding team. We know what hard problems look like.
