How a venture firm invests in an increasingly fragmented world

The world today is beset by cultural differences, political divides, and geopolitical strife—a challenging environment for any investor looking for startups that can grow enough to deliver enterprise-scale returns.

Kompas VC has developed a regionally sensitive strategy to help it navigate and invest in this fragmented world. And it’s putting new capital toward that approach with a new €160 million ($187.5 million) fund, the company told TechCrunch.

“We see the world really falling into three main spheres of economic activity, political activity — the US, Europe and China,” said Sebastian Peck, a partner at Compass VChe told TechCrunch. “We’re certainly seeing today that these three sectors are on very, very different trajectories.”

Kompas has staked its reputation on supporting startups facing key industrial competitiveness challenges, from manufacturing and supply chains to critical infrastructure and sustainability. These issues have not disappeared, but different regions emphasize them to varying degrees.

“There was a lot of excitement around these issues in 2021,” Peck said. “In 2026, we’re in a very, very different paradigm. It’s about artificial intelligence, it’s about rapid growth, very explosive growth. A lot of big issues that we play a part in, but also aren’t really part of what we stand for.”

“Our focus is on the natural world, anything around the production of natural goods,” he added, saying Kompas focuses on startups working on decarbonization, productivity and risk management. “We found our place.”

This position turns out to be quite broad. Renewal is in fashion in almost every market, and depending on the startup, these markets usually have more than enough scale for a company like Kompas.

Although overshadowed by some venture funds these days, Kompas’ recently raised second fund should give it ample opportunity to lead early rounds with checks ranging from €3m to €5m.

As a European fund, Kompas has access to a number of founders and startups in the region. But it must weigh how global fragmentation could limit the ability of some to deliver returns on ventures. Peck cites prefabricated housing as an example. The approach is widely used in the Nordic countries, but is not as common in Germany or the rest of Europe, let alone the United States.

“It feels like such an intuitive solution. It’s a product that’s essentially an industrial product. It should be extremely scalable,” he said. Ultimately, the reason it hasn’t caught on outside of Scandinavia has more to do with “cultural conditioning” than the technology itself, he said. “In this industry, if the US is not the market you can go to, you have to look very, very carefully at whether there is a large enough addressable market.”

Fragmentation extends beyond housing. For example, in Europe, sustainability is still broadly attractive, unlike in the US, where the topic does not have the memory it did several years ago.

However, much can change quickly, Peck acknowledges. “We invest on 10-, 15-year horizons. It’s some legislative periods that have to be bridged and sometimes things move in unexpected directions.”

The changing landscape presents a challenge, but also an opportunity for a smaller investor like Kompas. “I think there’s a great space for highly focused, highly specialized, smaller funds like ours to be the first check-in and discover some themes and some founders,” Peck said.