Highland Europe Closes €1.1 Billion Fund for European Scale-ups
Highland Europe has closed a €1.1 billion fund, its sixth, after a year in which it returned more than €1 billion to investors. The growth-stage investor is now ready to back more European tech companies as they scale.
The firm announced Fund VI on July 30, 2026, alongside the promotion of two investors to partner: Helena Richardson and Jacob Bernstein.
The recent success of Highland’s portfolio companies, including the sale of Nexthink to Vista Equity Partners for around $3 billion, highlights the firm’s focus on scale. Europe has traditionally lagged behind the US in late-stage funding, but Highland has raised €3.75 billion across its six funds and backed over 80 companies, with 30 achieving exits.
Their current portfolio includes diverse companies like:
- Nothing (smartphone maker)
- 9fin (credit intelligence)
- Nabla (healthcare AI)
- n8n (AI orchestration platform)
- Wordsmith (legal AI)
- Unframe (enterprise AI)
- Ecorobotix (precision agriculture robots)
AI is a key focus for the fund, with partner Sam Brooks stating that "a uniquely transformational moment… as AI reshapes every industry" marks the "uniquely transformational moment" for the fund.
Highland emphasized the internal promotion of Richardson and Bernstein as recognition of their decade-long contributions to building the firm, highlighting its "enduring, equal partnership" structure.