The first quarter of 2026 set new records for venture capital investment activity. Following an exceptionally strong 2025, artificial intelligence once again remained the primary growth driver. Investment volume increased by 150% year-on-year, reaching USD 300 billion invested across 6 000 startups. However, 65% of the capital was concentrated in just four companies: OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, and Waymo. AI-related companies accounted for 80% of all invested capital, while 83% of investments were made in the United States. Most capital continued to flow into later-stage rounds, although early-stage investments also recorded growth of 40%. M&A activity also gained momentum during the quarter, with global transaction value reaching USD 56,6 billion.
In Europe, we continue to observe a shift in capital allocation toward industrialization, advanced materials, robotics, and energy.
Our own efforts in this direction are also delivering results. In March, we completed an investment in Swiss company 8inks, which provides battery manufacturers with a new technology that improves both production efficiency and battery performance.
In January, we made an additional capital contribution of EUR 60 000 to Eleven Fund III. We also signed the final agreement for the sale of part of our stake in eBag through a secondary transaction with fellow investor HR Capital. The transaction was completed in February, generating proceeds of EUR 4,8 million for MFG Invest. We used part of the proceeds—EUR 1,62 million—to repay liabilities to our majority shareholder, MFG AD, while simultaneously extending a loan of EUR 2,97 million to the same shareholder. At the end of February 2026, we also announced our intention to distribute an interim dividend to shareholders and shared our profit expectations as of 30 June 2026.
Several additional financial events took place after the reporting period. We provided a EUR 200 000 loan to Tiger Technology, which we expect either to convert into equity or to be repaid by the end of July. We also completed an investment through a SAFE agreement in Paypercut, a fintech infrastructure platform.
The full report is available in the attached document.