Investor behaviour

VCs breaking their thesis

A focused fund's first cheque outside its own track record: a new sector, a new region, or an entry far earlier than usual. The thesis is what each fund's earlier first cheques show (15 or more, 80% inside the focus). Follow-ons never count. Each deal is checked against the round's sources, and a deal whose article lists other investors and not the fund is left out.
907
VCs broke their pattern since 2020
495
of them in 2025 and 2026
14%
of focused VCs investing in 2026 (283 of 2023)
884 / 1087 / 31
new sector / region / earlier stage
VCs breaking their pattern, per month
Jan 2020Oct 2026

843 breaks are rounds known only by their year. They count in the totals and the list, not in the monthly bars.

  1. Oct 13, 2025
    New regionFirst deal in MEA. Before: 40 first cheques, 35 in LATAM, 2 in North America.
  2. Oct 9, 2025
    Cowboy Ventures backed Kernel at Series B
    New regionFirst deal in UK & Ireland. Before: 27 first cheques, 22 in North America, 3 in DACH.
  3. Oct 8, 2025
    New sectorFirst Energy, Environment & Mobility cheque. Before: 39 first cheques, 17 in Software & Developer Tools, 17 in Consumer, Lifestyle & Services.
  4. Oct 2025
    aMoon backed GK8 at Seed
    New sectorFirst Finance & Blockchain cheque. Before: 39 first cheques, 35 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 2 in Industry & Hardware.
  5. Oct 2025
    New regionFirst deal in Nordics. Before: 37 first cheques, 31 in North America, 3 in UK & Ireland.
  6. Oct 2025
    Baseline Ventures backed Lette AI at Pre-seed
    New regionFirst deal in DACH. Before: 15 first cheques, 12 in North America, 2 in APAC.
  7. Oct 2025
    Builders VC backed Builders at Seed
    New regionFirst deal in MEA. Before: 29 first cheques, 24 in North America, 2 in UK & Ireland.
  8. Oct 2025
    New regionFirst deal in Southern Europe. Before: 26 first cheques, 22 in North America, 2 in UK & Ireland.
  9. Oct 2025
    New sectorFirst Industry & Hardware cheque. Before: 15 first cheques, 8 in Consumer, Lifestyle & Services, 6 in Healthcare & Life Sciences.
    Source
  10. Oct 2025
    New sectorFirst Industry & Hardware cheque. Before: 21 first cheques, 17 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 2 in Software & Developer Tools.
    New regionFirst deal in DACH. Before: 20 first cheques, 17 in North America, 1 in UK & Ireland.
  11. Oct 2025
    Construct Capital backed Vammo at Series B
    New regionFirst deal in DACH. Before: 18 first cheques, 15 in North America, 1 in UK & Ireland.
    Source
  12. Oct 2025
    Contrarian Ventures backed Alven at Seed
    New sectorFirst Industry & Hardware cheque. Before: 21 first cheques, 9 in Software & Developer Tools, 8 in Energy, Environment & Mobility.
  13. Oct 2025
    New sectorFirst Industry & Hardware cheque. Before: 45 first cheques, 36 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 5 in Software & Developer Tools.
  14. Oct 2025
    Medicxi Ventures backed Synthex at Seed
    New sectorFirst Finance & Blockchain cheque. Before: 46 first cheques, 37 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 7 in Software & Developer Tools.
  15. Oct 2025
    New regionFirst deal in Nordics. Before: 40 first cheques, 37 in North America, 1 in UK & Ireland.
  16. Oct 2025
    OMX Ventures backed Synthex at Seed
    New sectorFirst Finance & Blockchain cheque. Before: 19 first cheques, 15 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 2 in Industry & Hardware.
  17. Oct 2025
    OpenOcean backed Arbio at Series A
    New sectorFirst Energy, Environment & Mobility cheque. Before: 56 first cheques, 43 in Software & Developer Tools, 6 in Commerce & Marketing.
    Source
  18. Oct 2025
    New regionFirst deal in DACH. Before: 83 first cheques, 72 in UK & Ireland, 8 in North America.
    Source
  19. Oct 2025
    New regionFirst deal in DACH. Before: 51 first cheques, 43 in North America, 3 in UK & Ireland.
  20. Oct 2025
    Sonae IM backed SecondNature at Series B
    New sectorFirst Consumer, Lifestyle & Services cheque. Before: 36 first cheques, 29 in Software & Developer Tools, 3 in Commerce & Marketing.
  21. Oct 2025
    Surveyor Capital backed Adcytherix at Series A
    New regionFirst deal in APAC. Before: 35 first cheques, 29 in North America, 2 in DACH.
    Source
  22. Oct 2025
    New sectorFirst Industry & Hardware cheque. Before: 29 first cheques, 22 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 5 in Software & Developer Tools.
  23. Sep 30, 2025
    Cormorant Asset Management backed Star at Series C+
    New sectorFirst Finance & Blockchain cheque. Before: 69 first cheques, 57 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 6 in Software & Developer Tools.
  24. Sep 30, 2025
    FINTOP Capital backed Returnalyze at Series A
    New sectorFirst Industry & Hardware cheque. Before: 33 first cheques, 22 in Finance & Blockchain, 10 in Software & Developer Tools.
    Source
  25. Sep 30, 2025
    Frazier Life Sciences backed Star at Series C+
    New sectorFirst Finance & Blockchain cheque. Before: 23 first cheques, 18 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 5 in Software & Developer Tools.
  26. Sep 30, 2025
    Redmile backed Star at Series C+
    New sectorFirst Finance & Blockchain cheque. Before: 45 first cheques, 37 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 6 in Software & Developer Tools.
  27. Sep 26, 2025
    Anges Québec backed Geodar at Seed
    New sectorFirst Industry & Hardware cheque. Before: 22 first cheques, 12 in Software & Developer Tools, 6 in Healthcare & Life Sciences.
  28. Sep 26, 2025
    STV backed Onclarity
    New regionFirst deal in North America. Before: 19 first cheques, 19 in MEA.
  29. Sep 18, 2025
    New sectorFirst Healthcare & Life Sciences cheque. Before: 18 first cheques, 16 in Software & Developer Tools, 1 in Finance & Blockchain.
  30. Sep 18, 2025
    Tapestry backed Seapoint at Pre-seed
    New sectorFirst Finance & Blockchain cheque. Before: 16 first cheques, 12 in Software & Developer Tools, 4 in Consumer, Lifestyle & Services.
    Source
  31. Sep 17, 2025
    NexTech Invest backed Lemondia at Pre-seed
    New sectorFirst Commerce & Marketing cheque. Before: 55 first cheques, 47 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 5 in Software & Developer Tools.
    Source
  32. Sep 10, 2025
    Adage Capital backed PsiQuantum at Series C+
    New sectorFirst Artificial Intelligence & Data cheque. Before: 22 first cheques, 17 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 2 in Software & Developer Tools.
    Source
  33. Sep 9, 2025
    Almi Invest backed Yangi at Series A
    New regionFirst deal in MEA. Before: 98 first cheques, 86 in Nordics, 6 in DACH.
    Source
  34. Sep 9, 2025
    Industrifonden backed Yangi at Series A
    New regionFirst deal in MEA. Before: 89 first cheques, 75 in Nordics, 7 in North America.
    Source
  35. Sep 8, 2025
    Flex Capital backed Kin Forest at Series C+
    New sectorFirst Consumer, Lifestyle & Services cheque. Before: 15 first cheques, 10 in Software & Developer Tools, 3 in Commerce & Marketing.
  36. Sep 2025
    Abingworth backed Tizona at Series B
    New sectorFirst Energy, Environment & Mobility cheque. Before: 45 first cheques, 32 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 6 in Software & Developer Tools.
  37. Sep 2025
    Bloc Ventures backed Astradyne at Seed
    New regionFirst deal in Southern Europe. Before: 15 first cheques, 12 in UK & Ireland, 1 in North America.
  38. Sep 2025
    New sectorFirst Consumer, Lifestyle & Services cheque. Before: 51 first cheques, 34 in Healthcare & Life Sciences, 7 in Industry & Hardware.
  39. Sep 2025
    First Imagine! backed NeoEarth at Seed
    New sectorFirst Healthcare & Life Sciences cheque. Before: 15 first cheques, 13 in Energy, Environment & Mobility, 1 in Software & Developer Tools.
    Source
  40. Sep 2025
    Gimic Ventures backed Mevaldi at Seed
    New regionFirst deal in Benelux & France. Before: 17 first cheques, 17 in DACH.