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▶ 0:25 · $SISYPHUS-VENTURES · Sisyphus Ventures €20m fund backing defence founders: Louise Boucher, Founder and Managing Partner.
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Scaling Europe

Sisyphus Ventures €20m fund backing defence founders: Louise Boucher, Founder and Managing Partner.

2026-03-03 · 8 company · 5 thematic
sentiment
6 bull1 bear1 neu
speakers
louise boucher

Founder and solo GP of Sisyphus Ventures, a €20M fund backing ambitious European defense founders. Previously invested in defense at First Capital (France) and Northzone (London) since 2022, including angel investment in Helsing. Spent three years building defense portfolio before launching fund in December 2024.

quote
“I'm really against, let's say, dual as the beginning. I that's why I also pitched myself and the font at being like defense font. I didn't want to pitch it as resilience because I want to make it very clear we're going to go into kinetics,…”
—louise boucher
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