Prima Materia

About

Prima Materia is a European investment and company-building firm founded in February 2021 by Spotify co-founder Daniel Ek and early Spotify investor Shakil Khan ¹². In September 2020, Ek pledged €1 billion of his personal wealth to back European deep-tech “moonshot” startups over the following decade ³⁴. The firm is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden ⁵.

Prima Materia explicitly distinguishes itself from traditional venture capital. The firm’s FAQ states it is “not a venture capital firm” and does not pursue growth-stage financings, preferring instead to meet founders at the beginning of their journey ⁶. The firm describes itself as “not investors but builders and active owners to a small number of companies building great businesses for the long term” ⁷. The investment team consists of three people: Daniel Ek (Founder), Shakil Khan (Co-Founder), and Pia Michel (Head of New Projects) ⁷⁸.

Prima Materia maintains an intentionally small and concentrated portfolio, stating it is “not looking for many investment opportunities to deploy capital” and has noted it “no longer make[s] new fund investments” ⁶. Ek serves as Chairman of both Helsing and Neko Health, two of the firm’s core portfolio companies ⁹¹⁰. The firm’s tagline is “Ideas too urgent to be rushed” ⁵.

Stated Thesis

Prima Materia publicly describes its mission as partnering “with exceptional people to build companies that leverage technology to help solve meaningful problems for society” ⁶. The firm states it works with “ambitious scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs who develop technologies that change our shared trajectory” ⁶.

The firm identifies its focus areas as “clean energy, AI, healthcare and natural resources” and broader moonshot technologies that could reshape society ⁶. Prima Materia emphasizes an extremely long time horizon — Ek has publicly described it as a “100-year project,” not seeking to exit companies in 5-7 years ¹¹. The firm says it commits its “most valuable resource, our own time, to helping them succeed from day one” ⁷.

In announcing the Helsing Series D investment, Ek stated: “As Europe rapidly strengthens its defence capabilities in response to evolving geopolitical challenges, there is an urgent need for investments in advanced technologies that ensure its strategic autonomy and security readiness” ¹⁰.

Inferred Thesis

Based on 5 verified direct investments (Helsing, Neko Health, Epiterna, Homa Games, Northvolt) plus 1 fund investment (20VC), Prima Materia’s actual behavior reveals a distinctive pattern:

Stage distribution: Prima Materia predominantly invests at the earliest stages, often as the founding or sole investor. Of 5 direct company investments: 2 involved founding/incorporation-stage capital (Neko Health, Epiterna), 2 were Series A (Helsing, Homa Games), and 1 was Series B (Northvolt). The firm is essentially a company builder, not a traditional fund deployer.

Sector breakdown (5 direct investments): Defense/AI: 1 (20%), Healthtech: 1 (20%), Longevity/biotech: 1 (20%), Climate/energy: 1 (20%), Gaming: 1 (20%). The portfolio is extremely diversified by sector but unified by a “deep tech solving big problems” thesis.

Geographic focus: Strongly European. Helsing is Munich-based, Neko Health is Stockholm-based, Epiterna is Swiss, Homa Games is Paris-based, and Northvolt is Swedish ^312131415.

Check size: Extremely large for early stage. The Helsing Series A was €100M (out of €102.5M total round) ³. Epiterna received €10M as sole investor ¹². Ek invested approximately €30M in Neko Health before external investors joined ¹⁶. This is consistent with deploying personal billionaire-scale capital rather than fund economics.

Co-investor patterns: Prima Materia frequently invests alone or as dominant lead, then co-invests with top-tier European and global VCs in follow-on rounds. Subsequent investors across portfolio companies include General Catalyst (Helsing, Neko Health), Lightspeed (Helsing, Neko Health), Accel (Helsing), Lakestar (Neko Health), and Atomico (Neko Health) ¹⁰¹⁶.

Founder profile patterns: Prima Materia backs founders with deep technical or scientific expertise. Torsten Reil (Helsing) is a gaming/AI developer, Alejandro Ocampo (Epiterna) is a 15-year aging researcher, and Hjalmar Nilsonne (Neko Health) is an engineer ²¹²¹⁷.

Notable gaps from stated thesis: Despite claiming focus on “clean energy” and “natural resources,” only 1 of 5 direct investments (Northvolt) falls in climate tech. Defense tech (Helsing) has received by far the most capital — over €700M across rounds — but is not prominently featured in the firm’s stated focus areas. The firm also invested in gaming (Homa Games), which is not mentioned in its stated thesis at all.

Portfolio

This table represents the full known portfolio. Prima Materia intentionally maintains a very small number of investments ⁶. The firm has stated it “no longer make[s] new fund investments” ⁶, suggesting the 20VC fund investment was a one-off. Tracxn and Seedtable list H2 Green Steel as an additional portfolio company, but the specific round and year could not be independently verified from primary sources ¹⁵.

In Their Own Words

“We are not investors but builders and active owners to a small number of companies building great businesses for the long term.” — Prima Materia About page ⁷

“Europe needs more super companies, both for the ecosystem to develop and thrive. But I think more importantly if we’re going to have any chance to tackle the infinitely complex problems that our societies are dealing with at the moment, we need different stakeholders, including companies, governments, academic institutions, non-profits and investors of all kinds to work together.” — Daniel Ek, announcing Helsing Series A, November 2021 ²

“There’s an enormous realisation that it’s really now AI, mass and autonomy that is driving the new battlefield. We can’t understate the implications of that for this conflict [in Ukraine] or really any conflict going forward.” — Daniel Ek, on Helsing Series D, June 2025 ¹⁰

“As Europe rapidly strengthens its defence capabilities in response to evolving geopolitical challenges, there is an urgent need for investments in advanced technologies that ensure its strategic autonomy and security readiness. Helsing is uniquely positioned with its AI leadership to deliver these critical capabilities in all-domain defence innovation. By doubling down on our investment, Prima Materia reaffirms its commitment to empowering Europe’s technological sovereignty — an ambition Helsing perfectly embodies.” — Daniel Ek, Helsing Series D press release, June 2025 ¹⁰

What Founders Say

“Daniel has proven that it is possible to build a world-leading company in a new sector at scale in Europe. Not many people have proven that.” — Torsten Reil, CEO of Helsing, on Daniel Ek’s involvement, November 2021 ²

“Daniel desensitises you to large numbers quite quickly because of the size of Spotify. He gives you permission to think big.” — Torsten Reil, CEO of Helsing, November 2021 ²

“This journey has been made possible by closely working with Pia Michel and the team at Prima Materia, whose aim is to help the most ambitious European entrepreneurs find technology solutions to society’s most difficult problems.” — Alejandro Ocampo, CEO and co-founder of Epiterna, August 2023 ²¹

Sources