Mattias Ljungman

Who they are

Mattias Ljungman is Founder and Managing Partner at Moonfire Ventures — co-founded Atomico with Niklas Zennström in 2006 before leaving to build a machine-learning-powered seed fund from scratch in 2019.

Person

Mattias took an Honours BA at McGill University (1992–1996), then a Master's at Stockholm School of Economics (1997–1999) — a transatlantic academic arc that likely shaped his pan-European, globally-minded investing instincts. He co-founded Atomico with Niklas Zennström in 2006 and spent over a decade there as a Partner, backing European tech from the inside of one of the continent's most prominent growth-stage funds. Along the way he served on advisory boards at Seedcamp and firstminute capital, and on the advisory board of Silicon Valley Bank UK — a set of affiliations that built out his early-stage and banking-side network. He left Atomico in 2019 to found Moonfire Ventures, a London-based pre-seed and seed fund with a deliberate thesis: run it as a technology company that does venture capital, using proprietary machine-learning models to source and evaluate deals at a scale — reportedly 50,000 companies weekly — that human-only teams can't match. The through-line from Atomico to Moonfire is Europe-first conviction combined with a belief that the infrastructure of investing itself can be rebuilt with better tooling. Possibly — his DLD Conference appearances suggest he's comfortable as a public voice on European tech and AI-driven investing, though his LinkedIn writing cadence appears occasional rather than prolific.

Company

Moonfire's most recent move is leading the £6 million ($8 million) seed and pre-seed funding round for Eunice in March 2026 — a London company building institutional-grade due diligence infrastructure for regulated markets — alongside Speedinvest and Openspace Ventures. Also in 2026, the firm hired Andrea Gurnari as Investment Partner to deepen its founder-facing function. Both moves follow the May 2023 close of a $115 million Fund II and an additional $25 million Opportunity Fund, which gave Moonfire the capital to lead rounds and follow on into Series A. Portfolio companies Faculty, Homerun, and Pento have seen exits via acquisition, and names like Humaans, Lightdash, GOALS, and LiveFlow have raised significant follow-on rounds — giving the fund a growing track record to point to.

Market

Moonfire competes in the pan-European early-stage venture capital space alongside Atomico, Speedinvest, Frontline Ventures, AlbionVC, and Y Combinator, among others. Its stated differentiation is the AI-driven sourcing and evaluation model — described internally as being a technology company that does venture capital — which it claims lets it identify founders typically missed by network-dependent investors. The firm's four focus sectors (health and wellbeing, future of work, capital and finance including Web3/DeFi, and gaming and community) are all areas where AI integration is reshaping both the startups and the investment competitive dynamics around them.

Network

Mattias co-founded Atomico with Niklas Zennström in 2006, making Zennström his most significant long-standing professional relationship. His Moonfire team includes Mike Arpaia as a partner driving the firm's AI-driven approach, and Andrea Gurnari, recently hired as Investment Partner in 2026. His advisory board roles at Seedcamp, firstminute capital, and Silicon Valley Bank UK point to a network that spans early-stage European fund circles and institutional finance.

Niklas Zennström· Co-founder of Atomico
Mike Arpaia· Partner at Moonfire Ventures
Andrea Gurnari· Investment Partner at Moonfire Ventures

How they likely show up

Co-founded Atomico in 2006 and spent 13+ years there before leaving to start Moonfire → likely thinks in decade-long conviction cycles, not reactive pivots.
Built Moonfire explicitly as a 'technology company that does venture capital' → comfortable merging engineering and investing disciplines; will engage seriously on the infrastructure of how decisions get made.
Possibly — long-tenure signal on LinkedIn alongside an occasional public writing cadence → probably more selective and considered in public output than prolific; likely prefers depth over volume in conversation too.
Advisory board roles spanning Seedcamp, firstminute capital, and Silicon Valley Bank UK alongside operating roles → shows a pattern of staying connected across the ecosystem rather than staying in one lane.
Chose to leave a scaled platform (Atomico) to rebuild from scratch at pre-seed → high tolerance for ambiguity and a preference for building over managing what already exists.
DLD Conference speaker on topics including early-stage investing and European startups → comfortable on stage and in public intellectual settings, likely responds well to substantive debate about the European tech thesis.

Conversation tips

→ Come with a specific view on what AI-driven sourcing actually changes about deal quality versus deal volume — he's built a fund thesis around this and will push back on vague takes.
→ Reference Moonfire's Eunice investment if you want to open a thread on regulated markets and AI — it's the firm's most recent public move and he commented on it directly.
→ Ask about the decision to leave Atomico rather than stay — the transition from co-founding a growth fund to building a pre-seed fund from scratch is where his actual conviction lives.
→ Don't arrive without a view on European tech specifically — his entire career has been a bet on Europe and he will probe whether you share or challenge that thesis.

Toolbox

Openers

Open on the Eunice investment in March 2026 — Moonfire led the £6 million round for an AI-powered due diligence infrastructure company for regulated markets, and Mattias commented publicly on the importance of regulatory logic being embedded in AI systems. It's a specific bet about where AI meets compliance.
Reference the '50,000 companies reviewed weekly' claim tied to Moonfire's ML sourcing model — it's the sharpest articulation of how he differentiates the fund, and asking what that actually changes about which founders get funded will open a real conversation.
Bring up the 2006 Atomico co-founding with Niklas Zennström — not as flattery, but as a genuine anchor: leaving that platform after 13+ years to build a pre-seed fund with a technology-first model is an unusual move, and the reasoning behind it is likely where his clearest thinking lives.

Discovery questions

When you describe Moonfire as a technology company that does venture capital — what has the ML sourcing model actually changed about which founders you end up backing versus what you would have found through a traditional network?
Your Eunice investment explicitly bets on AI systems that embed regulatory logic rather than operate around it — is that a specific portfolio thesis or a broader view about where AI wins in regulated industries?
You co-founded Atomico at the growth stage and then deliberately went to pre-seed with Moonfire — what did you see at Atomico about where European founders were underserved that made the earliest stage the right bet?

Avoid

Don't treat European venture as a consolation prize to US tech — his entire career is a deliberate, long-held bet on European champions and he will lose interest quickly if you frame the geography as second-tier.

Make it yours