Transition Ventures is a London-based early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2021 by David Helgason, co-founder and former CEO of Unity Technologies, which went public at a $13.7 billion valuation in 2020. The firm was originally built around the Stockholm Resilience Centre's Planetary Boundaries framework as a climate-first investment thesis. With Fund II, the firm has reframed its mandate around what Helgason describes as "physical AI", backing companies rebuilding real-world systems at the intersection of artificial intelligence and industrial infrastructure. Fund II takes total assets under management above $300 million. The firm's team has founded and scaled companies worth over $15 billion collectively across software, hardware, and deep tech.
Transition invests in companies at the intersection of AI and the physical world, founders who build with atoms as much as bits, moving fluidly between hardware and software and fusing both with frontier science. Core focus areas include energy systems powering AI (including small modular nuclear reactors), next-generation computing and semiconductors, industrial robotics and automation, climate resilience, and critical minerals refining.
The firm is focused on climate and deep tech, backing companies that solve AI's physical infrastructure constraints while simultaneously addressing some of the world's most urgent industrial and environmental problems.
Fund II closed at $150 million in May 2026, taking total assets under management above $300 million. LP composition has not been publicly disclosed. Fund I closed in 2024 at a comparable scale and was approximately halfway through deployment at the time of Fund II's raise. Fund II will write initial checks of $1–$8 million from pre-seed through Series A across Europe and the US.
Leadership
David Helgason is co-founder and Managing Partner. He co-founded Unity Technologies in 2004 and served as its CEO for over a decade before stepping down in 2014, having built Unity into the dominant real-time 3D and gaming platform. He founded Transition in 2021.
Ari Helgason is Partner, formerly at Index Ventures, providing Series A and B underwriting muscle and investor network access across European and US growth-stage firms.
Kristian Branaes is Partner, with backgrounds at the Canadian Pension Plan and Atomico.
Mona Alsubaei is Partner based in New York, formerly at Union Square Ventures' climate fund, anchoring the firm's US presence.
Clara Ricard is Partner, formerly at Balderton Capital and a Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe 2024 honouree.
David Pacák is Partner, formerly at Earlybird and Picus Capital, covering the German and CEE deeptech ecosystems.
Investment Strategy
Transition invests from inception through Series A with a concentrated portfolio approach, fewer bets, deeper involvement per company. The firm takes active board seats and provides hands-on support across go-to-market, commercial strategy, and follow-on fundraising. Initial checks range from $1–$8 million with reserves to follow breakout companies into Series A. The firm operates cross-Atlantic from London and New York.
Other
Running Tide, an ocean-based carbon removal company in which Transition held a stake, collapsed in June 2024 after failing to generate sufficient demand in the voluntary carbon market. Helgason described the experience as deeply difficult. The collapse accelerated the firm's strategic reorientation toward physical AI.
Notable Investments
hello@transition.vc
David Helgason — Co-Founder & Managing Partner
david@transition.vc
Ari Helgason — Partner
ari@transition.vc
Kristian Branaes — Partner
kristian@transition.vc
Mona Alsubaei — Partner
mona@transition.vc
Clara Ricard — Partner
David Pacák — Partner
United Kingdom
