Prague’s Aspire11 has announced the launch of its inaugural €500 million pension-backed fund, led by Pavel Mucha, long-term VC investor in the CEE region to open new pathways for European pension funds to increase their exposure to VC funds and growth companies.
Aspire11 launches with a barbell approach consisting of two strategies, named Tribes and Eternals. Mucha is joined by Rentea and LP The Partners Group, as well as Tülin Tokatli as a partner to build and curate the Tribes portfolio, drawing on her track record in evaluating VC investors as a former investor at the European Investment Fund (EIF).
Pavel Mucha, Founder of Aspire11, said: “Awakening dormant pension capital and connecting it efficiently to VC investors and lifelong builders has turned into a mission for me. Thanks to broader shifts in EU pension and long-term investment rules, pension capital can now engage with the private and venture markets.”
Founded in 2025, Aspire11 is an investment platform for pension capital with plans to deploy funds over the next five years into growth-stage generational companies and VC investors worldwide. The mission of Aspire11 is to activate and connect dormant capital – with an investment horizon of 20 to 30 years – to global private (non-public) markets, enabling pension funds to participate in the growth stories of generational companies beyond the reach of public markets.
Mucha founded KAYA VC, one of CEE’s first venture firms, co-founded the venture debt firm Orbit Capital, and has backed some of the region’s most successful venture stories, including Rohlik Group, Mews, Booksy, and DocPlanner. He has also been an LP in numerous exceptional Seed VC funds behind companies such as Revolut, PhotoRoom, Incident and Yoco.
The platform focuses on growth companies with “strong products, entrepreneurial DNA, and outstanding execution, as well as on exceptional early-stage VC investors who invest with conviction in breakthrough technologies, demographic shifts, and who share the belief in a world of abundance“.
First pension savers will gain access through Rentea, the pension company under the Czech financial group Partners.
Aspire11 is inspired by the Canadian Maple Model. According to the platform, only 0.02% of assets flow into high-growth startups, leading to globally uncompetitive returns for Europe’s retirees. Aspire11 aims to break this cycle.
“For years, the pattern has been the same. European private markets have not been deep enough, and their progress has been painfully slow. Entrepreneurs across the continent have been scrambling for patient, long-term capital inside Europe so they can build at scale, while VC investors have been forced to seek liquidity overseas. The contrast with the depth of North American markets has been obvious and has long screamed for change,” said Mucha.
By removing the pressure of short-term exits and cap table disruptions, Aspire11 empowers entrepreneurs and VC investors to focus on building enduring, industry-defining businesses. The fund operates with a long-term horizon, focuses on private (non-public) markets, prioritises fee efficiency and active participation, with the mission of making pensions stronger.
With Tribes, it invests into a new generation of early-stage VC investors, growing ‘tribes’ of ambitious Founders specialising in emerging technologies and demographic shift-driven opportunities. With Eternals, Aspire11 fuels a fund that can hold for 20 years plus, supporting companies with a long-term vision for generational value with quality execution.
Mucha added: “We designed Aspire11 to back both lifelong business builders and frontier VC investors. With Tribes, we commit ourselves to the next wave of high-conviction VC pickers. Through Eternals, we are ready to support companies not just for years, but decades, to buy them time to win.”
With pension company Rentea, which is part of Czech financial organisation The Partners Group (a major LP of Aspire11), the fund aims to demonstrate that once pension capital is placed in the hands of outstanding VC investors and entrepreneurs, it benefits everybody and drives lasting prosperity.
Czech company The Partners Group has €7 billion AUM in investments, pensions, and deposits. With operations across four European countries and serving two million clients, The Partners Group is ideally positioned for collaboration with Aspire11. They share a mutual vision for the future role of European pension funds.
“Aspire11 invites entrepreneurs and VC investors to join in growing this vision. With a horizon measured in decades, our goal is to turn dormant pension funds into a force that works for the people who have built and served the country, ensuring that life after work is not only secure but also rich in quality and possibility,” said Mucha.
Analysis by Aspire11 found that redirecting just 1% of European pension funds’ AUM would unlock an estimated €87 billion – which represents less than a quarter of their average annual yield – without undermining societal stability or welfare. Aspire11’s calculations indicate that an annual investment of as little as 1% of European pension funds’ AUM into the continent’s economy over the next decade would unlock a sum exceeding €1.1 trillion. This is due to the benefits of increasing valuations and decades of compounding interest.
The platform believes that Europe’s efforts to build a new economy remain significantly undercapitalised and dependent on overseas capital. According to the European Central Bank, EU pension funds allocate just 0.02% of total assets to venture capital, compared with almost 2% for US pension funds.
Aspire11 plans to gradually grow its global footprint in the years to come, while always keeping Europe high on its agenda.