Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on December 10, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleNick Clegg joins HIRO Capital to invest in spatial AI with a focus on robotics and immersive tech. The HIRO III fund has over 500 million euros for European tech startups.
By Paul Sandle
LONDON, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Nick Clegg, the former president of global affairs at Meta and deputy prime minister of Britain, has joined founder-led venture capital firm HIRO Capital to invest in spatial AI innovation in Europe, the firm said on Wednesday.
Clegg will join HIRO's general partners Luke Alvarez, Cherry Freeman and British computer games legend Ian Livingstone in the new HIRO III fund, which is understood to have more than 500 million euros ($582 million) to deploy.
Yann LeCun, who recently announced he was standing down as Meta's chief AI scientist, will join HIRO's advisory board, it said.
Clegg, who left Meta in January, said there was a shared belief in the HIRO team that the next stage of technology would be focused on spatial, immersive computing platforms, which underpin technologies like robotics, augmented reality and self-driving cars.
"There's a great deal of expertise, deep laboratory and academic research in Europe, which can and will become increasingly relevant," he said in an interview on Wednesday.
Pessimism about Europe's prospects versus the U.S. or China was overdone, he said, pointing to a growing pipeline of opportunities.
"We're still an affluent continent of 500 million-plus people with some of the best researchers and labs in the world, (and) we actually have an increasingly vibrant tech startup scene," he said.
He said the team had already identified opportunities in robotics, sports and gaming, and defence, as well as spatial computing technologies such as orientation, navigation and autonomy.
The fund will deploy between 5 million euros and 50 million euros in investments, targeting a gap for scale-up capital in Europe, the firm said.
($1 = 0.8589 euros)
(Reporting by Paul Sandle. Editing by Mark Potter)
Venture capital is a form of private equity financing that is provided to startups and small businesses with long-term growth potential. It typically involves high risk but can yield high returns.
Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think and learn. AI can perform tasks such as problem-solving and decision-making.
Spatial computing is an emerging technology that blends the physical and digital worlds. It encompasses augmented reality, virtual reality, and other immersive technologies that interact with spatial environments.
Investment capital is the funds invested in a business or project with the expectation of generating a return. It can come from various sources, including venture capitalists and private investors.
A tech startup is a newly established company focused on developing technology-based products or services. These companies often seek venture capital to fund their growth and innovation.
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