Minecraft has left its mark on European venture capital, too. Carl Manneh, co-founder of Mojang, the studio responsible for creating and developing Minecraft, is among the new investors in the Swedish fund BackingMinds. On October 21, 2026, the fund announced the first close of its third fund at over 50 million euros ($56.1 million).

Who's behind the money

Alongside Manneh, the fund's new backers include Sebastian Knutsson, co-founder of King, the studio known for Candy Crush. The funding round also drew Karl-Johan Persson, heir to the family behind H&M, and Conni Jonsson, founder of EQT. The European Investment Fund (EIF) committed 20 million euros, making it one of the largest single participants in this tranche.

BackingMinds was founded in 2016 by Susanne Najafi and Sara Wimmercranz. From the start, the fund has focused on backing founders outside traditional venture capital networks. According to figures cited by the investors, 43% of the entrepreneurs it supports are women, another 43% have a migrant background, and over 70% of the companies were founded outside major startup hubs such as Stockholm or Copenhagen.

Where the money will go

The new tranche is meant to go to 15-20 companies working in artificial intelligence, climate and so-called "resilience," meaning business and technological robustness. Susanne Najafi, quoted by Bloomberg, pointed to a broader problem in the European VC market: "capital has been locked up" because of a limited number of IPOs, which makes it harder for venture capital funds in Europe to pay returns back to their investors.

For Carl Manneh, this is another step in his activity beyond Mojang itself. Manneh was one of the key figures in building Minecraft on the business and technical side back when the studio was still independent, before Microsoft acquired it in 2014 for $2.5 billion. Since then, some of the game's creators have regularly gotten involved in other tech and investment projects, using capital built on the brand's success.

Minecraft as the foundation of an investing career

Manneh's investment in BackingMinds has no direct connection to the development of the game itself. Mojang Studios, as a Microsoft-owned company, continues to work on new versions on its own, including the current 26.4 series snapshots available to download in Java Edition. It's more an example of how fortunes built on one of the best-selling games in history translate into a wider tech ecosystem in Europe, especially in Scandinavia, home to both Minecraft and King.

Mojang's history has long been closely tied to the Swedish startup scene. The original team, including Markus "Notch" Persson and Jens Bergensten, worked in Stockholm before the brand ended up under Microsoft's wing. Manneh's involvement in BackingMinds shows that the capital and connections built through Minecraft still fuel new ventures in the region, even over a decade after the studio was sold.

What's next for the fund

BackingMinds hasn't yet announced the final size of the third fund after all tranches close, limiting itself to the first close at 50 million euros. The fund's founders say they will keep looking for investors ahead of the final close, and the first investments from the new capital are expected to go to companies in the AI and climate sectors in the coming months.

Sources