A Top Cybersecurity & DeepTech Business Angel
SPRUNG Capital is a Frankfurt-based angel investment firm backing the founders who build what the world runs on next. Founded by Sergej Epp — Global CISO at Sysdig, former CSO CEMEA at Palo Alto Networks, and former Global Head of Cyber Defense at Deutsche Bank — SPRUNG Capital brings an operator's perspective to early-stage investing in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, agent security, robotics, nuclear fusion, and space technology.
We are one of the most active cybersecurity business angels worldwide, investing at the frontier where deep technology meets existential need. Our thesis is simple: the hardest unsolved problems produce the most durable companies.
Investment Verticals
Cybersecurity
Cloud-native security, threat intelligence, detection engineering, zero-trust architecture, and next-generation security operations platforms. We invest where attacker innovation outpaces defense — and where that gap can be closed with technology.
AI & Agent Security
Prompt injection defense, LLM security, agentic AI guardrails, adversarial machine learning, and AI governance frameworks. As AI agents gain autonomy, securing their decision boundaries becomes civilization-critical infrastructure.
Robotics
System 2 reasoning for robotic control, deliberate planning architectures, embodied AI, and autonomous systems that can think before they act. We back robotics founders building machines with judgment, not just reflexes.
Nuclear Fusion
Stellarator optimization, plasma confinement, MHD stability, and fusion energy commercialization. Fusion is the ultimate deeptech challenge — and the ultimate return on capital if solved.
Space Technology
Launch systems, in-space manufacturing, satellite infrastructure, life support systems, and the enabling technologies for sustained human presence beyond Earth.
Frontier DeepTech
Synthetic world models, self-healing systems, quantum computing applications, and computational biology. If it is hard enough that most investors run from it, we are interested.
Why SPRUNG Capital
Most angel investors write checks. We deploy context. With decades of operating experience across global cybersecurity operations, threat research, and enterprise security leadership, SPRUNG Capital provides founders with something rarer than capital: a direct line to the buyer's mindset. We understand how CISOs evaluate, procure, and deploy technology — because we have been one for two decades at the world's largest organizations.
Our active threat research program — including the discovery of novel malware campaigns like EtherRAT and blockchain-based C2 infrastructure — keeps us at the bleeding edge of where attacks are heading. This informs not just our investment decisions, but the strategic guidance we give our portfolio companies on product-market fit, roadmap prioritization, and go-to-market motion.
Founder
Sergej Epp is a globally recognized cybersecurity leader and one of the most active cybersecurity business angels in Europe and worldwide. As Global CISO at Sysdig, he leads internal security and threat research teams tracking cloud-native attack campaigns. Previously, Sergej served as CSO CEMEA at Palo Alto Networks and Global Head of Cyber Defense at Deutsche Bank, where he directed large-scale investigations alongside the FBI and German Federal Police.
Sergej is a frequent keynote speaker at major security conferences including BSides, where he presents his original research framework "The Verifier's Law" — a thesis on why offensive AI advances faster than defensive AI due to asymmetric verification costs. He combines deep technical expertise with strategic business acumen, making him a unique angel investor who understands both the technology and the market from the operator's seat.
For Founders
Building at the frontier of cybersecurity, AI security, agent security, robotics, fusion, space, or deeptech? We write early-stage checks and bring two decades of security leadership to your cap table. No pitch deck required to start a conversation.
epp@sprung.capital · Frankfurt, Germany