Judith Dada, general partner at VC firm Visionaries, is joining Berlin-based AI startup Langdock as co-CEO. She will remain a senior partner at the firm as it gears up for a new fundraise later this year.
Langdock integrates multiple different AI models into one operating platform, enabling companies and organisations to switch between the likes of Gemini, Anthropic, OpenAI or Mistral for various functions including deploying AI agents.
The startup has largely flown under the radar, last raising $3m in 2024 led by General Catalyst and the former La Famiglia team, where Dada was an investor. It’s also backed by Y Combinator as well as angels including GetYourGuide cofounder Johannes Reck.
Visionaries says the company recently hit $40m in annual recurring revenue (ARR) and is also profitable.
“I got to a point where I felt that this is such a consequential technology that I have to find a vessel or a way for me to truly give it my all,” Dada tells Sifted of the decision. “I believe that investing will always be a part of that … [but] the nature of this moment just asks more of me in terms of putting my eggs in one basket.”
Starting in September, Dada’s operational focus will be on Langdock, but she’ll still do deals opportunistically.
The new role
Rob Lacher, cofounder of Visionaries, says the firm is "partnering" with Langdock but declined to publicly say more; he says Visionaries is an investor in Langdock.
Dada will take a more external role at Langdock, talking to policymakers, customers and companies, making the “public case for how AI adoption can go well”, as well as things like communications and marketing.
Dada’s move comes at a time when talk around bolstering Europe’s sovereign AI capabilities is heating up.
But Langdock has recently drawn criticism over being registered in Delaware amid the push for AI companies and services to be on European soil. Dada points out that it’s a requirement for Y Combinator companies to be registered in the US, but “the vast majority of the cap table today is in European hands.”
The company has more than 10k customers from small to large companies, Dada says.
Pushing for sovereign AI
European AI sovereignty is a big topic for Dada, having recently contributed to a new paper dubbed Europe 2031 which argued that Europe “misjudged how fast AI would move … how much it would change … and its own ability to catch up”, while also recommending actions to remedy the situation.
It’s also something that’s come into the spotlight in recent weeks, with US AI model maker Anthropic cutting off access to two of its most powerful AI models owing to a US export control directive.
“For the first time Europeans have understood that access to models is not something that is God-given,” Dada says. “As AI becomes more powerful and more transformative and really reshapes the core of competitiveness of businesses, having access to the most amount of intelligence in the most independent, sovereign way is actually really crucial.”
Langdock, however, is among a set of European startups that use US companies as sub-processors, which host the infrastructure for their data; Langdock uses Microsoft Azure.
Dada believes “truly sovereign AI”, including data centres that are fully under European jurisdiction, is a “really big opportunity”.
She says companies like Langdock are “aware” the Cloud Act in the US, which in some cases could give US authorities access to data stored by US companies even if they’re kept in an EU data centre, is a risk.
But, she adds, she can’t share more yet on what Langdock is doing on that front.
‘I hope we kick off a trend’ of investor-operators
Dada isn’t the only European investor to add “CEO” to her CV.
Last year Uwe Horstmann, cofounder of Berlin-based VC Project A, announced he joined German strike drones startup Stark as CEO while also holding on to his position as an investor.
Lacher points to some US firms like Founders Fund whose partners “have been back and forth” between the two roles. “In Europe, hopefully we will see more of these ... operators in VC, or even taking roles on both sides.”
“I hope we kick off a trend,” Dada adds.
It is, however, a strategy that could spark concerns around things like conflicts of interest. Dada says that’s something that “always comes first”, pointing out that it’s “not unusual” for founders to angel invest.
Lacher believes Dada’s new role will give Visionaries “a direct line into the operational fabric of AI”.
“We think it's a bold, great step to have Judith take that role. It doesn't change that much, to be honest, on the day to day work.”
