Thomas Alt

Thomas Alt is a serial entrepreneur turned investor best known as the founder and CEO of Metaio, one of the world's leading computer-vision and augmented-reality technology companies. He co-founded Metaio in February 2003 in Munich (with Peter Meier), building it into a pioneer of AR software with operations in both Munich and San Francisco. Atlantic Bridge invested in Metaio in 2012, and Apple acquired the company in 2015 — reportedly for around $230M — folding its AR technology into what later became Apple's ARKit platform.

Following the acquisition, Alt relocated to Apple's Cupertino headquarters (2015–2018), where he held senior engineering and dealmaking roles, described as Director of Engineering and Director of Procurement on Apple's Strategic Deals Team, working across mobile and automotive initiatives. This gave him an unusual combination of deep-tech founder experience and large-corporate strategic-partnership expertise.

Academically, Alt holds an M.Sc. in Production Engineering/Automation from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and earned a PhD in 2002 from Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, with a dissertation focused on augmented reality — meaning he has been working at the frontier of AR/computer vision for over two decades.

Today Alt is a Venture Partner at Atlantic Bridge, where he leads dealflow in AR/VR, automotive, and software and helped establish the firm's Munich office, extending its European deep-tech footprint. In parallel he founded ramblr.ai (founded ~2021, based in Pullach im Isartal near Munich, with co-founder Roman H.), an "egocentric data" company building AI data pipelines that let systems understand daily-life activities from a first-person view for next-generation AR and physical-world AI. He also serves as an advisor/board member to AR and spatial-computing startups including Holoride and Pointr.

• Invests primarily at seed through Series B, with checks roughly $100K–$5M (sweet spot ~$1.5M).
• Strong bias toward deep tech: AR/VR, computer vision, AI, robotics, automotive/mobility, semiconductors, IoT, and enterprise software — areas where he has direct operating and technical depth.
• Backs the Atlantic Bridge University Bridge Fund thesis of commercializing university/academic research; that fund has financed 40+ deep-tech ventures that have collectively raised €700M+.
• Values founders solving hard technical problems with defensible IP, and understands the path from frontier R&D to strategic-acquirer outcomes (having lived it with Metaio/Apple).
• Provides more than capital: strategic-partnership access, corporate-development know-how, and hands-on AR/automotive domain expertise.