Volve Capital, a venture capital firm focused on early-stage startups in the Benelux and DACH regions, announced the final close of its first fund at €9 million. The fund, Fund I, targets pre-seed companies with initial investments ranging from €150,000 to €500,000 and follow-on capacity of up to €1 million per startup, planning 12 to 15 investments in total. Seven investments have already been made in Eddygrid, NOX Energy, Stippl, Conservio, Whisper, Twindo, and Supplied.
Founded by Dutch entrepreneurs Joost Bijlsma and Maurits Hovius, Volve Capital was created to provide founders with support and insight from the earliest stages of building a company. The firm combines the speed, energy, and pragmatism of startups with access to a network of operators in tech, data, GTM, marketing, operations, and finance to help founders accelerate growth from day zero.
“Founders need the right partner from the very beginning. Going from zero to one is the hardest step – I’ve lived it. We want to be that partner, offering capital and, more importantly, support,” says Joost Bijlsma.
“There’s plenty of funding available in the ecosystem once founders start to show traction, but at day zero it’s still often hard to find – especially when looking for investors willing to take the lead in these early rounds. That’s exactly where we step in. And yes – we actually do lead pre-product and pre-revenue deals,” adds Maurits Hovius.
Fund I is backed by approximately 30 Dutch entrepreneurs as limited partners, including Henk Jan Beltman (Tony’s Chocolonely), Roelof Bijlsma (former founder of Conclusion), Heleen Dura van Oord (Peak Capital), and Mathieu Zwinkels (former Waterland), who also serve on Volve Capital’s advisory board. Additional financial support comes from the RVO Seed Capital program. Following completion of all Fund I investments, Volve Capital plans to continue its mission with a second fund.