The launch of henQ 5 aligns with a broader sample of European enterprise funds in 2025 specializing in B2B software program and adjoining enterprise-tech segments.
Within the UK, Notion Capital introduced a €114 million progress fund geared toward AI-driven software program and FinTech, whereas Evantic Capital launched a €341 million debut fund to assist B2B-AI corporations.
In the meantime, within the Netherlands – henQ’s dwelling market – DFF Ventures secured €50 million (out of a €60 million goal) for investments in vertical AI, recommerce and marketplaces.
In opposition to this backdrop, henQ’s determination to construct an independently funded, reasonably sized car centered on early-stage B2B software program startups illustrates a extra concentrated and entrepreneur-driven strategy throughout the identical ecosystem.
Rob Rousseau, Principal & Head of Investor Relations, shared with EU-Startups: “At henQ we don’t wish to scale by fund measurement or the variety of individuals on our staff. We are going to keep as lean and small as we are able to. On the identical time, we wish to get higher each single yr. And the standard and entrepreneurial background of the LPs in henQ 5 assist us to do exactly that.”
Based in 2004, henQ is enterprise capital fund for B2B software program startups that assist European founders with preliminary checks that vary from €1 to €10 million. The VC remarks that they like “boring” or “too small” markets, unconventional enterprise fashions, or any early-stage firm that’s just a bit totally different in a method or one other.
henQ invests all through Europe in Seed and Sequence A rounds of B2B software program startups, and was an early investor in, amongst others, Mendix, Mews, Sendcloud, Zivver, Wemolo and imagino.
It’s run by fund managers Mick Mackaay, Coen van Duiven, Rob Rousseau and Jan Andriessen.
Jan Andriessen, Accomplice, stated: “A standard misunderstanding is {that a} European high performing firm appears to be like precisely like its American counterpart, whereas it’s significantly extra difficult to scale from Europe than it’s within the US. As a result of complexity of working a European firm, focus and founder time to unlock new geographies and merchandise are key, and oftentimes merely deploying extra money hurts greater than it helps.
“In observe because of this, from a sure important measurement onwards, many European B2B software program corporations can really scale up somewhat money effectively and with out a lot exterior funding. This suits completely with a extra concentrated portfolio.”
henQ 5 has achieved nearly the identical measurement as its predecessor fund in its first shut already (henQ 4), even supposing its staff determined to lift the fund with out institutional or authorities sponsored cash, which constituted nearly half of the dedicated capital for henQ 4.
That call displays henQ’s dedication to independently make funding choices which might be solely centered on long-term returns, in addition to their view that an awesome fund with commensurate returns shouldn’t be depending on public cash.
However the confirmed method will stay intact, that means the identical kind and variety of investments, in the identical part, with the identical staff.
henQ intends to deploy the fund within the subsequent 5 years, by investing in 8-12 world class B2B software program founding groups throughout Europe, with preliminary verify sizes of €1-10 million – ideally in markets that almost all different founders and traders see as boring or irrelevant.
This implies a median of two new investments per yr, solely a handful in comparison with different gamers in the identical part. henQ’s intention is for each deal to have an fascinating return profile in and by itself – not that returns of the fund are pushed by solely a tiny fraction of the portfolio.
EU-Startups has beforehand featured henQ in a number of contexts, together with its function throughout the Amsterdam startup ecosystem (EU-Startups, 2019) and as an investor in Formulate, a Stockholm-based AI retail promotions startup that raised €3.7 million (EU-Startups, 2020).
