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 development fund geared toward AI-driven software program and FinTech, whereas Evantic Capital launched a €341 million debut fund to help B2B-AI firms.
In the meantime, within the Netherlands – henQ’s residence 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 choice to construct an independently funded, reasonably sized car targeted on early-stage B2B software program startups illustrates a extra concentrated and entrepreneur-driven method throughout the similar ecosystem.
Rob Rousseau, Principal & Head of Investor Relations, shared with EU-Startups: “At henQ we don’t need to scale by way of fund measurement or the variety of individuals on our staff. We are going to keep as lean and small as we will. On the similar time, we need to get higher each single 12 months. And the standard and entrepreneurial background of the LPs in henQ 5 assist us to just do that.”
Based in 2004, henQ is enterprise capital fund for B2B software program startups that help 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 technique 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 typical misunderstanding is {that a} European high performing firm appears to be like precisely like its American counterpart, whereas it’s significantly extra sophisticated to scale from Europe than it’s within the US. Because of the 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 apply because of this, from a sure crucial measurement onwards, many European B2B software program firms can truly scale up moderately money effectively and with out a lot exterior funding. This matches 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 if its staff determined to boost 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 targeted on long-term returns, in addition to their view that a fantastic fund with commensurate returns shouldn’t be depending on public cash.
However the confirmed formulation will stay intact, which 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 examine sizes of €1-10 million – ideally in markets that the majority different founders and traders see as boring or irrelevant.
This implies a median of two new investments per 12 months, solely a handful in comparison with different gamers in the identical part. henQ’s intention is for each deal to have an attention-grabbing 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 position 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).
