First up was henQ, an active early-stage investor in software companies. The VC launched its third fund with a value of €50 million. The new fund allows henQ to not only invest in seed stage companies in rounds from €100K upwards, but also to continue to invest in next rounds up to €10 million. However, the investor has pledged to continue investing exclusively in the early stage. henQ expects to finance up to twenty companies out of henQ III, most of which will be added to the henQ portfolio as a "qualifier" (with a seed investment of 100-500k). The fund is backed by the European Investment Fund, software and internet entrepreneurs as well as family offices.

Second up was Mainport Innovation Fund II (MIF II), an initiative by KLM, Schiphol Group, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), Port of Amsterdam and NS Dutch Railways. MIF I was established by TU Delft, KLM, Schiphol and Rabobank and not surprisingly focused on the sustainability of the aviation sector. With the addition of new partners Port of Amsterdam and NS Dutch Railways, the new fund has expanded its focus to include innovation in the transport, logistics and aviation industries. In addition to capital, the partners also commit a dedicated team, specialist expertise and their networks to the fund. They will also act as ‘launching customers’ wherever possible. MIF II seeks to invest in 10 to 15 businesses over the next six years and has a total of €18 million in funds available. Both MIF funds are managed by NBI Investors.

The third announcement came from Value Creation Capital, which launched a nano and high-tech called TechNano Fund. It focuses on young tech companies developing nanotechnology, microsensors, robotics and IoT technologies. The VC pro-actively involves informal investors in its investments.

All described funds benefit from the SEED Capital scheme introduced by the Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs.