Backing Founders From “day zero”, Volve Capital Closes Fund I At €9 Million

Fund I is backed by around 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 support comes from the RVO Seed Capital programme.

“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 co-founder Joost Bijlsma.

Early-stage activity across the Benelux and DACH regions in 2025 shows a steady flow of new funds and pre-Seed/Seed investments. In Germany, accounts-receivable automation platform Donnerstag.ai raised €4.3 million, while workflow SaaS for tax advisers Steuerboard secured €725k.

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On the fund side, Germany saw the launch of Smart Infrastructure Ventures’ SIVentures II, a €30 million vehicle targeting pre-Seed and Seed B2B software startups, alongside May Ventures, which entered the market with over €30 million to invest in AI-focused early-stage companies.

Within this landscape Volve Capital’s €9 million first fund provides additional early-stage capacity, particularly for pre-product and pre-revenue teams across Benelux and DACH. Its founder-led approach complements larger institutional funds emerging during the same period, strengthening the lower end of the early-stage funding spectrum and offering founders committed partners from “day zero.”

“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,” Maurits Hovius adds.

Founded in 2022 by Dutch entrepreneurs Joost Bijlsma and Maurits Hovius, Volve Capital was created on a simple insight: early-stage founders need investors who truly understand what “day zero” feels like. Drawing on their experience building companies from scratch as both founders and investors, Bijlsma and Hovius designed Volve Capital to be the partner they once wished for.

Volve Capital supports founders across tech, data, go-to-market, marketing, operations, and finance, providing the momentum they need from the very start. The fund focuses on pre-Seed stage companies, with initial investments ranging from €150k to €500k and follow-on capacity of up to €1 million per company.

Volve Capital plans approximately 12 to 15 investments, seven of which have already been made in Eddygrid, NOX Energy, Stippl, Conservio, Whisper, Twindo, and Supplied. After completing these investments, the firm intends to continue its mission with the launch of a second fund.

About Volve Capital

Volve Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm founded by exited entrepreneurs to support the next generation of tech and impact founders. The firm invests in SaaS, B2B and B2B2C startups across Western Europe, leveraging a broad network of market specialists to scale innovative ideas and drive meaningful impact.