henQ Launches €67.6 Million Fund to Back Europe’s ‘Odd Ones Out’ Startups

The fund plans to invest in 8–12 B2B software startups across Europe, with initial check sizes ranging from €1 million to €10 million.

For this fund, henQ expanded its base of entrepreneurial LPs, including founders from companies such as Optiver, Exact, Mendix, SEOshop, Zivver, and inSided—the latter four being henQ alumni. The firm continues to focus on its philosophy of backing the “odd ones out” in European B2B software.

Mick Mackaay, Partner, on why henQ prefers to invest in markets that other investors see as boring or irrelevant: “there is a tendency among venture capitalists to focus on market predictions and macro analyses, and to invest based on rather specific takes on the future or ‘market theses.’

“At henQ, instead, we focus almost exclusively on the level of execution of the founders, here and now. All other investment criteria are trumped by this, they can never sway us to invest. Therefore, we are able to make very fast decisions, often in markets that are temporarily undervalued.”

The launch of henQ 5 reflects a broader 2025 trend in European venture capital, with funds increasingly focusing on B2B software and adjacent enterprise-tech sectors. In the UK, Notion Capital raised a €114 million growth fund targeting AI-driven software and FinTech, while Evantic Capital debuted a €341 million fund to back B2B-AI companies.

Read Also - Rubio Impact Ventures Closes €70 Million Third Fund Focused on 100% Impact-Linked Investments

In the Netherlands, henQ’s home market, DFF Ventures secured €50 million of its €60 million target for investments in vertical AI, recommerce, and marketplaces. Against this backdrop, henQ’s choice to create a moderately sized, independently funded vehicle focused on early-stage B2B software startups highlights a more concentrated, entrepreneur-driven approach within the same ecosystem.

Rob Rousseau, Principal & Head of Investor Relations, shared with EU-Startups: “At henQ we do not want to scale through fund size or the number of people on our team. We will stay as lean and small as we can. At the same time, we want to get better every single year. And the quality and entrepreneurial background of the LPs in henQ 5 help us to do just that.”

Founded in 2004, henQ is a venture capital fund supporting European B2B software startups with initial investments ranging from €1 million to €10 million. The firm focuses on “boring” or overlooked markets, unconventional business models, and early-stage companies that stand out in some unique way.

henQ invests across Europe in Seed and Series A rounds and was an early backer of companies such as Mendix, Mews, Sendcloud, Zivver, Wemolo, and imagino. The fund is managed by Mick Mackaay, Coen van Duiven, Rob Rousseau, and Jan Andriessen.

Jan Andriessen, Partner, said: “A common misunderstanding is that a European top performing company looks exactly like its American counterpart, whereas it’s considerably more complicated to scale from Europe than it is in the US. Due to the complexity of running a European company, focus and founder time to unlock new geographies and products are key, and oftentimes simply deploying more money hurts more than it helps.

“In practice this means that, from a certain critical size onwards, many European B2B software companies can actually scale up rather cash efficiently and without much external funding. This fits perfectly with a more concentrated portfolio.”

henQ 5 has already reached nearly the same size as its predecessor, henQ 4, at its first close, despite raising the fund without institutional or government-backed capital, which made up almost half of henQ 4’s commitments. This reflects henQ’s focus on making independent investment decisions aimed solely at long-term returns, underlining the belief that a strong fund should not rely on public money.

The firm’s proven investment approach remains unchanged: the same team, the same stage, and the same type and number of investments. Over the next five years, henQ plans to deploy the fund by backing 8–12 exceptional B2B software founding teams across Europe, with initial checks of €1–10 million—typically in markets many others consider “boring” or overlooked.

With an average of two new investments per year, henQ emphasizes that each deal should have an interesting return profile on its own, rather than relying on a small fraction of the portfolio for overall returns.

EU-Startups has previously featured henQ, highlighting its role in the Amsterdam startup ecosystem (2019) and its investment in Formulate, a Stockholm-based AI retail promotions startup that raised €3.7 million (2020).

About henQ

henQ backs exceptional founders across European B2B software, focusing on early-stage startups that are a little different. The firm seeks out overlooked or “boring” markets, unconventional business models and atypical opportunities, providing funding and support to help these unique companies grow and achieve long-term success.