4Founders Capital Research
Investment Thesis
4Founders Capital is a Barcelona-based venture capital manager founded in 2017 and run by serial entrepreneurs. Its pitch is "from founders for founders": the managing partners were co-founders and CEOs of technology companies (eDreams, Atrápalo, eMagister, Offerum, SeedRocket, Trovit) before becoming investors, and they say that experience lets them understand founders' needs and add operating value. The firm also keeps a wide network of well-known internet entrepreneurs who co-invest and bring operating knowledge.
The stated criteria on the website are: teams with a strong sense of ownership, an international mindset and the ambition to build large companies (€300M+); disruptive projects that can scale thanks to a strong tech component; investment from Pre-Seed through Series A+; and a goal of being the investor partner in both the current and the following round.
Sector Focus
The firm is generalist across technology, with a clear recent tilt toward AI-powered vertical and horizontal software. The current portfolio shown on the site is almost entirely AI-first software:
- Sales and revenue tooling (Symbe)
- Operations and customer support automation (Lucie Ops, GuruSup)
- Vertical healthcare and dental clinic management (HealthMate, DentalData)
- Recruiting automation (Hirevoice)
- Marketing and e-commerce visibility (ReplyNext, pagemind.ai, Vibepeak)
- Specialty chemicals R&D (Mafer)
Historical exits and holdings include travel tech (The Hotels Network), fintech and crypto (Securitize, Hubuc, Payzaar), mobility (Hoop Carpool), food delivery (Instamaki) and e-commerce AI (Wide Eyes).
Stage Focus
Pre-Seed to Series A+. The firm site states tickets of €100K to €4M. Press coverage of Fund III describes initial tickets of €250K to €2M into early-stage technology companies, with a plan to back around 40 startups. Recent deal databases show a mix of pre-seed, seed, Series A and, occasionally, later follow-on rounds.
Check Size
€100K to €4M across the platform (website). Fund III initial checks are reported at €250K to €2M. The stated intent to follow into the next round means reserves are held for follow-ons.
Lead Tendency
The firm describes itself as an investment partner for the current and following round and has led or co-led rounds (for example, press reports a Vibepeak round led by 4Founders). It likely both leads and follows, so lead tendency is recorded as both with moderate confidence.
Recent Activity
- Fund III launched in February 2025 with a €65M target and a €44M first close.
- Fund III closed in October 2025 at €70M, above target, about six months after first close.
- Assets under management were reported at €106M in early 2025 and above €130M later; Dealroom lists roughly $119M.
- 2026 investments reported by deal databases include Vibepeak (seed, June 2026), Flipflow (Series A, June 2026), Mafer AI (pre-seed, May 2026), Embat (Series B, May 2026) and PuntoPost (July 2026).
The firm is actively deploying from Fund III.
Portfolio Highlights
Exits shown on the site: Holded (acquired by Visma Group, June 2021), Instamaki (acquired by Glovo, December 2019), Wide Eyes (acquired by Stylitics, July 2023) and Hubuc (acquired by Cross River Bank, July 2024). Secondary sales: Sheetgo (March 2022), Easygoband (April 2021) and Payzaar (June 2021). Other notable holdings include Securitize (security token issuance platform) and The Hotels Network.
Team
- Jesús Monleón, Managing Partner: founder of eMagister, Offerum and SeedRocket; angel in 40+ companies with 13 exits; former Investment Director at Caixa Capital Risc; board member at Trovit.
- Marc Badosa Rigau, Managing Partner: 20+ years in VC, 40+ investments, led the incorporation and fundraising of six Spanish venture funds; ex Caixa Capital Risc and Riva y García.
- Marek Fodor, Managing Partner: co-founder and CTO of Atrápalo; angel in 15+ companies with 7 exits; chairman at Kantox FX.
- Javier Pérez-Tenessa, Managing Partner: co-founder and CEO of eDreams; former McKinsey and Netscape; Stanford MBA; board member at Vueling.
- Patricia Espaliat, Finance Director.
- Marc Castilblanco, Partner: angel investor, former PwC and Deloitte M&A.
- Rufo de la Rosa, Principal: 8+ years at Google, two-time founder, worked with 400+ startups.
- Joan Cavallé, Associate; Júlia Digón, Analyst; Àlex Martín, Intern Analyst.
Decision Process
A partnership of four managing partners plus a partner and principal. The website does not describe the formal process, so this is inferred as partnership-led decision making.
Founder Preferences
Founders with ownership mentality, an international outlook and ambition to build companies worth more than €300M, building tech-heavy products that can scale. The partners' own founder backgrounds suggest affinity for operator-founders and marketplace, SaaS and travel tech experience.
Geographic Focus
Based in Barcelona; the portfolio is predominantly Spanish and European with an international mindset required of founders. Fund III is regulated as a Spanish venture capital entity with backing from Spanish public institutions (ICO, ICF, a European fund of funds and Recovery Plan funds, shown as collaborators on the site) and is a PRI signatory.
Gaps
The site does not publish a thesis essay set, a formal decision timeline, or whether a warm introduction is required. Individual round dates and sizes come from third-party databases and press and were not all verified at the source.