Convent Capital Research
Investment Thesis
Convent Capital is an Amsterdam-based growth-equity investment firm founded in 2011, built around the principle that "profit is the result of doing the right thing, every day." The firm backs small and mid-sized companies that place sustainability at the core of their strategy, with a concentrated focus on the transition from a linear to a circular economy across agriculture, food, materials, and water. Convent positions itself less as a traditional venture investor and more as a growth-equity and buy-and-build partner for founder-led businesses that are already commercially proven and scaling internationally.
Sector Focus
Convent Capital invests across four adjacent themes:
- Climate-smart agriculture, including plant breeding and precision-agriculture robotics
- Bio-based materials and industrial biopolymers (e.g., chitosan)
- Animal feed and livestock nutrition
- Sustainable water and beverage solutions
A second, smaller "Long-Hold" strategy backs SMEs leading key transitions in adjacent industrial and engineering sectors (e.g., rail engineering consultancy, organic-waste-to-energy).
Stage Focus
Convent operates as a growth-stage investor rather than an early-stage venture fund. Its flagship vehicle, the Agri Food Growth Fund, targets companies that have moved beyond the venture phase into scaling growth, typically alongside Series B/C rounds or direct growth-equity investments. The firm rarely appears at seed stage.
Check Size
Publicly reported fund materials describe typical commitments of roughly EUR 5 million to EUR 20 million per company from the Agri Food Growth Fund, consistent with a mid-market growth-equity check size.
Lead Tendency
Convent has both led and participated in rounds. It led Computomics' EUR 6.3M Series B (contributing EUR 5M) in August 2026, and led/backed FarmDroid and Harbro as primary investor, while participating alongside other investors in Tidal Vision's EUR 140M Series B and BE WTR's CHF 39M Series C.
Recent Activity
The firm has been actively deploying its Agri Food Growth Fund, which reached a third close of EUR 138M in 2023 (only 18 months after a EUR 50M first close) and received an additional EUR 35M backing commitment from the European Investment Fund in December 2024. Recent investments include Computomics (Aug 2026), Tidal Vision (Feb 2025), Harbro (Jan 2025), FarmDroid (Oct 2024), and BE WTR (Oct 2024). The firm has made roughly seven investments through this fund to date and has completed six exits historically, including Crowd (2023), Cirex (2019), and Contraload (2014).
Portfolio Highlights
Active portfolio companies span climate-smart agtech (Computomics), sustainable materials (Tidal Vision), agricultural robotics (FarmDroid), animal nutrition (Harbro), and sustainable water (BE WTR). The Long-Hold strategy separately holds Movares, a large Dutch rail and infrastructure engineering consultancy (merged with Innovus in 2023, new CEO Barbara Visser appointed Sept 2024), and Convertus, an organic-waste-to-energy platform that broke ground on a large biofuel facility in York, Ontario in October 2024.
Team
Convent is led by co-CEOs Maarten Meijnen and Dirk Hoorn, supported by CFO Ingrid Mulder and Managing Directors Steven Bernaert and Adriaan Vrij. The Agri & Food investment team is led by Partners Stephen McLoughlin and Reynier Arendsen de Wolff alongside Investment Director Tijmen Nanninga, Investment Managers Hilde van der Schans and Nicholas Means Parker, Head of Investment Control Chris Daalhuizen, Senior Associate Willemijn de Boer, and Associates Bart Rutgrink and Cas Haex. The firm also maintains an Agri & Food advisory board including Pablo Taraciuk, Hans den Bieman, Ian Hamilton, Joe Connor, and Gilles Boumeester.
Decision Process
The presence of a dedicated "Head of Investment Control" role alongside a multi-partner Agri & Food team suggests a structured investment-committee process typical of institutional growth-equity firms, rather than solo-GP decision-making.
Founder Preferences
Convent favors founder-led, commercially proven businesses with clear sustainability missions and demonstrated international scalability, rather than pre-revenue or concept-stage teams.
Geographic Focus
Convent invests predominantly in Europe (Netherlands, UK/Scotland, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark) with selective exposure to North America (United States, Canada) through portfolio companies such as Tidal Vision and Convertus.