Curiosity VC Research
Investment Thesis
Curiosity is an Amsterdam-based, community-powered venture firm founded in 2021 by Herman Kienhuis and Maurice Beckand Verwee, both former operators and angel investors. It backs early-stage, AI-centric B2B software companies, with the stated mission of building software companies that "serve the world, not eat it". Fund II (2026) sharpens the thesis to vertical AI and agentic software: AI-native providers solving specific, high-value problems inside industries such as finance, legal, real estate, energy, manufacturing and cybersecurity. The firm frames its focus through four socio-economic themes: Sustainable Living (PropTech, Energy, ClimateTech), Trusted Society (LegalTech, Privacy, Cybersecurity), Future of Work (Enterprise SaaS, HRTech, DevOps) and Future of Commerce (Fintech, Marketing and Sales Automation, Logistics). Responsible, European-built AI is an explicit belief, and the firm talks about tech sovereignty and EU AI Act and GDPR compliance as tailwinds.
Stage Focus
Pre-seed and seed. The website says it invests in software companies that have launched a first product and are gaining momentum with early customers. Press releases show it leading pre-seed rounds (Duqu EUR 1.5M, Lynk, Epum $1.6M, Orquesta EUR 800K) and seed rounds (Altura EUR 3M, Onesurance, Orq.ai EUR 5M seed), and following on at Series A and B in a few companies (Dreamdata Series A and $55M Series B, Altura EUR 8M Series A).
Check Size
Not published. Round sizes it leads or joins run from roughly EUR 0.5M to EUR 5M, so the firm's own check is likely in the low hundreds of thousands to low single-digit millions of euros. Treat this as inferred, not stated.
Lead Tendency
Both. Many announcements read "Curiosity leads" (Duqu, Lynk, Epum, Altura seed, Onesurance, Strise, Epicbrief, Orquesta), while others read "Curiosity joins" (Telescope, BeCause, Dreamdata Series A, XFA co-led with Scalefund).
Recent Activity
Fund II reached a EUR 17M first close announced on June 9, 2026, with a EUR 30-40M target and a final close planned later in 2026. It is backed by 44 private investors (many entrepreneurs and family offices) plus the Dutch government through the RVO Seed Capital arrangement. Fund I backed 23 companies, of which 10 have raised more than EUR 84M in follow-on capital. Recent deals: Duqu pre-seed (September 2026), Display.dev (July 2026), Dawnguard funding and US office (July 2026), Imperum seed (June 2026), Validfor $1.2M (February 2026), Lynk pre-seed and XFA EUR 1.5M (December 2025), Orq.ai EUR 5M seed (December 2025). Nalvin was acquired by Lovable (July 2026) and Utopian Labs by Zapier (October 2025).
Portfolio Highlights
Across Fund I and II the firm cites 24 companies, including Altura, Dawnguard, Dema, Dreamdata, Moonlit, Neople, Onesurance, Orq.ai, QA.tech and Strise. Strise (Oslo, AML and KYC) raised a EUR 10M Series A led by Atomico. Altura (bid management) raised an EUR 8M Series A led by Octopus Ventures. Dreamdata raised a $55M Series B from PeakSpan. Exits include Nalvin (Lovable), Utopian Labs (Zapier), and, from the partners' earlier angel and syndicate investing, Cloudify (DELL, $100M), SecurityMatters (Forescout, $113M), Cybersprint (Darktrace, $54M), Scoupy (Sanoma), Revue (Twitter), LiteBit (Bitvavo), ZecOps (Jamf) and Neo Finance (Nasdaq Baltics IPO).
Team
- Herman Kienhuis, Founder and Managing Partner
- Maurice Beckand Verwee, Co-founder and Partner
- Sebastian Johansson, Investment Manager
- Elliot Schouten, Investment Manager and CFO
- Eva Formica, team member (title not confirmed)
- A community of advisors and co-owners including Aik Deveneijns, Daniel Gebler (Picnic CTO), Valentijn Bras, Sandro Etalle, Kasem Challiou and Lodewijk van Hussen
Decision Process
Partnership led by the two founding partners, supported by investment managers and an advisory board. Founders and advisors share in fund profits (community co-ownership), and 10% of carried interest is pledged to the Curiosity Foundation to support underrepresented entrepreneurs.
Founder Preferences
Domain-expert founders who understand a specific industry deeply, with international ambition and European values. Founder testimonials stress hands-on, pragmatic, high-integrity support: network, hiring help, fundraising prep and a peer community of AI founders. Diverse teams are an explicit goal.
Geographic Focus
Primarily Benelux, the Nordics and the Baltics, with HQ in Amsterdam. Fund II will selectively co-invest alongside like-minded investors in London, Berlin and Paris. Portfolio spans Amsterdam, Oslo, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Vilnius and beyond.
Gaps
AUM is stated as EUR 50M across Fund I and II (before the Fund II final close), not converted to USD here. Check size and ownership targets are not published. Many portfolio logos on the portfolio page carry no legible caption, so the portfolio list is built from the page's link and text labels with domains left blank.