DN Capital — Investment Thesis & Preferences

01Investment Thesis

Investment rigour at all stages, backing ambitious entrepreneurs across Software, AI, Fintech, and Consumer Internet with active, hands-on support beyond capital - ongoing advice, connections, introductions, partnerships, and mentorship.

Exclusion Criteria

Not a passive check-writer; the firm expects to be an active partner post-investment and is less suited to founders seeking purely hands-off capital.

02Investment Team

NM

Nenad Marovac

Founder, Managing Partner & CEO

SS

Steve Schlenker

Co-founder & Managing Partner

TR

Thomas Rubens

Partner

CC

Costanza Carini

Partner

MC

Maddie Coughlin

Partner

MC

Michelle Cuttler

Partner

CX

Celine Xiao

Partner

03F4 Research Brief

DN Capital Research

Investment Thesis

DN Capital is a global early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2000 by Nenad Marovac and Steve Schlenker, two Harvard Business School classmates. Over 25 years the firm has built a reputation as one of Europe's most consistent early-stage investors, with a philosophy built on "investment rigour at all stages" and a hands-on partnership model. The firm describes capital as "only the start," emphasizing ongoing advice, connections, introductions, partnerships, and mentorship for founders after the check is written. DN Capital invests across four core sectors: Software, AI, Fintech, and Consumer Internet, with a transatlantic strategy that bridges European founders to the US market and vice versa.

Sector Focus

DN Capital's stated sectors are Software, AI, Fintech, and Consumer Internet, historically also including marketplaces, digital health, and mobile applications. The firm has been increasingly active in applied AI and agentic AI investments (Unique, Airspeed/Glyphic, Cognigy, Hypatos), while maintaining a strong marketplace and fintech legacy (Auto1, OLX, Remitly, RecargaPay, Bnext).

Stage Focus

The firm focuses on Seed, Series A, and select Series B opportunities, positioning itself as an early institutional partner that can also follow on into growth rounds for its strongest portfolio companies.

Check Size

DN Capital writes checks of up to €20 million per company, with the ability to flex smaller for seed-stage bets and larger for follow-on participation in Series B rounds of existing portfolio companies.

Lead Tendency

DN Capital frequently leads or co-leads its Series A investments. Recent examples include leading Unique's $30M Series A (with CommerzVentures, February 2025), leading Fimple's £9.6M Series A (with Smartfin, February 2025), and leading Airspeed's $20M Series A (June 2026).

Recent Activity

DN Capital has remained active through 2025 and 2026. The firm closed a new $327M fund in March 2026, continuing its established strategy across Software, AI, Fintech, and Consumer Internet. In 2025 it made roughly 10 new investments, including Unique (agentic AI for financial services) and Fimple (cloud-native core banking software). In 2026 it has continued deploying into AI infrastructure and applied-AI companies, most recently leading Airspeed's (formerly Glyphic) $20M Series A in June 2026. On the exit side, portfolio company Cognigy (conversational and agentic AI) was acquired by NiCE for approximately $955M, a deal that closed in September 2025 — one of the largest exits in the firm's history.

Portfolio Highlights

DN Capital's portfolio spans 120+ companies with a track record of 58 exits, 7 IPOs, and 7 unicorns across 16 countries. Notable IPOs include Auto1 (Europe's largest used-car marketplace), Remitly (Nasdaq-listed remittance platform), HomeToGo (Frankfurt-listed vacation rental marketplace), MisterSpex, and Purplebricks (London). Notable acquisitions include Shazam (Apple), Endeca (Oracle), OLX (Naspers/Prosus), Quandoo (Recruit Holdings), Brigit, and most recently Cognigy (NiCE, ~$955M, 2025). Current portfolio companies include Incode, Yassir, Leapwork, Sanas, HawkAI, Numa, RecargaPay, Unique, Fimple, and Airspeed.

Team

DN Capital operates from three offices — London, Berlin, and Menlo Park/Silicon Valley (Sand Hill Road) — with a team spanning partners, principals, and venture partners.

Nenad Marovac — Founder, Managing Partner & CEO. Co-founded the firm in 2000; over 25 years of venture capital and private equity experience in technology and media.
Steve Schlenker — Co-founder & Managing Partner, running DN Capital's US operations from Menlo Park.
Thomas Rubens — Partner.
Costanza Carini — Partner, focused on fintech and consumer internet investments.
Maddie Coughlin — Partner, focused on software and AI sectors.
Michelle Cuttler — Partner, focused on operational support for portfolio companies.
Celine Xiao — Partner, focused on AI.
The broader team includes additional principals, associates, and a bench of ~17 industry advisors spanning fintech, AI, consumer, and media operating experience.

Decision Process

DN Capital operates as a multi-partner firm (partnership model) with dedicated leads by sector and geography across its London, Berlin, and Menlo Park offices, rather than a solo-GP structure.

Founder Preferences

DN Capital looks for "ambitious entrepreneurs with the background, intellect, grit and determination to take a startup and build it into a globally impactful business," per co-founder Steve Schlenker. The firm favors technical and category-defining founders building in software, AI, fintech, and consumer internet, and has a track record of backing European founders with global ambitions as well as US-based AI-native teams.

Geographic Focus

DN Capital invests across Europe (UK, DACH, France, Spain, Netherlands, Nordics, Poland, Italy, Turkey) and North America, with offices in London, Berlin, and Menlo Park (Silicon Valley) supporting a transatlantic strategy that helps European founders expand into the US and vice versa.

04Selected Portfolio