Graduate Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Graduate Ventures (legally operating as Graduate Entrepreneur) is a Rotterdam-based alumni venture fund that backs founders from the Netherlands' top universities from day zero. The firm's mission is to empower alumni to become world-changing entrepreneurs, combining early-stage capital with hands-on support and a powerful alumni network. Graduate's explicit goal is to help build critical-sector companies of the future and strengthen a competitive, sovereign Netherlands. The firm was founded and is backed by successful Dutch entrepreneurs and executives (including Coen van Oostrom of Edge, Michiel Muller of Picnic, Kees Koolen of Booking.com, and Frank Slootman of Snowflake), who serve as "founding alumni" and active supporters.
Sector Focus
Graduate Ventures is university-affiliation-led rather than sector-led: eligibility is gated by the founding team having at least one alumnus from a partner university (TU Delft, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Erasmus MC, or Wageningen University & Research, with national expansion into Amsterdam and Eindhoven announced in May 2026). Within that eligible population, the portfolio spans four internal categories the firm itself uses to tag deals: Digital Tech (SaaS, marketplaces, consumer apps, security), Deep Tech (quantum computing, satellites, robotics, advanced materials), Health Tech (medtech, digital health, diagnostics), and Climate Tech (energy storage, grid technology, sustainability). Standout Deep Tech and Climate Tech positions include quantum-computing company QuantWare (Delft), autonomous EV-charging robotics company Rocsys, and battery/grid-storage plays such as Back to Battery, Eddy Grid, and Skoon Energy.
Stage Focus
Graduate runs two distinct vehicles: a Pre-Seed fund and a Seed fund. Pre-Seed tickets go up to €75K, aimed at teams validating a problem and building initial traction, with the potential for follow-on from the Seed fund. Seed tickets range from €500K to €2M, aimed at startups working toward product-market fit and consistent revenue growth. The firm can act as lead or co-investor at either stage, predominantly via SAFEs at pre-seed and equity at seed, with CLA options available at both.
Check Size
Typical investment range is €75K (pre-seed) to €2M (seed), with follow-on participation in later rounds for portfolio companies that continue to raise (e.g., Series A/B follow-ons in Workwize, Engyon, Quantware, and Vitalfluid).
Lead Tendency
Graduate Ventures acts as both lead and co-investor depending on the round and stage, per its own funding-page description of deal terms at both Pre-Seed and Seed.
Recent Activity
The fund has been highly active through 2025 and into 2026, announcing new pre-seed and seed investments roughly every 2-4 weeks. Recent investments include Gravity Gardens and Solaq (September 2026), a follow-on into Vitalfluid's €17.2M Series A (August 2026), MagiQware and DecipHER (mid-2026), and Nance (June 2026). In May 2026 the firm reached its 80th investment with Delft quantum startup FrostByte and participated in QuantWare's $178M/€152M Series B. In March 2026 it launched a dedicated Wageningen pre-seed fund to accelerate university spin-outs, following its national expansion to Amsterdam and Eindhoven announced the same month.
Portfolio Highlights
The portfolio spans roughly 80 investments since the fund's founding, with quantum-computing company QuantWare as its most prominent name (multiple follow-on rounds through a $178M Series B), alongside deep-tech names like Rocsys (autonomous EV charging), Revolv Space (satellite power), and SPHERICAL Systems, health-tech names like Kaminari Medical, Surgical Reality, and DecipHER, and climate/energy names like Skoon Energy, Back to Battery, and Eddy Grid. Portfolio founders highlighted in Graduate's own marketing include Iconic Works, BASH, Orderli (a Y Combinator company), and Workwize (Series A, $13M raised).
Team
Graduate Ventures runs a large, structured investment team split across its Pre-Seed and Seed funds, supplemented by a Student Investment Team that leads pre-seed operations day-to-day:
- Auke van den Hout, Managing Partner
- Filip Cuypers, Principal Seed
- Victor de Leeuw, Principal Seed
- Sophie Heijenberg, Investor Seed
- Rui Li, Associate Principal Seed
- Eva Post, Head of Pre-Seed Fund
- Maiko Kamerbeek, Investor Pre-Seed
- Jasper Wennink, Investor Pre-Seed
- Kilian Frunz, Analyst Seed
- Karola Szatmári-Philips, Analyst Seed
- Gijs Pot, Analyst Pre-Seed
- Karel Jongen, Analyst Seed
- Julia Knoeff, Head of Platform
- Frederique Serrarens, Platform & Events
- Daan Keizer, Finance Director
- Folkert Mullemeister, Compliance Officer
Decision Process
Investment decisions run through the fund management team (partnership-style, with distinct Pre-Seed and Seed leads) supported by a rotating Student Investment Team that screens and sources pre-seed deals. The published process is a five-step funnel: submit a pitch deck, an initial conversation, exploring partnership fit, funding approval, then onboarding into the network and support programs.
Founder Preferences
Graduate exclusively backs founders with at least one team member who is an alumnus of a partner Dutch university (TU Delft, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Erasmus MC, Wageningen University & Research, and now Amsterdam/Eindhoven-affiliated institutions). Beyond that gate, the firm emphasizes ambitious founders building globally scalable companies out of the Netherlands' "innovation powerhouse," across deep tech, health tech, climate tech and digital tech.
Geographic Focus
The Netherlands exclusively, with offices in Rotterdam (headquarters, CIC Rotterdam), Delft (YES!Delft), and Amsterdam, plus a stated push into Eindhoven and Wageningen (a dedicated pre-seed fund) during 2026.
Support & Network
Beyond capital, Graduate's core value proposition is its 200+ alumni network of operators and executives who provide tailored introductions, coaching, and curated events (Founders Forum sessions four times a year, plus community events). The firm frames this support as targeted and specific rather than generic advice, with named backers such as Coen van Oostrom (Edge), Michiel Muller (Picnic), Frank Slootman (Snowflake), Raymond Cloosterman (Rituals), Kees Koolen (Booking.com), and Eline van Beest (Hybridize Therapeutics, ex-NightBalance) actively engaged with portfolio founders.