Keen Venture Partners Research
Investment Thesis
Keen Venture Partners is a European early-stage venture firm based in Amsterdam and London that describes itself as "radically human" - it invests time and network before capital, running founder relationships well before any term sheet exists. Keen operates two parallel, thesis-driven investment programs run out of the same partnership: Technology for SMEs and Defence. Both are grounded in "thesis sprints," a research process that combines desk research, operator conversations and expert input into living investment theses that are revisited as the team learns.
In SME Tech, Keen backs founders building AI software that makes Europe's small and mid-sized businesses more productive, seeing SMEs' fast P&L impact and lack of procurement bureaucracy as a structural edge for Europe's SME-dense economy. In Defence, Keen backs founders building commercial, software-enabled, dual-use technology on the thesis that Europe must build sovereign, interoperable, multi-country defence tech rather than single-flag point solutions.
Sector Focus
SME Tech sub-theses: AI for the Physical Economy (job/crew/asset orchestration for construction, logistics and manufacturing SMEs); embedded finance and autonomous back-office (bookkeeping, payroll AI, embedded compliance, SMB ERPs); and the SME-Native Builder Stack (composable agents and no-code tools).
Defence sub-theses: swarming software and communications for unmanned systems (UAVs, UGVs, UUVs); rapid deployment capacity software and comms; and AI-enhanced command-and-control systems. The defence fund's stated focus areas are cybersecurity, autonomous systems, deterrence technologies and space applications.
Stage Focus
SME Tech invests from seed through Series B. Defence invests from pre-seed through Series B, with an emphasis on Series A.
Check Size
The defence fund discloses investment sizes of EUR 1 million to EUR 10 million per company, targeting more than 25 companies. SME Tech check sizes span the same seed-to-Series-B range.
Lead Tendency
Keen both leads and follows. It led Cato's EUR6M seed, Azumuta's EUR8M Series A, and AirHub's EUR4.4M Series A; it co-led alongside Parcom in DeltaQuad and Tulip Tech; and it participated as a returning, non-lead investor in larger rounds such as allO's $14M Series A (led by Zigg Capital) and Kelluu's EUR15M Series A (led by the NATO Innovation Fund).
Recent Activity
Fund status is actively deploying. Most recent disclosed investment: led Cato's EUR6M seed (September 2026) to bring AI to Italy's public-sector sales market - Keen's third bet on Italian SMB software after Sibill and Fiscozen. In May 2026, Keen participated again in allO's $14M Series A. In November 2025, Keen led Azumuta's EUR8M Series A. Keen also completed the first close of its European Defence and Security Fund at more than EUR150M, backed by the EIF, pension fund PME, TNO and ABN AMRO - one of the largest defence-tech VC funds in Europe, with EIF's first-ever commitment to a European VC fund under its Defence Investment Programme.
Portfolio Highlights
The portfolio spans 30+ active and exited companies across both theses, with close to EUR1B raised collectively. Defence/dual-use: ATMOS (orbital return infrastructure), Kelluu (autonomous ISR airships, NATO DIANA alumnus), AirHub (drone operations software), DeltaQuad (VTOL defence drones), Tulip Tech (UAV battery systems), Intelic (command-and-control software), EclecticIQ (threat intelligence). SME Tech: Cato, allO, Azumuta, Sibill, Fiscozen, Feather (insurance), Lucinity (financial-crime AI), mika (SME accounting automation), Bodyguard, Crisp, Nextail, Teamleader, Lendis, Beekeeper. Notable exits: Plan A (acquired by Diginex), Impraise (acquired by BetterUp), Beekeeper (merged with LumApps), plus Dreamquark, Fiscozen, VonWood and Farewill.
Team
- Briehan Burke - General Partner, SME Tech
- Alexander Kremer - Partner, SME Tech
- Giuseppe Lacerenza - Partner, Defence
- Alexander Ribbink - General Partner, Defence & SME Tech
- Ben Verwaayen - General Partner, Defence & SME Tech
- Robert Verwaayen - General Partner, SME Tech
- Joost Doense - Adoption Partner, Defence
- Nesbit West - Advisor, Fund Compliance
- Sara McMunn - Operating Partner, SME Tech
- Goncalo Lopes - Finance Manager
- Juliette Petit - Chief of Staff
- Djoni de Vos - Principal, SME Tech
- Tomek Lepka - Investment Manager, Defence
- Stephanie Davis - Associate, SME Tech
- Ties Klinkhamer - Junior Associate, Defence
- Angad Singh - Junior Associate, Defence
Defence is additionally supported by a Strategic Advisory Board of retired military leaders, industry veterans and policymakers.
Decision Process
Multiple General Partners across both strategies indicate a partnership-style decision process rather than a solo GP model.
Founder Preferences
SME Tech: founders with lived experience of SME/logistics/manufacturing/services pain points, building AI-enriched software with clear defensibility. Defence: mission-driven founders with defence, security or intelligence backgrounds, software-first even in hardware-heavy domains, with clear commercial and multi-country scalability paths.
Geographic Focus
Pan-European, headquartered in Amsterdam and London. SME Tech references backing founders from Spain to Iceland. The Defence fund notes exposure to the UK, Turkey and Norway alongside EU NATO members.