Positron Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Positron Ventures is an Amsterdam-based deep tech venture capital firm founded in 2022 by Joseph Peeraer and Gijs van der Hulst. The firm's stated mission is to "assist scientists in turning outstanding research into successful companies." Positron backs scientist-entrepreneurs across the natural sciences who are pursuing what the firm calls "moonshots" for planetary health, tackling major global challenges through hard science rather than incremental software plays. The firm frequently acts as the inaugural institutional investor for spin-outs coming directly out of universities and research institutes, and it runs a PhD Fellowship program to build relationships with scientist-founders while they are still in academia.
Sector Focus
Positron's portfolio spans several deep-tech verticals:
- Advanced materials and chemistry
- Energy, including solar, next-generation batteries, and nuclear fusion
- Quantum computing
- Biotechnology and synthetic biology
- Climate tech
- Healthcare and oncology therapeutics
- Sustainable food and agriculture
The through-line across these sectors is founder-led, IP-defensible deep science rather than application-layer software.
Stage Focus
Positron focuses on pre-seed and seed rounds, typically as the first institutional check into a company. The firm works with founders "from day one," often before a company has a formal go-to-market plan, and reserves capital for selective follow-on into Series A rounds of its strongest portfolio companies (e.g., Ore Energy's later Series A).
Check Size
Reported check sizes range from roughly €250,000 at the smallest end up to €3-8 million for larger or follow-on rounds, consistent with a firm doing first-check pre-seed and seed investing with reserves for follow-ons.
Lead Tendency
Positron leads or co-leads many of its first checks (e.g., CimCure's €5M seed round, Aevoloop's pre-seed round, CellX Biosolutions' CHF 1.7M pre-seed) but also participates alongside larger syndicates on later or larger rounds (e.g., Ore Energy's €37.3M Series A led by Plural and HV, CollimateHealth's €6M seed alongside VP Venture Partners and HTGF).
Recent Activity
Positron has been active through 2025 and into mid-2026, with investments in CollimateHealth (July 2026), Triple Bio (June 2026), and continued portfolio support for PASQAL, which announced plans for a stock market listing in March 2026. The firm also grew its team in June 2026, adding Max Lebeau as Principal and Carla Ostmann as Chief of Staff.
Portfolio Highlights
Notable portfolio companies include:
- PASQAL — neutral-atom quantum computing, now among Europe's most prominent quantum companies and planning a public listing
- Renaissance Fusion — stellarator fusion reactor technology
- Thorizon — thorium molten salt reactor design
- Ore Energy — iron-air batteries for long-duration grid energy storage, raised a large Series A in 2026
- CimCure — tumor-vasculature-targeting cancer vaccine biotech, spun out of Amsterdam UMC
- CollimateHealth — microbeam radiation therapy for oncology, spun out of TU Munich research
- Senara — cell-based (lab-grown) milk technology
- Triple Bio — lipid-based cattle feed additive that reduces methane emissions
- Aevoloop — fully recyclable, microplastic-free plastics
- CellX Biosolutions — bacterial technology for PFAS and pollutant degradation
- Qu&Co — quantum computational software, merged into PASQAL in 2022
Team
- Joseph Peeraer, Founding Partner — MSc Mechanical Engineering (TU Delft); prior energy and telecom entrepreneur
- Gijs van der Hulst, Founding Partner — Former Google deal manager; managed fundraising for Dutch science startups
- Anna-Lena Schindl, Principal — Physics background bridging research and entrepreneurship
- Max Lebeau, Principal — PhD in Synthetic Biology; biotech founder-turned-investor
- Bram de Zwart, Advisor — Industrial design background; co-founded a 3D printing platform acquired by Protolabs
- Julia Wagner, Advisor — PhD in Mathematics (ETH Zurich); EdTech founder; co-founded S2S Ventures
- Haralds Abolins, Investment Manager — PhD Physics (Cambridge); advanced materials expertise
- Carla Ostmann, Chief of Staff — Science communications background; podcast host on metascience
Decision Process
Positron operates as a small partnership of two founding partners supported by principals and an investment manager, consistent with a partnership-style decision process rather than a solo-GP or large investment-committee structure.
Founder Preferences
Positron backs scientist-entrepreneurs, frequently first-time founders coming directly out of academic labs or research institutions (Amsterdam UMC, TU Munich, ETH spin-outs), who are tackling capital-intensive, IP-defensible technical problems in energy, materials, quantum, and life sciences.
Geographic Focus
Positron is based in Amsterdam and invests primarily in European scientist-entrepreneurs, with portfolio companies located in the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Switzerland.