Rubio Impact Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Rubio Impact Ventures is an Amsterdam-based impact venture firm founded in 2014 by Machtelt Groothuis and Willemijn Verloop (first close 2015, originally branded Social Impact Ventures). It backs founders who combine measurable positive impact with a scalable commercial business, on the view that profit and purpose reinforce each other. Its funding page organizes the thesis into two impact themes: People Power (social cohesion through education, employment and affordable healthcare) and Planet Paradise (decarbonizing energy and industry, fixing the food system, building a circular economy). Rubio says it is agnostic on business type (software, hardware, deep tech), model (B2B, B2C) and industry, so long as the impact potential is clear. The site groups the portfolio as CleanTech, FoodTech, HealthTech and PeopleTech.
Aligned Impact Model
Rubio ties 100% of its carried interest to independently validated impact targets, a structure it developed with the European Investment Fund in 2014. Impact targets (1 to 3 KPIs per company) are co-created with each founder and anchored in the articles of association. An Impact and Advisory Board validates the metrics. The fund is a certified Article 9 (SFDR) fund. The firm says that if either the impact or the financial goal is missed, the carry goes to charity.
Stage Focus
Seed and Series A is the stated sweet spot. Rubio can be a first institutional investor but also writes larger tickets into growth rounds. It does not back ideation-stage or distressed companies, companies whose impact is indirect (incubators, ESG tooling, financing platforms, consultants), or companies that rely mostly on government revenue. A strong link to Europe is required.
Check Size
Initial tickets run EUR 0.5M to EUR 2.5M depending on stage, with some flex. Rubio typically holds 10 to 20% ownership without a fixed target. It reserves up to EUR 10M for follow-ons in any one company. Third-party databases show larger totals in some rounds, which reflect follow-on participation.
Lead Tendency
Rubio describes itself as flexible: it leads, co-leads and follows depending on ticket size and round dynamics. Recent examples: it led HyLight's Series A (October 2026), co-led Ditto's round with Heal Capital and Optiverder (May 2026), and led a EUR 3M round for Renewaball (April 2024).
Recent Activity and Fund Status
Fund III launched in November 2025 with over EUR 70M in commitments, growing to roughly EUR 94M by early 2026. It targets about 30 companies. LPs include the European Investment Fund, Invest-NL, Oost NL, BOM, ING Social Impact Investments, the NN Social Innovation Fund, Dutch entrepreneurs and family offices. AUM is stated as EUR 250M on the site (EU-Startups cited EUR 220M). Recent deals: HyLight (Series A, hydrogen airships for infrastructure inspection, October 2026), Ditto (Series A, patient-side AI summaries of medical appointments, May 2026), VREY (seed, on-site solar for multi-tenant buildings, April 2026) and a EUR 49M Series E for Amber Electric (September 2026, led by 1GT). Rubio is actively deploying.
Portfolio Highlights
The ventures page lists HyLight, Ditto, VREY, tiney.co, Chapter, Female Invest, NoPalm Ingredients, Wakuli, Prets, HealthSage AI, Renewaball and Amber Electric on its first page, and the page has eight pages of companies in total. Sympower (grid flexibility), NoPalm Ingredients (palm oil alternatives) and OpenUp (mental healthcare access) are the portfolio names Rubio highlights most. Earlier names tied to Fund I and II include OLIO, Samasource, Mosa Meat and Litterati, and Vytal (reusable packaging). The site claims about 40 active investments and 58 impact KPIs monitored.
Team
- Helmer Schukken: Managing Partner
- Warner Philips: Managing Partner
- Machtelt Groothuis: Co-founder, Partner, Chair of the Investment Committee; ex-McKinsey and two private equity firms
- Willemijn Verloop: Founding Partner; serial impact entrepreneur, founded Social Enterprise NL
- Jelle van der Steeg: Partner
- Ilonka Jankovich, Tamara Obradov, Tijl Hoefnagels: Venture Partners
- Ata Senkon, Edward van der Hout: Associates
The site also lists a broader staff group and an Impact and Advisory Board.
Decision Process
Four steps: first meetings, an investment memo focused on the impact thesis, a term sheet decision by the Investment Committee, then final due diligence. Rubio says the journey from first call to a term sheet with Rubio in the lead takes about six weeks on average, with weekly updates. It invests in roughly six to eight new companies a year.
Founder Preferences
Excellent teams with relentless drive, experience and heart; a stage-appropriate track record; impact locked into the business model so that growing revenue scales the impact. Rubio offers leadership consulting for founding teams before and after investment, and its network of funds helped portfolio companies raise over EUR 150M in follow-on funding in a single year.
Geographic Focus
Europe, with a strong European link required. Portfolio companies sit in the Netherlands, Germany, the UK, Denmark and Spain.
Source Notes
The firm's homepage and several pages sit behind a Cloudflare challenge; the ventures, team, funding and impact pages were readable. Ventures pages 2 to 8 and the news index could not be read, so the portfolio list is partial.
