Waves Capital Partners Research
Investment Thesis
Waves Capital Partners is an Amsterdam-based venture capital firm, operating through its regulated entity Waves Capital Fund Management B.V., that backs European deeptech and hardware founders. The firm's stated focus spans quantum computing and photonics, edge AI silicon, and advanced sensing, with a broader mandate covering both hardware and software technology companies. Waves positions itself as founder-aligned patient capital: it invests without fixed timelines, avoids requiring board seats, and explicitly rejects micromanagement in favor of "alignment and conviction-driven support." The firm frames its mission as strengthening Europe's economy by funding breakthrough technologies at startup speed without the bureaucracy typical of larger institutional funds.
Sector Focus
The portfolio skews heavily toward quantum technology hardware (Quantum Motion, Orange Quantum Systems, Delft Circuits, Qphox), edge AI and neuromorphic silicon (Axelera AI, Innatera), advanced sensing and robotics-adjacent perception (Xavveo's photonic radar, CloudNC's AI-driven CNC machining), genomic sequencing hardware (Daisy Genomics), and at least one AI software platform investment (Orq.ai, an enterprise AI agent infrastructure company) and one insurtech investment (Insify, online insurance for freelancers). This is a deeptech-first, sector-agnostic-within-deeptech strategy rather than a narrow vertical fund.
Stage Focus
Observed activity clusters at Seed and Series A, including participation in Series A extensions (Delft Circuits) and co-leading a fresh Series A (Keiron). Third-party aggregators (Investorlist) list a broader stated range from pre-seed through growth/pre-IPO, consistent with a deal-by-deal model that can scale commitment as companies mature, but the firm's own confirmed activity to date is concentrated in seed and Series A rounds.
Check Size
No check size is disclosed on the firm's own site. Investorlist reports an investment size range of roughly $1M-$50M, which is plausible given the firm scales its commitment across a deal-by-deal syndicate rather than writing from a single fixed-size fund, but this figure should be treated as directionally indicative rather than confirmed.
Lead Tendency
Waves describes a stated preference for a co-investor role, "with the flexibility to lead or co-lead when strategically appropriate." In practice this has played out both ways: the firm co-led Keiron Printing Technologies' €20.7M Series A alongside Invest-NL and DeepTechXL, while it appears as a participating (non-lead) new investor in Orq.ai's €5M seed round and Delft Circuits' €8M Series A extension.
Recent Activity
Waves Capital Partners appears to be a young firm (founded 2025) that has been actively deploying since late 2025:
- December 2025: Participated as a new investor in Orq.ai's €5M oversubscribed seed round (enterprise AI agent platform), alongside seed + speed Ventures, Galion.exe, Curiosity VC, and others.
- December 2025: Participated as a new investor in Delft Circuits' €8M Series A extension (superconducting quantum I/O cabling), alongside Paeonia Group, DeepTechXL, High Tech Gründerfonds, and QuVest.
- July 2026: Co-led Keiron Printing Technologies' €20.7M Series A (digital solder-paste printing for electronics manufacturing) together with Invest-NL and DeepTechXL, alongside Ramphastos Investments, ATUM Ventures, Cottonwood Technology Fund, and TNO Ventures.
Portfolio Highlights
The firm's own site lists eleven portfolio companies spanning quantum computing (Quantum Motion, Orange Quantum Systems, Delft Circuits, Qphox), edge AI chips (Axelera AI, Innatera), photonic sensing (Xavveo), manufacturing automation (Keiron, CloudNC), genomics (Daisy Genomics), and insurtech (Insify). Orq.ai, confirmed via the company's own funding announcement, is an additional portfolio company not listed on the Waves homepage.
Team
Public sourcing on the individual investment team is thin, consistent with a firm founded in 2025. Two individuals are named publicly as representing Waves Capital Partners on deal announcements:
- Kjelle Blom — named as a Waves Capital Partners representative on the Orq.ai seed round announcement.
- Robbert Kloosterman — named as a Waves Capital Partners representative on the Orq.ai seed round announcement, and referenced in a 2026 rebrand/website-launch post for the firm.
No titles could be confirmed with high confidence from primary sources, so none are asserted here.
Decision Process
Not disclosed. Given the firm's small, named investment team and deal-by-deal structure, a partnership-style decision process is plausible but unconfirmed.
Founder Preferences
The firm's messaging emphasizes technical, deeptech founders solving hard, capital-intensive problems (quantum, photonics, edge AI, advanced manufacturing) who value patient capital and operational autonomy over active board involvement.
Geographic Focus
Netherlands-headquartered (Amsterdam / North Holland) with a stated focus on ambitious European technology companies; confirmed portfolio and co-investment activity is concentrated in the Netherlands (Delft, Eindhoven, Amsterdam) alongside a broader European deeptech ecosystem (co-investors include Invest-NL, DeepTechXL, ATUM Ventures, and other Dutch/European deeptech-focused vehicles).