Venture capital firm to invest in Europe’s tech companies

A new venture capital firm is to invest in technology companies across Europe to enable them to grow.

KEEN Venture Partners, which is headed up by former BT executive Ben Verwaayen and TomTom COO Alexander Ribbink, will be investing in innovation hubs in the UK, Netherlands, Sweden and Germany.

Investors

The firm will be making investments of between €5 million and €10 million through its KEEN Venture Partners Fund, L.P., with key investors of the fund including the European Investment Fund, Dutch Venture Initiative, ING Netherlands and KPN Ventures, as well as private investors and entrepreneurs.

The fund will be focusing on three key areas: “distributed intelligence” innovations, such as the Internet of Things; “the prosumer continuum”, such as productivity tools and education technology; and “convenient transacting”, such as payment services and fintech platforms.

The fund, which will be making its investments using a “thesis-driven approach”, will be supported by a number of high-profile partners, including Nokia CTO Marcus Weldon and The Up Group Founder and CEO Clare Johnston.

Exceptional

Commenting on the new eight-figure fund, General Partner, Robert Verwaayen, said: “This new Fund is the first from KEEN Venture Partners and we are pleased with the exceptional range of high-profile institutional and private investors, demonstrating a high level of confidence in the new Fund.“

European Investment Fund Chief Executive, Pier Luigi Gilbert, commented on KEEN’s partners, stating that they are among the most experienced operators that have been seen starting a new venture capital fund, which he said is good news for the venture community.