It took almost a month longer than expected, but the Civil Court of Amsterdam has finally ruled in the case PSG Equity had filed against Pieter Vos.

The CEO and co-founder of Rodeo Software, an Amsterdam-based SaaS-startup in project management, has allegedly taken off with millions of investment money.

Wednesday, the Amsterdam court ruled and awarded PSG Equity damages worth around €63M, excluding interest and legal fees, to be paid up by Pieter Vos.

The Boston-heaquartered VC had acquired a stake in Rodeo of almost 31 per cent in the company.

After the disappearance of Vos last year, shareholders conducted an investigation and interviewed employees. Salaries hadn’t been paid for months.

Rodeo deal with Alphabet

With Vos at the helm, Rodeo had, according to court documents, tricked PSG and the shareholders into thinking the software company had a large deal with Alphabet, a mobility company owned by a BMW daughter. When asked, none of the employees had ever seen a contract or been in contact with at Alphabet.

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In filed earning statements to the board, Rodeo claimed it had an ARR of almost €60M with more than 17.000 customers. In reality, annual revenue was a mere €250.000 with just 92 clients.

After the alleged fraud came to light, the company was declared bankrupt in April 2024, and subsequently sold for parts by the curator to Inova.

No Such Friends duped by Pieter Vos

Not only Vos c.s. have been summoned to indemnify PSG. No Such Friends, the cooperative investment arm tied to No Such Ventures, has to pay almost €14.5M in restitution, excluding interest and legal fees.

It’s particularly sour for No Such Ventures, who felt they have been equally duped by Vos. The Amsterdam-based early-stage VC owned a 17.47 per cent stake in Rodeo.

A foundation with a 9.385 per cent stake in Rodeo under managerial control of Pieter Vos also has to indemnify PSG for a sum of € 8.57M.

What happened with the missing millions, remains unclear. The curator wasn’t able to locate the money before, neither did a forensic investigation.

A criminal fraud case against Vos is still pending. Vos did not appear in court on Wednesday.