Belgium-based Fortino Capital closes new VC fund at €105M; expand its team in the Netherlands

Antwerp, Belgium-based Fortino Capital Partners, an investment firm that actively supports and advises software and technology companies, announced the final closing of its third fund, the successor of its first VC fund. 

Fortino Capital Venture II is a €105M fund for early stage B2B software and technology companies across Europe with a focus on The Benelux, France, and Germany. The VC firm claims to have a loyal existing private investors base and a number of institutional investors such as EIF, who have signed up as cornerstone investors in the new fund.

Its predecessor, Fortino Capital Venture I was launched in 2016 with a capital of €80M, and has made 18 investments in software companies including Teamleader (BE), BuyBay (NL) and inSided (NL). The fund has realised 10 exits so far, including, Trendminer (Software AG), Zentrick (Double Verify), Piesync (Hubspot), Melita (EQT), and more recently Bloomon (Bloom&Wild) and Riaktr (SDS).

Aim of this fund

According to Fortino Capital Venture II, its aim is to establish long-term partnerships with entrepreneurs who are building their business to lead the market they operate in. The fund will invest in late Seed to Series A stage in B2B SaaS and technology companies with initial tickets ranging from €1M to €3M, and sufficient capacity for later funding rounds.

Duco Sickinghe, Managing Partner Fortino, says, “We are living through exciting times. As a reference B2B Saas investor, we would like to, more than ever, invest in digital platforms and  contribute to society. Our third Fortino, and our second VC, fund provides us with the critical mass and fire power we need to continue investing in B2B software. Companies in this space are the main engine driving a digital and sustainable economy.”

Portfolio of Fortino Capital Venture II

Fortino has already invested in 7 companies through its Venture II fund. These include:

• Kaizo (Gamified workforce performance management solution for customer support teams – NL)
• Zaion (Conversational AI platform offering callbot software in selective verticals – FR) 
• ReaQta (Endpoint detection and response cybersecurity solution – NL)
• Vaultspeed (Data warehouse automation – BE)
• Oqton (End-to-end manufacturing cloud platform – BE/US)
• iObeya (Enterprise visual management enabling collaboration for remote teams – FR)
• Fooddesk (Allergen management and HACCP process software and data – BE/NL)

Kaizo recently raised $4M (approx €3.3M) in its Seed round led by Fortino Capital. Speaking on the VC firm’s recent development, Christoph Auer-Welsbach, co-founder & CEO Kaizo says, “Kaizo is thrilled to have Fortino join as our newest partner. We look forward to drawing upon not only the expertise they can provide at our scale up stage of growth but also their exceptional experience and insights into the customer service industry.”

Dutch expansion

Fortino Capital Partners has expanded its team in the Netherlands with experienced venture capital investors Marcel van der Heijden (former partner at Speedinvest) and Wouter Goossens (former Investment Director at ING Ventures).

Speaking on the development, Marcel van der Heijden, Partner Fortino, said, “I am excited to have joined Fortino, to strengthen its Amsterdam team, and to hit the ground running working with the Kaizo team as a first investment. Fortino has a unique combination of deep Venture and Growth experience that can support founders very well along their journey. Rooted in the Benelux, the view of the fund and team is very clearly Pan-European.”

Besides its VC investments, Fortino also invests out of a different fund Fortino Capital Growth PE I. It is a growth private equity fund with a capital of €242M targeting larger and more mature B2B software companies, supporting further organic growth combined with buy-and-build. The fund has already invested in 7 companies, including Maxxton (NL), Efficy CRM (BE), Odin Groep (NL), Tenzinger (NL) and Cenosco (NL).

Supporting businesses that can make a difference in their space

Fortino Capital Partners mainly invests in early growth (venture capital) and more mature companies (growth capital), for which organic growth is at the heart of their strategy. It has offices in Belgium and the Netherlands.

The firm believes it has the deep operational and strategic expertise to make a positive contribution, especially in the area of product market fit and software development.

The VC firm helps its portfolio companies through an online community where founders and executives from its portfolio companies meet on a regular basis for peer-to-peer networking, and have a sounding board with experienced industry figure support. Besides, it also grants access to its own talent acquisition resources to help its portfolio companies attract the right talent.