NP-Hard Ventures closes €12M inaugural fund to back early stage product obsessed founders

NP-Hard Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund, announced on Friday that it has closed its inaugural fund, raising a total of €12M. 

The fund, which surpassed its initial target of €10M, will be used to back early-stage ‘product obsessed’ founders in Europe and the US. 

Paul Veugen, co-founder of NP-Hard Ventures, says, “I’m obsessed over product and early progress. I personally went through the grind of building from scratch three times, and I am thrilled to help other founders navigate the early days and messy middle.” 

NP-Hard Ventures: Backing early teams in Europe and the US

Founded by Paul Veugen, Anke Huiskes, and Micha “mies” Hernandez van Leuffen, NP-Hard Ventures aims to address the scarcity of early-stage product-focused investors willing to invest before founders have a detailed spreadsheet. 

The company will invest average cheques of €250k into 20 pre-seed startups. 

The team plans to collaborate with Europe’s premier builders and investors to foster growth within the ecosystem and cultivate outstanding companies.

Mies, says, “We’re eager to back pioneering teams developing the building blocks for tomorrow; whether it is the tools needed to enable new workflows and craft impactful ideas, or innovative layers of abstraction as a basis for future platforms.

The founding trio, serving as angel investors, have collectively invested in over 50 early-stage companies and 15 funds across Europe and the US in the past 36 months. 

The fund has a diverse group of over 70 limited partners, including former founders, operators, fifth-generation company builders, Dutch technical universities, and a fund of funds. 

Currently, the portfolio comprises 15 investments, with plans to add approximately 20 more strong teams in the near future.

Anke says, “NP-Hard supports teams through operational experience, which is essential at the earliest stages of a company, exactly where we like to invest and partner.”