Amsterdam-based Shamrock Ventures, an early-stage impact fund focusing on tech companies that create environmental and social impact with their mission, announced on Tuesday that it has closed a €10M pre-Seed and early-Seed impact fund to focus on purpose-driven tech startups in the Netherlands.
The firm’s specific focus is to close the funding gap in the early phase and offer active support by a group of experienced tech entrepreneurs.
Closing the funding gap
According to research by Techleap and Dealroom.co, the share of early-stage investments in the Netherlands is in a downward trend. In 2021, less than 4 per cent of venture capital investments went to pre-Seed and early-Seed rounds. The research also shows that venture capital funds are shifting towards later-stage investing, having cut their share of early-stage investing in half since 2018.
At the same time, the market demand for early-stage financing is growing exponentially, especially for impact ventures. By focusing on pre-Seed and early-Seed investments, Shamrock Ventures aims to fill the current funding gap in the market by providing startups with their first professional capital.
In a statement, Shamrock Ventures says it will focus on areas including circular economy, cleantech, sustainable mobility, and food & agritech. With its Fund, the firm will back ‘ambitious’ founders in combination with operational and technical expertise. The Fund’s initial ticket size will range between €100K and €250K per investment.
About Shamrock Ventures
Founded in 2021 by Tommy Hurley and a group of experienced entrepreneurs as founding partners, Shamrock Ventures is a Dutch venture capital firm that focuses on early-stage investments in purpose-driven tech startups in the Netherlands.
Tommy Hurley says, “We started Shamrock Ventures as we see the need for disruptive sustainable solutions is growing exponentially due to negative effects of climate change. We are happy to see that the number of founding teams set out to build a purpose-driven tech startup in the Netherlands is increasing rapidly. We hope to support many ambitious founders with their mission.”
The company has already invested in seven impact-driven tech startups, including BIYU, a subscription-based rental platform; Bringly, a sustainable first-to-last-mile ecosystem; CircularIQ, a circular performance platform; Greencast, a climate impact analysis platform; Peerby, a peer-to-peer sharing platform; Plant B, which provides plant-based frozen meals; and Seenons, a circular waste management platform.
Founding partners to support portfolio
Apart from Tommy Hurley, an experienced investor in impact tech companies and a former M&A lawyer, the firm’s team also consists of a group of founding partners. All of them are experienced entrepreneurs who co-own the fund and will invest their time and expertise to support the fund management and companies within its portfolio.
The founding partners include Alef Arendsen (New Motion), David Markowski (strategy executive and angel investor), Geert Vos (Media Distillery), Joost van de Wijgerd (BUX), Roland Sars (Media Distillery) and Uri Boness (Elastic).
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