Graduate Ventures

Name

Graduate Ventures

Legal name

Graduate Ventures

Website

https://graduate.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Early-Stage Venture Capital

NAICS

Open-End Investment Funds (525910)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Pre-Seed/Seed) (FSANAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B) (FSANAAAB)

Keywords

• Venture capital investing
• Pre-seed funding
• Seed-stage investment
• Startup equity investment
• Alumni venture network

Headquarters

HQ city

Rotterdam

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Venture capital fund returns: Manages a €10M pre-seed fund and a €50M seed fund. Revenue is generated via management fees on the funds (typical VC carry/fee model) and capital gains from equity, SAFE and CLA investments in portfolio companies.
2. Co-investment syndication: Acts as lead or co-investor alongside other VCs (Capricorn Partners, Intel Capital, In-Q-Tel, InnovationQuarter, FORWARD.one, etc.), generating returns on follow-on participation.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Graduate Ventures is a Dutch early-stage venture capital firm that invests between €75K and €2M in founders based in the Netherlands at the pre-seed, seed, and Series A stages through two dedicated funds: a €10M pre-seed fund restricted to founders from TU Delft, Erasmus University Rotterdam, or Erasmus MC, and a €50M seed fund open to Netherlands-headquartered startups. Investments are made predominantly via SAFE (pre-seed) or equity (seed), with the firm acting as lead or co-investor. A bundled Founder Support Program provides portfolio companies access to a 200+ alumni network, curated events (Founders Forum, Graduate Connect, Graduate Meetup), and one-on-one coaching with seasoned entrepreneurs.

Product overview

Graduate Ventures is a Dutch early-stage venture capital firm and alumni-anchored investment platform — not a SaaS product — built around two core investment vehicles (the Pre-Seed Fund and the Seed Fund) wrapped in a Founder Support Program that leverages a 200+ alumni network. The Pre-Seed Fund writes tickets up to €75K for founders from TU Delft, Erasmus University Rotterdam, or Erasmus MC, while the Seed Fund writes €500K–€2M tickets for Netherlands-HQ'd startups; both funds can act as lead or co-investor. The supporting Founder Support Program (including curated events such as Founders Forum, Graduate Connect, and Graduate Meetup, plus one-on-one coaching) is bundled with both funds and designed to help portfolio companies scale. A newer regional extension, the Wageningen Pre-Seed Fund, applies the same pre-seed model to Wageningen University spin-outs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Graduate Pre-Seed Fund: Dedicated pre-seed fund investing tickets up to €75K in startups with at least one founder from TU Delft, Erasmus University Rotterdam or Erasmus MC.
• Graduate Seed Fund
• Graduate Wageningen Pre-Seed Fund

Products and services

• Pre-Seed Fund Investment fund offering tickets up to €75K for pre-seed-stage startups with at least one founder from TU Delft, Erasmus University Rotterdam, or Erasmus MC. Investments are made predominantly through SAFE, with equity and CLA options available; the fund acts as lead or co-investor and provides follow-on capacity from the Seed and Series A funds.
• Seed Fund Investment fund offering tickets ranging from €500K to €2M for startups headquartered in the Netherlands that are pursuing product-market fit and revenue growth. Investments are predominantly through equity, with CLA and SAFE options available; the fund acts as lead or co-investor and provides follow-on capacity.
• Founder Support Program

Quantifiable outcome

• 80 investments completed within ~5 years of launch
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers20 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• UNIIQ: UNIIQ is a Dutch early-stage/seed fund focused on validating proof-of-concepts from South Holland-based (Rotterdam/Delft) founders, making it the closest direct peer to Graduate Ventures in geography, stage, and university ecosystem tie-in.
• InnovationQuarter: InnovationQuarter is a Rotterdam-based regional development agency and investor that participates in seed-to-growth rounds for Dutch deep tech and climate companies; it co-invests with Graduate Ventures (e.g., in QuantWare's Series A) and targets a similar Dutch founder base.
• FORWARD.one: FORWARD.one is a Dutch early-stage VC focused on industrial tech and hardware, frequently co-investing with Graduate Ventures (QuantWare, Rocsys), operating in the same Dutch deep-tech deal ecosystem and at comparable early stages.
• Capricorn Partners: Capricorn Partners is a Benelux early/growth-stage tech and cleantech investor that co-leads rounds in Graduate Ventures' portfolio (Rocsys Series A extension, QuantWare) and competes for similar Dutch/Belgian deep tech deals.
• CapitalT: CapitalT is an Amsterdam-based early-stage VC investing tickets typically below €1M in Dutch tech startups, with a comparable fund size and focus on the Dutch pre-seed/seed ecosystem.
• Curiosity VC: Curiosity VC is a Dutch early-stage VC backing Dutch tech startups at pre-seed and seed, operating in the same deal universe and with similar community-driven sourcing tactics as Graduate Ventures.
• LUMO Labs: LUMO Labs is an Eindhoven-based early-stage impact-tech VC fund and accelerator that operates from the High Tech Campus Eindhoven, directly competing for deep tech / impact founders in the same Dutch cities Graduate expanded to.
• YES!Delft: YES!Delft is the TU Delft incubator and pre-seed fund that Graduate Ventures is co-located with in Delft, sourcing many of the same TU Delft alumni founders and operating a similar pre-seed/seed mandate.

Broad incumbents

• Invest-NL Deep Tech Fund: Invest-NL is the Dutch national impact investor that co-led QuantWare's Series A alongside Graduate Ventures; it is a much larger, government-backed vehicle targeting the same Dutch deep tech opportunity at later stages.

Emerging players

• Contrary Capital: Contrary Capital is a US-based student-and-alumni-driven venture fund that originated the "university-talent-first" model Graduate Ventures has adapted for the Netherlands, making it a structurally analogous peer despite geographic separation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/graduate-entrepreneur
• Instagraminstagram.com/graduate.ventures

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments71 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Graduate Ventures