Fortino Capital closes 2nd VC fund at €105M

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Fortino Capital closes 2nd VC fund at €105M

Jun. 17th, 2021

(Antwerp/Amsterdam, 17 June 2021) - Fortino Capital Partners, a Benelux based venture capital and private equity investor in software and technology companies, announces the final closing of its third fund, the successor of its first VC fund. Fortino Capital Venture II is a €105 million fund dedicated to promising early stage B2B software and technology companies across Europe with a focus on The Benelux, France and Germany.

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

Fortino Capital Venture II is looking to establish long term partnerships with passionate entrepreneurs who are building their business with the ambition and potential to become a winner in the market they operate in. The fund focuses on late Seed to Series A stage investments in B2B SaaS and technology companies with initial tickets ranging from €1M-€3M, and sufficient capacity for later funding rounds.

Duco Sickinghe, Managing Partner Fortino: “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.”

Fortino Capital aims to make a positive contribution by leveraging its deep operational & strategic expertise, especially in the area of product market fit and software development. Fortino also launched an online community where founders and executives from Fortino portfolio companies meet on a regular basis for peer-to-peer networking and to have a sounding board with captains of industry. Fortino also grants access to its own talent acquisition resources that help its portfolio companies attract the right talent.

Christoph Auer-Welsbach, Co-Founder & CEO Kaizo: “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."

In addition to its loyal existing and reputable private investors base, a number of strong institutional investors such as EIF have signed up as cornerstone investors in the new fund, complemented with successful entrepreneurs from the region.

Fortino 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).

Marcel van der Heijden, Partner Fortino: “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.”

Next to its Venture Capital practice, Fortino also invests out of a different fund Fortino Capital Growth PE I. This is a growth private equity fund with a capital of €242 million targeting larger and more mature B2B software companies, supporting further organic growth combined with buy-and-build. The fund invested in 7 companies so far, amongst which Maxxton (NL), Efficy CRM (BE), Odin Groep (NL), Tenzinger (NL) and Cenosco (NL).

Current portfolio of Fortino Capital Venture II
Investing out of Venture II already started and to date, the fund invested in 7 companies, more specifically

  • 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)

 

About Fortino Capital Partners

Fortino Capital is a leading venture capital and growth private equity firm investing in European software and technology companies with a focus on the Benelux, France and Germany. Our mission is to support ambitious founding and management teams in realising their growth plans.

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

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