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. 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 €1 million – €3 million, and sufficient capacity for later funding rounds.
Duco Sickinghe, Managing Partner Fortino, explained more: “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 and strategic expertise, especially in the area of product market fit and software development. Fortino has 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.
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 also recently 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 at 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.”
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 has invested in 7 companies so far, amongst which Maxxton (NL), Efficy CRM (BE), Odin Groep (NL), Tenzinger (NL) and Cenosco (NL).
