Hi, This is us.

Meet the Dutch Founders.

What do you get when you group five entrepreneurs together? Right, new ideas. In december 2018, Patrick Kerssemakers, Hidde Hoogcarspel, Laurens Groenendijk, Eric Veeneman and Bas Beerens decided to bundle their experience and know-how to help founders scale their potential. Meet the Dutch Founders Fund.

Yes, we know that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. That’s why we are a venture capital fund that focuses on what we do best: B2B marketplaces, platforms and SaaS companies.

We have personally built companies from ideas to IPO, and know exactly what founders need to grow their businesses. Our approach is hands-on and pragmatic: we work side-by-side with all of our portfolio companies to help with all kinds of challenges. From hiring to pivoting, we are here right beside you.

meet our team

Our founding team

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Laurens Groenendijk

Companies founded

Just Eat, Treatwell, Miinto,Hiber, Dutch Founders Fund

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Laurens Groenendijk

You can say that Laurens knows his way around the Dutch startup ecosystem. Having previously founded Just-Eat, Treatwell, Miinto and nano-satellite challenger Hiber, he knows his fair share of building and scaling businesses.

As one of the co-founders and managing partners of the Dutch Founders Fund, Laurens is largely concerned with helping our portfolio companies in what he does best: growing marketplaces, driving sales and advising on e-commerce. He likes founders who dream and do big. Those who can scale with lightning speed and those who are not afraid to fail.

On the weekends, you can find Laurens on the hockey field or playing padel.

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Laurens Groenendijk
Founding Partner
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Patrick Kerssemakers

Companies founded

Fonq, Dutch Founders Fund

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Patrick Kerssemakers

Patrick is one of the co-founders and managing partner of the Dutch Founders Fund. Being a pioneer in online retailing as one of the early founders of Fonq, Patrick brings in over 20 years of operational- and practical experience in e-commerce, online marketplaces and strategic partnerships.

Patrick has a strong customer-focus and knows a great deal of growing both teams and businesses. He likes founders with creative business models and those who dare to step out of their comfort zone - much like himself. 

He is the chairman of the LOEY foundation, an organization that stimulates online entrepreneurship in the Netherlands.

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Patrick Kerssemakers
Founding Partner
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Hidde Hoogcarspel

Companies founded

Spacebuzz, Schoolkassa, Dutch Founders Fund

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Hidde Hoogcarspel

Hidde is one of the founders and managing partners of the Dutch Founders Fund. He is an experienced finance professional with a strong interest in combining data with creativity. 

Before starting the Dutch founders Fund, Hidde was one of the founders of the Spacebuzz Foundation, an organization that introduces outer space to every child on earth. He is also one of the founders of SchoolKassa, a platform that makes parental contributions more transparent.

Hidde likes to transform businesses to make them future proof. What does that mean you ask? Becoming tech-enabled and data-driven. He is passionate about building ecosystems in which people can learn from each other - much like our fund.

How do you define success?

Success is when the whole is greater than the sum of its parts: combining different skill sets to form an unbeatable team or product.     

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Hidde Hoogcarspel
Founding Partner
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Bas Beerens

Companies founded

WeTransfer

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Bas Beerens

Bas is the founder of WeTransfer, one of the biggest file-transfering services in the world. As Venture Partner, Bas advises our portfolio on a broad range of topics. He blends his creative background with entrepreneurial grit: having scaled his company from ideation to a world-leading file transfer service, Bas knows exactly what questions to ask and on what metrics to measure.

With a customer-centric approach and an entire pallet of creative skills, Bas looks beyond spreadsheets to enable hyper growth.

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Bas Beerens
Venture partner
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Remco van Zanten

Companies founded

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Remco van Zanten

As our Venture Partner, Remco supports our fund and portfolio companies on a broad range of topics. Bringing in over fifteen years of board-room and strategy experience, Remco advices C-level executives on how to enable hyper growth. With prior roles at BCG, Booking, Zalando and now currently at Vinted, Remco blends corporate diligence with entrepreneurial grit.

His expertise ranges from digital transformation to strategic marketing and from finance to people management. Remco holds a MSc in Corporate Finance from the University of Groningen and a MBA from the Kellogg School of Management in Illinois.

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Remco van Zanten
Venture Partner

Our investment team

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Federico Maroli

Companies founded

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Federico Maroli

As one of our associates, Fede is a key part of our deal team. He has worked in the venture world on both the operator and investing side, working in the intersect of B2B SaaS, marketplaces and FinTech. Prior to joining DFF, Fede worked at FinTech challenger SecFi, where he underwrote the investment of more than $400 million in the private markets through structured transactions. He also gained experience as an early-stage investor at ProFounders, where he was responsible for the DD and coverage of the Benelux and Italian market. Reach out to him if you want to talk Juventus or funding.

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Federico Maroli
Investor
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Mart de Haar

Companies founded

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Mart de Haar

As one of our partners, Mart oversees our investment processes. He has over 5 years of investment experience in tech-enabled companies. Prior to joining Dutch founders fund, Mart has been working with many clients, ranging from startups to more mature companies. Previously, he was an associate at private equity firm NPM Capital. 

Mart has a strong quantitative focus and helps our founders scaling their business with strategic & financial support. He likes to be at the forefront of innovation and is constantly looking for opportunities that lie on the intersect between technology and business.

When not working with startups, you may find Mart hiking in nature or training for a triathlon. Mart holds a MSc in Financial Economics from the Erasmus University Rotterdam

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Mart de Haar
Partner
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Bas Rieter

Companies founded

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Bas Rieter

As one of our investors, Bas is leading our sourcing efforts in the Benelux and DACH region. He is also is running our communications, investor relations, PR and positioning of our fund. Bas likes founders with big ideas and small egos. Equipped with a staggering amount of energy, he is always on the go.

Prior to joining our Team, Bas was one of the directors of ASIF Ventures, the first student-led venture capital fund of the Netherlands. He was also one of the co-founders of Wout, where he supplied offices and households alike with trees for indoors. 

Reach out to him if you are an early-stage founder building a marketplace in the BeNeLux, DACH, baltics or CEE area.

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Bas Rieter
Investor

Our industry experts

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Anouk de Wolff

Companies founded

Scale Force Talent

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Anouk de Wolff

As our HR Advisor, Anouk supports our fund and our portfolio companies with attracting the best-in-the-biz. From finance to sales and from operations to marketing - Anouk makes sure that the right people end up at the right companies. 

She is the founder of Scale Force Talent, an agency that specialises in talent-recruitment for fast growing start- and scale-ups. 

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Anouk de Wolff
Advisor
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Ela Osterberger

Companies founded

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Ela Osterberger

As our data expert, Ela helps our portfolio companies to become fully data-driven. Ela was named as one of the most influential people in Data and Analytics in 2022. As Director of Data Science at Deliveroo - one of the UK's most valuable startups - she managed one of Europe's largest Data Science teams. Prior to Deliveroo she ran the audience data team at the Guardian. Outside of work, Ela enjoys baking (and eating) cakes, encouraging her kids to speak Austrian slang, and DIY.

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Ela Osterberger
Data Expert
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Tom Koenderman

Companies founded

Cloud Garden

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Tom Koenderman

As one of our advisors, Tom helps our portfolio companies on a broad range of topics. Although he has a background in biology and economics, Tom knows his way around pretty much any business- and development process. 

Tom likes to dive into complex business models and advanced hardware to make them future proof. He is a big fan of companies that challenge unconventional sectors - preferably with high entry barriers.  

Tom is the founder of Cloud Garden and Wall Flore, smart climate solutions that provide vertical gardens and air purifiers.

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Tom Koenderman
Advisor
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