Syndicate One, an international network-driven investment firm backing
Belgian startup founders, has completed the first close of its second fund at
€22 million. The fund was oversubscribed within eight weeks of the initial
pitch, reflecting strong investor interest in the Belgian tech ecosystem. The
new capital follows Syndicate One’s €6.5 million fund raised in late 2024.
The new fund will be deployed through Syndicate
One’s network of founders, investors and operators, and will be managed by
founder Laurens De Poorter together with founding members Arnaud Bakker and
Robin Wauters.
Since its launch in early 2022, Syndicate One
has invested in a range of Belgian early-stage startups, including Aikido
Security, Techwolf, Conveo, Sirona Technologies, Donna, Warren, SAPI, Ravical,
Cosmic Aerospace, Powernaut, Tekst, and Mindoo. Two early portfolio companies,
Fundamental and Aikido Security, have since reached unicorn status with private
valuations exceeding $1 billion.
Laurens De Poorter, founder of Syndicate One,
said the new fund reflects the continued maturation and compounding momentum of
the Belgian tech ecosystem:
What started as a tight-knit network of
ambitious founders and operators has evolved into a powerful flywheel, where
today’s founders become tomorrow’s backers. We are doubling down on exceptional
Belgian entrepreneurs, wherever they are in the world, and on the ecosystem
initiatives that help them scale faster, think bigger and build globally
competitive companies from day one.
A growing investor base
Syndicate One was the first Belgian
investment firm backed by four governmental funds – PMV (Flanders), SFPIM
(federal), Finance&Invest Brussels, and Wallonie Entreprendre. Together
with prior anchor investor Sofina and new institutional backers including
Finhouse and COI, all previous institutional investors have recommitted to the
new fund.
The €22 million vehicle has also
attracted a broad group of founders and ecosystem builders as investors,
including Felix Garriau, Roeland Delrue and Willem Delbare (Aikido Security),
Matthias Geeroms (Lighthouse), Stijn Christiaens (Collibra), Andreas De Neve
(TechWolf), Cedric De Vleeschauwer, David Du Pré and Jos Polfliet (Warren),
Alexis Eggermont (Accountable), JC Velge (Qover), Sebastien Deletaille (Rosa),
Thoralf Gutierrez (Sirona), Elise Pepermans (ImmuneSpec), Benoit Deper
(Aerospacelab), Benjamin Schrauwen (Oqton), Raf Mertens (CrazyGames), Jeroen De
Wit (Teamleader), Dewi Van De Vyver (Effex), Hendrik Isebaert and Pieterjan
Bouten (Showpad), Sam Heymans (Lizy), Otto Debals (Segments, Uber), Tom
Vroemans (Gorilla, Spencer, November Five), Victor and Louis Mortreu (Just
Russel), Willem Schroe (Botanix Labs), Michiel Van Beirendonck (Belfort),
Michiel Bearelle (Officient, Vendorvue), and Benoit Baervoets (Eagl), among
others.
In total, more than 120 entrepreneurs
and several Belgian entrepreneurial families have backed the fund, with a
growing number of founders from previously backed companies now investing in
Syndicate One.
Beyond capital, Syndicate One provides
founders access to a network of Belgian entrepreneurs and operators with
experience scaling companies such as Collibra, Deliverect, Accountable,
DataCamp, Showpad, THEO Technologies, N26, EyeSee, Oper, and Bnewable. The
community offers expertise across investment, operations, go-to-market
strategy, sales, platform development, marketing, and communications.
Together with Sofina, SFPIM, and Bain
& Co, the firm recently published the second State of Belgian Tech Report.
It has also released an updated version of the Syndicate One Convertible, a
standardised convertible loan agreement for early-stage financing, and launched
a video podcast showcasing Belgian technology talent.