Graduate Entrepreneur Fund

🎉 NEW PRE-SEED INVESTMENT 🎉       After being in stealth mode when the initial investment took place in November 2023, we are proud to finally announce our investment in Relock, an innovative company in the cybersecuritysector! The total pre-seed round exists of over €1 million and is led by Early Game Ventures.    Re:lock has developed a high-frequency key rotation technology that secures access and data exchange against the most advanced cyberattacks and insider threats. This technology is designed to prevent cybercrime that leverages the exposure and exploitation of critical secrets, which currently account for about 80% of all successful attacks using off-the-shelf malicious tools.     ❓Why we invest   With the increasing frequency and sophistication of cyberattacks, Re:lock addresses an extremely relevant problem. Their fundamental encryption technology is set to become a dominant player in the field, providing security solutions for API networks, enterprise users and systems, and IoT / Medical Devices.     💡 Market and Pipeline - The cybersecurity market is complex and rapidly evolving, with many stakeholders. With their ability to safeguard many critical systems, Re:lock can capture a broad spectrum of customers.     ❕ Technology - Re:lock is on its way to build a completely independent system that optimizes and secures data through their high-frequency secrets rotation engine, without any reliance on third parties. Due to the new on-the-move secret generation, when a malicious insider breaks the security layer of your API system, they would find unreadable encrypted data that is impossible to decrypt.     👥 Team - Apart from the extensive technical background of the founders, they have proven to be a strong team over the last months. Their shared vision and deep understanding of cybersecurity deep tech have impressed us, and we believe in their ability to lead the change in this critical sector.     We’re excited to continue supporting Re:lock on their journey as they lead the charge towards advanced cybersecurity solutions.    Interested in reading more about Re:lock? Check the link in the comments below to read the full article on our website! Bartek Boniecki Marcin Sznyra  Przemek Czerklewicz Boaz van Lith Jan Domhof TU Delft, Erasmus MC, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam, Erasmus Trustfonds, Universiteitsfonds Delft.

🎉 Congratulations to our portfolio company SPHERICAL! They have been awarded €4M from the European Innovation Council (EIC) 🚀🚀🚀

🎉 NEW PRE-SEED INVESTMENT 🎉 We are excited to announce our latest investment in Fluss, a company developing compact and affordable wastewater purification systems for recreational boats!  Fluss is addressing a critical environmental challenge by offering boat owners a sustainable and convenient solution to manage wastewater, ensuring cleaner waterways and compliance with stringent regulations.  ❓Why we invest    With over 160,000 boats (with a toilet onboard) in the Netherlands alone, and the significant contributions to water pollution that comes from untreated toilet water, it is vital to support solutions like Fluss.  💡 Market and Pipeline – Currently people must either throw their toilet wastewater overboard or pump it out at a station which is too ineffective. Fluss provides the first certified solution that meets the legal requirements without using harmful chemical byproducts. ❕ Technology – The FlussGuard system uses a technology to disinfect wastewater. It is fully automatic, low-maintenance and environmentally friendly.  👥 Team – The founding team of Fluss, comprising Ignis Trollmann, Lucas Veel, and Gert Nutzel, brings extensive expertise in environmental engineering, business development, and scientific research. We are thrilled to support Fluss in their mission to create sustainable solutions for cleaner waterways.  Interested in reading more about Fluss? Check the link in the comments below to read the full article on our website!     Ignis Trollmann  Lucas Veel Gert Nutzel Sophie Janssen  Daan Van Buitenen   TU Delft, Erasmus MC, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam, Erasmus Trustfonds, Universiteitsfonds Delft. #WaterQuality #FlussGuard #RecreationalBoating #Investment

📣Job Alert 📣 Ready for a new challenge at a fast-growing startup? Check out exciting job vacancies at our portfolio companies below! 🚀 Business Manager Grid at Skoon Energy 🚀 Data Engineer Internship at Workwize 🚀 Working Student Manufacturing at Sensible Healthcare Systems 🚀 Front-End Engineer at BASH   View all 75 available vacancies at jobs.graduate.nl! You can also sign up for our Talent Network to stay up to date on upcoming opportunities that match your interest. #jobs #vacancy #opportunity #portfolio #startup

🎉 Congratulations to our portfolio company SoundCell on winning the Philips Innovation Award 2024 🚀

🎉 NEW PRE-SEED INVESTMENT 🎉    We are excited to announce our newest investment in DuckDuckGoose AI, a company that prevents deepfake threats with their AI detection software.     DuckDuckGoose AI intends to create a digital environment in which we can still believe what we perceive. Their deepfake detection software adds an additional security layer by classifying digital manipulations.    ❓Why we invest With the upcoming threats due to the rise of generative AI, the detection of deepfakes is more crucial dan ever. DuckDuckGoose AI aims to detect fake digital identities, real-time AI manipulation and fake content. With their award-winning deepfake detection software, DuckDuckGoose AI can address these extremely important threats.    💡 Market and Pipeline – Digital manipulations can form risks for multiple different customer segments. DuckDuckGoose AI can provide their advanced software technology for governments, business and individuals. With customers such as the Dutch House of Representatives and DataChecker, DuckDuckGoose AI is on it's way to become an important player in this market.     ❕ Technology – The AI detection tool developed by DuckDuckGoose can detect not only traditional deepfakes, but also content generated by generative AI models, such as Dall-E and Midjourney. Their software provides 1 second analysis with their API- integration and provides 100% understandable results with 95% accuracy.     👥 Team – The founding team of DuckDuckGoose AI brings essential engineering expertise from Delft University of Technology. With backgrounds in aerospace engineering, AI, and policy analysis, the team contains all the knowledge and skills to drive DuckDuckGoose towards remarkable achievements.    We are very excited to join DuckDuckGoose on their mission to create a trustworthy digital environment.     Interested to read more about DuckDuckGoose AI? Click the link in the comments below to read the full article on our website! Parya Lotfi Mark Evenblij Joris Mollinga Philip Busscher Elsa Janssen Tessa Huijsinga Erasmus Trustfonds, Delft University of Technology, Universiteitsfonds Delft, Erasmus MC, Erasmus University Rotterdam

Yesterday, we attended the "For Life" Thank you dinner hosted by YES!Delft. It was great to witness three of our portfolio companies, Sensible Healthcare Systems, SoundCell, and Fusion Engineering, share their insights and experiences at the event! 🚀

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 in a fundraising process? It all comes down to the intricate dance between narrative and neurobiology. At its core, storytelling is a neurological experience. Research in neuroscience has shown that storytelling activates multiple regions of the brain, including the sensory cortex, motor cortex, and limbic system, which governs emotions and memory. One key mechanism behind the persuasive power of storytelling lies in mirror neurons, specialized cells in the brain that fire both when we perform an action and when we observe someone else performing the same action. When we hear a story that captures our attention, mirror neurons enable us to mentally simulate the experiences of the characters, fostering empathy and emotional resonance. Moreover, storytelling triggers the release of neurotransmitters such as dopamine and oxytocin, which are associated with pleasure, reward, and social bonding. These neurochemicals not only enhance our engagement with the narrative but also create positive associations with the message being conveyed. Here are some practical tips that will help you trigger investor's minds 👇 -- Thanks Bastiaan for your suggestion on todays' topic! Bastiaan and Thomas are accelerating aerospace by seizing control of the electronics tech-stack with their team at SPHERICAL. They recently raised €1M of Pre-Seed funding to demonstrate the technical and commercial relevance of their technology for space and semiconductor industries. They have a bright future ahead of them! -- This is the last edition of the "How to impress VC" series! As a venture capital investor with a degree in neuroscience, I enjoy analyzing contextual behavior to decipher why investors act the way they do. My aim is to possibly help some founders navigate fundraising with these insights. Graduate Entrepreneur Fund #venturecapital #VC #startups #fundraising

🎉 New funding for Revolv Space 🎉 Excited for our portfolio company Revolv Space: they secured a 2,6M investment! Congratulations to the founding team Marco Sala, Filippo Oggionni, Aleksander Fiuk and Michał Grendysz 🚀

🦄 Graduate Investor Breakfast @ Upstream Festival 📣 🦄   Today we brought together the leading VC from the Netherlands at our office at CIC Rotterdam for barista coffee & croissants. 🥐 We are headed over to Upstream Festival now for our investor table - see you all there!   Thank you to all that attended 🙏 Curiosity VC, Peak, Keen Venture Partners, InnovationQuarter, Innovation Industries, Holland Capital, Arches Capital, LUMO Labs, No Such Ventures, FORWARD.one, Capital Mills, Photon Ventures, 4impact capital, Souschef Ventures, Oost NL, Velocity, ROM InWest, Slingshot Ventures, Rockstart, Great Stuff Ventures, Capricorn Ventures, Builders