Robin Haak launches Robin Capital, the latest fund to join the Solo GP trend in Europe – News Block

If you were a solo VC, or solo GP as they’re known, during the 2020-2021 boom, you may be in trouble now, especially as valuations from that era have often slumped. However, while the Solo GP model has been around in the US for a few years, this VC model arrived late enough in Europe to become a more viable way forward for many European startups finding selection. small multi-partner Venture capital funds in this bear market.

Capitalizing on this trend, for example, is Hypernova, a $25 million fund of funds that launched last year with the aim of funding Solo GP in Europe.

The trend is palpable.

Underline Ventures launched in Romania last year, with well-known ecosystem player Bogdan Iordache at the helm. In the US last year, Nichole Wischoff’s GP Solo firm Wischoff Ventures closed a second $20 million fund. This year in Asia, AngelList alumnus Wing Vasiksiri hit an AUM of $14 million, for example.

The latest to join the Solo GP party in Europe is record time tech scene player Robin Haak.

He is launching Robin Capital, which, he says, has now hit a first close of €3m and is aiming for a final close of €10-20m. It will participate in angel, pre-seed and seed financing rounds.

The former founder of Jobspotting (acquired by San Francisco’s SmartRecruiters Inc. in 2017) was an early-verification investor in N26 and has made more than 20 other investments, including Frontify, Algolia and Aircall. Haak was also previously a general partner at Revaia Growth One.

Robin Capital’s current portfolio consists of inaugural investments in Beam, Kombo and M2.

Haak told me that he has a “network of hundreds of carriers that are supplying and servicing. I also have a value-added limited partner base that includes Fabrice Grinda (an early investor in Alibaba), Julian Blessin (co-founder of TIER Mobility) and Jerome Ternynck (founder and CEO of SmartRecruiters).”

Haak describes his fund as “focusing on prominent entrepreneurs, software subscription businesses, primarily in Europe, Israel and the US.” He will be vertical agnostic, and mostly Pre-Seed to Seed.

“Our investment strategy spans Europe, the US and Israel, informed by my direct involvement in these regions,” he told me by email.

“I helped start companies like SmartRecruiters in the US, Revaia in France, Jobspotting in Germany, Axel Springer in Israel and Slush in the Nordic countries. As our headquarters are in Berlin, it is anticipated that the DACH region will continue to be a strong base for us,” he added.

Individual GPs, if they time their fundraising right, can grow quite large.

Last year, Streamlined Ventures, led by Ullas Naik, secured $140 million in new capital commitments for its two newest funds, bringing the total funds under management to eight with assets under management reaching around $325 million.