Eindhoven’s student venture capital fund bags €400.000

The Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), the Tilburg University (TIU), and the Brabant Development Agency (BOM) will invest €400.000  in Round One Ventures, a student-run venture capital fund. The news was announced during the first joint alumni event of the TU/e and TIU on April 3. 

Round One Ventures is a venture capital fund run for and by students. The fund focuses on students’ start-ups at the very early stages. Three main criteria apply to get funding: the founders must be students or recent graduates, the product they are developing must be scalable, and there must be a technological component. 

Innovation to reality

BOM is investing €200,000, and the TU/e is investing €100,000.  Another €100,000 will be contributed from the Starterslift Investments fund, of which Tilburg University, Avans University of Applied Sciences, and Breda University of Applied Sciences are shareholders. The investment marks an important milestone for the student fund, which until now has attracted mostly private investors. The fund’s goal is to bring in an amount of 2.5 million euros.

“We are extremely proud that the universities, where we ourselves started our studies, believe in our mission,” said Round One founder and chairman Jur van Bergen. “Our goal with the fund’s establishment is to bring innovation, conceived in the college benches, to reality. We do this by helping young entrepreneurs with funding, networking, and mentoring.” 

Funding options 

Round One offers different funding opinions. The first of these is in the form of a five thousand euro voucher. Students can use this to easily and quickly purchase much-needed materials such as software for their business. A convertible loan with an amount between 25 and 75 thousand euros is also available. Over time, the loan is converted into shares as the company grows. With the newly received money, Round One will continue its mission to help young entrepreneurs in their first steps.