Amsterdam, September 2025 – DFF Ventures (formerly Dutch Founders Fund) has launched its third fund, DFF Ventures III, with €50m already committed out of a targeted €60m. The fund marks the next step in DFF’s journey as one of Europe’s most active pre-seed investors. With this new fund, the team expands beyond Europe to support founders in Vertical AI, recommerce, and marketplace models.

DFF was founded by the entrepreneurs behind WeTransfer, fonQ, Just Eat and Treatwell, and has always carried a founder-first mindset. The fund invests at the very earliest stage, often before a product exists, with ticket sizes ranging from €250k to €2.5m. While the first two funds focused mainly on marketplaces, Fund III broadens the scope. Vertical AI in particular is seen as a promising model, where startups go deep into one industry, first offering workflow tools and then gradually adding services such as financing, logistics and transactional layers. Over time, these companies can grow into the backbone of entire industries.

Over the past years DFF Ventures has built a portfolio of 40 startups across 14 countries. In the Netherlands, names such as Shypple, Nostics and Alleo (formerly YourCampus) have become familiar, while internationally companies like Metycle, Cofrai, Getmobil, Northladder and Fleequid illustrate the focus on digitizing the physical backbone of the economy. Some are still at an early stage, while others are scaling and facing new challenges, but all reflect the same belief in transforming underdigitized industries through digital solutions.

As with its earlier funds, DFF Ventures III is deliberately kept small and is backed exclusively by entrepreneurs and family offices. This ensures a fast and hands-on model that matches the pace of the founders the fund supports. The first close of Fund III was reached quickly at €50m, with a hard close of €60m expected in Q1 next year.

Pre-seed investing has changed significantly in recent years. AI has lowered the barrier to building prototypes but has also raised the bar on reaching customers and scaling distribution. For DFF, speed and distribution remain key: the goal is to back founders who can move fast, find their wedge into the market and build enduring companies in industries that matter.

We love software for the backbone.

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