Hummingbird Ventures

This VC firm invests in fast-growth tech companies, providing operational resources and expertise to help entrepreneurs build transformative businesses.

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Updated: Jan 22, 2026 ·

About

Hummingbird Ventures is a venture capital partner for extraordinary entrepreneurs building fast-growth tech companies. Hummingbird Ventures teamed up with transformative companies, including Deliveroo, Showpad, Kraken, Peak Games, Clear2pay, Amplidata, Gram Games, Shutl and many others. With a presence in London, Ghent and Istanbul, Hummingbirdprovides swift access to the operational resources and advice needed to build the tech companies of tomorrow.

Financial History

Total Raised

N/A

Valuation

N/A

Investments Made

Date	Company	Round	Lead Investor(s)	Co-Investor(s)
Feb 11, 2026	OLIX	$220.0M Series A	Hummingbird Ventures	Crane Venture Partners, Entrepreneurs First, Fundomo, LocalGlobe, Plural Platform, Transition, Vertex Ventures
Oct 1, 2025	SenseNet Inc.	$14.0M Series A	—	Day One Ventures, Fusion Fund, Indicator Ventures, Valhalla Ventures, Matt Mickiewicz
Oct 1, 2025	Unikraft	$6.0M Seed	—	Andreessen Horowitz, Designer Fund, Heavybit, Otherwise Fund, Y Combinator, Guillermo Rauch
Oct 1, 2025	Interfere	$3.0M Seed	—	AIX Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Designer Fund, Fellows Fund, Otherwise Fund, Rebel Fund, Roble Ventures, The Hit Forge, Threshold Ventures, Y Combinator, Guillermo Rauch, James Isilay, Jared Leto, Michael Stoppelman, Peter Kazanjy, Steve Chen, Tom Blomfield, Wayne Crosby
Sep 1, 2025	Enveda Biosciences	$150.0M Series D	—	Builders VC, Dimension Capital, DN Capital, FPV Fund, Global Founders Capital, Icebreaker.vc, Kinnevik, True Ventures, Chris Gibson, Henry Kravis, rajiv chegu
Aug 1, 2025	Kontigo	$20.0M Seed	—	Alumni Ventures, Global Founders Capital, Goodwater Capital, Nyca Partners, SciFi VC, Sequoia Capital, SID Venture Partners, Sierra Ventures, Soma Capital, Y Combinator, Balaji Srinivasan, Evan Cheng, Furqan Rydhan, Gokul Rajaram, Helen Liang, Hubert Thieblot, Matteo Franceschetti, Oliver Jung, Philippe Teixeira da Mota, Sam Altman, Scot Wingo, Tom Blomfield
Aug 1, 2025	Aranya	$2.0M Seed	—	Pareto Holdings
Jul 1, 2025	Tavrn	$15.0M Series A	—	Craft Ventures, Four Rivers Group, Friále, HOF Capital, LombardStreet Ventures, Neotribe Ventures, Unruly Capital, UpHonest Capital
Jul 1, 2025	Lovable	$200.0M Series A	—	Accel, byFounders, Creandum, CRV, Flex Capital, Heavybit, La Famiglia, Operator Collective, Pareto Holdings, RTP Global, TenOneTen Ventures, Uncork Capital, Adam D'Angelo, Ben Tossell, Charlie Songhurst, Chris McKillop, Christian Reber, Dharmesh Shah, Fredrik Hjelm, George Kurtz, Job Van Der Voort, Melissa Tan, Robert Muñoz, Stefan Lindeberg, Stewart Butterfield
Jun 1, 2025	Interfere	$2.0M Seed	—	Andreessen Horowitz, Designer Fund, Felicis Ventures, Fellows Fund, Greylock, Nexus Venture Partners, Otherwise Fund, Rebel Fund, Roble Ventures, Y Combinator, Guillermo Rauch, James Isilay, Michael Stoppelman, Paul Graham, Peter Kazanjy, Tom Blomfield, Wayne Crosby
Jun 1, 2025	Blank Metal	$3.0M Seed	—	Dimension Capital, Rally Ventures, Stellar Capital, Daren Cotter
May 1, 2025	Catena Labs	$18.0M Seed	—	Andreessen Horowitz, Framework Ventures, Global Founders Capital, Index Ventures, Not Boring Capital, Otherwise Fund, Sequoia Capital, Signia Venture Partners, Soma Capital, Susa Ventures, Andy Rubin, Balaji Srinivasan, Bradley Horowitz, Gokul Rajaram, Kevin Lin, Sam Palmisano
Apr 1, 2025	Grouphug	$2.0M Seed	—	byFounders, Creandum, La Famiglia, Operator Collective, RTP Global, Adam D'Angelo, Christian Reber, Dharmesh Shah, Fredrik Hjelm, George Kurtz, Job Van Der Voort, Melissa Tan, Stefan Lindeberg, Stewart Butterfield
Apr 1, 2025	Conifer	$20.0M Seed	—	Builders VC, Dimension Capital, FPV Fund, Kinnevik, True Ventures, Chris Gibson, Henry Kravis, rajiv chegu
Apr 1, 2025	Aspora	$53.0M Series B	—	500 Global, Archetype, Basis Set Ventures, Beat Ventures, Citi Ventures, Contour Venture Partners, DeNA, DST Global, Fellows Fund, Fin Capital, Global Founders Capital, Redpoint Ventures, Scrum Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Soma Capital, Trajectory Ventures, Valar Ventures, Winklevoss Capital, Work-Bench, Y Combinator, Arash Ferdowsi, Balaji Srinivasan, Didier Valet, Gokul Rajaram, Nitay Joffe, Roger Ehrenberg, Stefan Jeschonnek
Mar 1, 2025	Maxion Therapeutics	$75.0M Series A	—	Business Growth Fund, General Catalyst, Octopus Ventures, Jonathan Milner
Mar 1, 2025	Lupa Pets	$20.0M Series A	—	Singular, True Ventures
Mar 1, 2025	Proscia	$50.0M Series D	—	Alumni Ventures, Day One Ventures, Aniq Kassam, Fusion Fund, Indicator Ventures, Insight Partners, Pareto Holdings, TSVC Capital, Valhalla Ventures, What If Ventures, Bradley Horowitz, Matt Mickiewicz
Mar 1, 2025	Knostic	$11.0M Seed	—	Cortical Ventures, Costanoa Ventures, Global Founders Capital, Khosla Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, Seedcamp, SNR, Trinity Ventures, Vertex Ventures, Wing Venture Capital, York IE, Alex Stamos, Kyle York
Mar 1, 2025	Town	$18.0M Seed	—	Abstract Ventures, Kevin Hartz, Andreessen Horowitz, Balderton Capital, byFounders, C2 Investment, Catapult Capital, Coelius Capital, Creandum, Flex Capital, Force Over Mass Capital, Framework Ventures, Goat Capital, Greylock, Jetstream, La Famiglia, Msd Capital, Operator Collective, Pantera Capital, Paradigm, Quiet Capital, RTP Global, Seed Club Ventures, Sweater Ventures, True Ventures, Uncork Capital, Vibe Capital, Y Combinator, Aaron Levie, Adam D'Angelo, Arash Ferdowsi, Balaji Srinivasan, Charlie Cheever, Charlie Songhurst, Christian Reber, Christina Cacioppo, Dharmesh Shah, Dylan Field, Errol Damelin, Frederic Kerrest, Fredrik Hjelm, George Kurtz, Ilya Golubovich, Immad Akhund, Jawed Karim, Job Van Der Voort, John Collison, Julia Hartz, Kirill Makharinsky, Mark Cuban, Melissa Tan, Michael Staton, Roger Dickey, Stefan Lindeberg, Stewart Butterfield, Tobias Lutke, William Hockey
Feb 1, 2025	Lemni	$4.0M Seed	—	byFounders, Cocoa, Creandum, Designer Fund, Jenny Fielding, Scott Hartley, General Catalyst, La Famiglia, Next Play Ventures, Operator Collective, RTP Global, Sequoia Capital, SNR, Visionaries Club, Adam D'Angelo, Charlie Songhurst, Christian Bach, Christian Reber, Dharmesh Shah, Fredrik Hjelm, George Kurtz, Gokul Rajaram, Job Van Der Voort, Koen Bok, Lukas Brosseder, Mario Götze, Melissa Tan, Nico Rosberg, Robert Maier, Scott Belsky, Stefan Lindeberg, Stewart Butterfield
Feb 1, 2025	Karman+	$20.0M Seed	—	SNR, Gabriel Jarrosson, Oleg Rogynskyy
Feb 1, 2025	Lovable	$15.0M Seed	—	Acton Capital Partners, AirAngels, Alt Capital, Better Tomorrow Ventures, byFounders, C2 Investment, Caffeinated Capital, CP Ventures, Creandum, Double Prime LLP, FJ Labs, La Famiglia, LEA Partners, Operator Collective, Oyster Ventures, Pareto Holdings, RTP Global, The Hit Forge, Aaron Levie, Adam D'Angelo, Amjad Masad, Azeem Azhar, Charlie Songhurst, Christian Reber, Claire Hughes Johnson, Dharmesh Shah, Fredrik Hjelm, George Kurtz, Job Van Der Voort, Kyle Vogt, Larry Summers, Mark Gillespie, Melissa Tan, Niklas Jansen, Stefan Lindeberg, Stewart Butterfield
Jan 1, 2025	Deciphex	$32.0M Series C	—	Act Venture Capital, Amino Collective, MizMaa Ventures, Molten Ventures, Not Boring Capital, Seroba Life Sciences
Jan 1, 2025	Neko Health	$260.0M Series B	—	Atomico, Dig Ventures, foobar.vc, Insignia Ventures Partners, Lakestar, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Lionheart Ventures, MassMutual Ventures, Pear VC, Picus Capital, Aaron Harris, Alexandre Prot, Andreas Ehn, Khaled Helioui, Pierpaolo Barbieri, Steve Anavi

Financial History

Total Raised

N/A

Valuation

N/A

Leadership Team

Key people at Hummingbird Ventures.

Barend Van den Brande

Thomas Vanderstichele

Leadership Team

Key people at Hummingbird Ventures.

Barend Van den Brande

Thomas Vanderstichele

Deep Dive

High-Level Overview

Hummingbird Ventures is a venture capital firm that invests in fast-growth technology companies, primarily at early stages ranging from pre-seed to Series A. Its mission centers on backing transformative startups with the potential to become industry legends, providing not only capital but also operational resources and expertise to help entrepreneurs scale. The firm adopts a contrarian investment philosophy, focusing on under-the-radar companies rather than chasing the buzziest startups, and doubling down on ventures during challenging phases to maximize returns. Key sectors include fintech, biotech, deep tech, healthcare, and consumer products, with investments spanning Europe, the US, Israel, MENA, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America. Hummingbird has significantly impacted the startup ecosystem by nurturing companies like Peak Games, Gram Games, Kraken, and BillionToOne, contributing to their growth into market leaders[1][2][3][5].

Origin Story

Founded in 2010 by Barend Van den Brande in Belgium, Hummingbird Ventures began with a modest €19 million under management. Van den Brande’s vision emerged from a critical reassessment of the venture capital landscape, rejecting conventional wisdom and emphasizing deep intellectual rigor and emotional intelligence in investing. Over the years, the firm has evolved into one of the best-performing European venture funds, delivering multiple vintages with over 10x net returns. Key partners include Van den Brande and Firat Ileri, who share a philosophy of supporting startups through their near-death moments, a strategy informed by their experience with companies like Peak Games and Gram Games[1][2][5].

Core Differentiators

Contrarian Investment Model: Focuses on overlooked startups and doubles down during downturns rather than following market hype.
Strong Network: Operates across multiple geographies including Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific, leveraging diverse market insights.
Track Record: Delivered exceptional returns with multiple 10x+ vintages, backing companies that have become industry leaders.
Operational Support: Provides founders with operational expertise and emotional intelligence, fostering strong personal bonds and internal culture growth.
Sector Diversity: Invests broadly across fintech, biotech, deep tech, healthcare, and consumer sectors, avoiding narrow vertical specialization[1][2][3][5].

Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

Hummingbird Ventures rides the wave of globalization and technological innovation by supporting startups that address complex, nonlinear challenges in fintech, biotech, and digital services. The timing is critical as digital transformation accelerates worldwide, and startups require not just capital but strategic operational support to navigate volatile markets. By focusing on underappreciated companies and doubling down during crises, Hummingbird influences the ecosystem by demonstrating the value of resilience and contrarian thinking. Its geographic and sectoral breadth allows it to bridge innovation hubs across continents, fostering cross-pollination of ideas and market access[1][2][3].

Quick Take & Future Outlook

Looking ahead, Hummingbird Ventures is poised to continue its contrarian, founder-centric approach, likely expanding its fund sizes and geographic reach while maintaining its focus on early-stage transformative tech companies. Emerging trends such as AI, decentralized finance, and biotech innovation will shape its investment thesis. The firm’s influence may grow as it sets a benchmark for operationally engaged, emotionally intelligent venture investing, potentially inspiring other funds to adopt similar models. Its commitment to backing startups through critical growth inflection points suggests sustained impact on the global startup ecosystem, reinforcing its reputation as a quietly excellent venture firm[1][2][3][5].

Sources

High-Level Overview

Origin Story

Core Differentiators

Contrarian Investment Model: Focuses on overlooked startups and doubles down during downturns rather than following market hype.
Strong Network: Operates across multiple geographies including Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific, leveraging diverse market insights.
Track Record: Delivered exceptional returns with multiple 10x+ vintages, backing companies that have become industry leaders.
Operational Support: Provides founders with operational expertise and emotional intelligence, fostering strong personal bonds and internal culture growth.
Sector Diversity: Invests broadly across fintech, biotech, deep tech, healthcare, and consumer sectors, avoiding narrow vertical specialization[1][2][3][5].