European Solo GP Robin Capital has closed its first €15 million fund to play with
Robin Capital Solo GP, a German-based venture capital fund run by former businessman Robin Haack, has reached the final close of “Robin Fund One” at €13 million. Combined with its additional €2 million growth-focused investment vehicles, the fund now has a total of €15 million to play with. In the world of European solo GPs, who typically collect much smaller sums than their US counterparts, this is a decent number.
It was launched in 2023Robin Capital targets SaaS startups in European B2B middle market enterprises, with a focus on the DACH region, at the pre-seed and seed stages. It is deployed across sectors such as HR, AI, FinTech, Climate, DevOps, Robotics and Industrial Technology.
There are now around 28 companies in the portfolio, and half of the fund has already been deployed in companies such as… Combo Dave (Germany) and Fassett Laboratories (France).
Robin was founded in December 2022 by Haak, the former co-founder of Jobspotting (acquired by San Francisco-based SmartRecruiters Inc. in 2017), who placed the first check at German neobank N26.
Haak’s fund has 70 limited partners and includes GPs from private equity and venture capital firms, as well as founders and operators.
He has also managed to attract some venture partners including Renaud Visage, former CTO of Eventbrite and current founder of Slate.VC; Jerome Turnnick, founder of SmartRecruiters and Rypples VC; Leah Wagnorski, Co-Founder of Wo\men Inc.
Speaking to TechCrunch, Hack said that raising money was in a very difficult environment.
These years and a half were probably the most difficult times in the adventure world in history, due to macroeconomics. “I do not have institutions in the fund, and I do not even own the Integrated Investment Fund.”
However, he believes the advantage is having a wide network to draw on: “The LP base I have today is 70 people, all professionals… The good part now is that it’s a great value-added community.”
Robin Capital joins a movement of other Solo GPs in Europe, many of whom have previously held roles as fund partner, entrepreneur, startup operator, or content creator (read: podcaster).
While solo GPs can sometimes make quicker decisions compared to full-fledged and multi-partner funds, they usually operate like angels on steroids. But it can also mean faster access to their network, expertise, and audience, especially in the case of creatives who have developed a personal brand.
Hypernova, a $25 million fund It will be launched in beta in 2022 To invest in Solo GPs in Europe.
TechCrunch has identified 28 “Solo” GP VCs that have launched in Europe over the past two years, although one or two (such as 20VC and Unruly Capital) are now large enough to bring on other partners, and are slowly exiting the “Solo” phase:
14 Peaks Capital
Grand Prix: Eduardo Ermotti
20VC
Grand Prix: Harry Stebbings
Air Street Capital
Grand Prix: Nathan Benesch
Amino Collective
Grand Prix: Manuel Grossmann
Anamkara
Grand Prix: Annelie Ajami
Back future projects
Grand Prix: Alex Theuma
Boom
Grand Prix: Felix Blaberer
Chalfen projects
Grand Prix: Mike Chalfen
Cocoa
Grand Prix: Carmen Alfonso Rico
Common magic:
Grand Prix: Sarah Drinkwater
First day projects
Grand Prix: Masha Bucher
Entropy
Grand Prix: Sam Cash
Fire drop
Grand Prix: Pietro Invernizzi
introduction
Grand Prix: Declan Kelly
Hello World
Grand Prix: Rodrigo Martinez
flexion
Grand Prix: Alexander Lange
Lemonade stand
Grand Prix: Sim Teller
The capital is Monte Carlo
Grand Prix: Ian Soso
Nomad Capital
Grand Prix: Mark McCabe
No naming projects
General Practitioner: Ramzi Rafieh
NP-Difficult projects
Grand Prix: Anke Huiskes
nebula
Grand Prix: Finn Murphy
OpenseedVC
Grand Prix: Maria Rotello
Puzzle projects
Grand Prix: Gloria Bauerlein
System.One
Grand Prix: Max Clausen
North Network
Grand Prix: Neil Murray
Underline projects
Grand Prix: Bogdan Irdash
Unbridled capital
Grand Prix: Stefano Bernardi
