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Smart Growth Capital for 
Tech Platform
Scale-Up Companies

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About Us

Solid Ventures provides equity growth capital to scale-up technology companies based in The Netherlands  and Colombia.  Solid Ventures was founded in December 2005 as the successor of the 300M. NeSBIC Converging Technologies Funds, founded in June 1997 by Robert Wilhelm

 

Via its own strong networks built up well over 30 years with successful serial entrepreneurs and strong cooperation links and strategic partnerships with IMPROVED Corporate Finance and Drake Star Partners and other M&A Corporate Finance Advisory firms such as Capitalmind,  Solid Ventures is able to source proprietary deal flow and (co-) invest in promising tech growth companies.  

Also, Solid Ventures has a strong network of local venture capitalists and respected family offices in Colombia with local strategic partnerships such as Rockstart Colombia and Monseratte Ventures in Bogota, Colombia. Through this network, Solid Ventures is able to source proprietary deal flow and (co-) invest in promising tech growth companies in this emerging market of huge opportunities bringing Latin America digitally on par with U.S. and Western - European online economies. Solid Ventures is hereby leveraging its insights and experience derived from more than 30 years venture capital tech investing in these more mature markets. 

The Partners of Solid Ventures have co-invested with a.o.  inQlab,  Tiger CapitalGeneral Atlantic,  Harlan Capital Partners, FJ Labs,  Monseratte VentureC4VenturesHummingbird Ventures, Volta Ventures, Kennet Capital, Newion, HenQ, DN Capital, etc.

 

Our Focus

We focus on scale-up companies at the growth stage of development in the digital economy in general with a specific focus on the sectors: Fintech, Enterprise Software SaaS, MarketPlaces, sustainable mobility, smart energy and smart city solutions. 

 

Our Approach

Our approach is building successful companies together with ambitious, experienced (serial) entrepreneurs by providing our capital, experience, network and technology and business knowledge to create internationally exitable companies at a strategic premium.

 

Our USP's

The Unique Selling Points (USP's) of Solid Ventures compared to informal investors, family offices and  other venture capitalists are:

 

  • Unmatched more than 30 years of experience proven by a track record in over 100 investments, over 50 successful strategic exits and several Initial Public Offerings (IPO's).

  • Entrepreneurial speed of professional execution in deals.

  • Strong technology and experienced business knowledge.

  • Acting as active and down-to-earth sounding board for entrepreneurs in the growth, next funding rounds and exit phases.

  • Valuable international network of co-investors for next funding rounds to expand portfolio companies rapidly.

  • Unrivaled focus on value creation by creating a clear investment exit road map together with management in 4-6 years.

  • Well connected with various tech investment banks and tech M&A advisors to secure a premium exit value for all investors involved. 

  • Investment style based upon transparency, trust and respect for entrepreneurs.
     

Our Principles 

  • We only invest in honest entrepreneurs with reliable, professional co-investors that we can really trust!

  • We stick to our word and deliver on our promises and execute on agreements: ALWAYS!

  • We build a long term partnership with entrepreneurs and co-investors based on trust, respect, transparency and integrity!

  • Deal-by-deal tech venture capital investing at industry standard conditions.

  • High financial team commitment.

  • High moral and ethical standards (Courage, Integrity, Commitment).

  • No conflicts of interests.

  • Full transparency.

  • Co-investing with similar risk / return like minded informal investors and family offices only.

  • Investing according the Europe Invest industry guidelines only.

  • Authorized and AIFMD regulated by the Dutch Authority Financial Markets (AFM). 

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Our Investment Criteria

Solid Ventures invests in innovative and fast-growing scale up companies. We do not invest in start-ups! We focus on companies in the sectors Fintech, Enterprise Software SaaS, MarketPlaces, sustainable mobility, smart energy and smart city solutions.  

We look for companies that fit our vision, our expertise and experience. Besides, we look for the mutual click between investor and entrepreneur. Building a solid relationship is crucial in developing a company to the next level. Next to the personal aspect, we have clear investment criteria to determine our next investment. Please see our strict investment criteria below:

  • We only invest in honest, transparent entrepreneurs together with reliable, professional co-investors! 

  • We do NOT invest in early stage start-ups, only scale-ups!

  • Minimum recurring revenues of € 1M (LATAM: € 500K) with minimum 50% annual growth.

  • An excellent and experienced management team (with serial entrepreneurs).

  • Proven internationally scale able B2B business model on 1 global platform.

  • Robust platform technology and multiple innovative products.

  • Clear value proposition and proven 'go-to-market' strategy.

  • Emerging high quality international corporate customer base.

  • Funding commitment from Solid Ventures ranging from minimum €750K (LATAM: € 500K) up to a maximum of € 5M.

  • Minority share.

  • Headquarters based in the Netherlands or Colombia (Bogota).

Please check our investment criteria and do send us your investment proposal if there is a match ONLY* at deals@solidventures.nl.

* We do not respond to unsolicited requests for funding that do not fit our investment criteria or are sent to other mail addresses of Solid Ventures team members!

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Our References

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“The Solid Ventures team acted as a very active and committed partner, even during the more difficult periods. They helped us find customers and close the first sales in the Netherlands. They have also been instrumental in critical phases to convince other investors to have confidence in the future of the company.”

Kristof de Spiegeleer

Founder & CEO DataCenterTechnologies.

Our Companies

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Our Track Record

Solid Ventures has been active since December 2005 as the successor of the 300M. NeSBIC Converging Technologies Funds, founded in 1997. In 2000, this fund was one of the first and largest dedicated European tech venture funds. 

Our trackrecord is built on more than 30 years of many successful investments and exits, with notable successes as KPN challengers Versatel (IPO NASDAQ / AEX July 1999) and Scarlet Telecom (sold to Belgacom February 2008) and Oxxio Alternative Energy Provider acquired by Centrica (LSE:CNA) in June 2005) as challenger of the energy incumbents Eneco, Essent and Nuon. However, in the hectic early telecom and internet bubble days, we had also quite some failures such as Holland's first web retailer  HotOrange, while we should have invested in CoolBlue,  European web retailer LetsBuyIt,  with an  IPO on the Neuer Markt Frankfurt in July 2000 and then failed and BaBYXL, Holland's first ADSL internet provider sold to publicly quoted Tiscali (now KPN Telecom) for 1 euro....

 

Other successful exits were ITMasters, a Belgian developer of systems management tools,  acquired by BMC Software for $42 million in cash (NYSE:BMC), DataCenterTechnologies, now PureDisk acquired by Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC), Dedigate (AMEX:TWW), Immidio (now VMWare, acquired by Broadcom), Backup Agent (now Acronis).

More than 25 years of early stage tech venture capital investing and still every day we are learning from our mistakes and enjoying our successes!

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MetrixLab was successfully acquired by Macromill followed by a listing  on the Tokyo Stock Exchange

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Our Team

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Robert Wilhelm

Founder & Managing Partner

Robert is founder of Solid Ventures. He has been active in the private equity sector for more than 30 years. He has gained experience in international venture capital and supported many early stage technology companies, both in Europe, the US and Latin America, most notably as the founder of the 300M. NeSBIC Converging Technologies Funds in the early internet days investing in B2B, B2C, software and telecom companies. He started his career at Atlas Ventures, a pioneer in the European tech venture capital scene since 1980. In addition to deal sourcing, he is competent and very experienced in the overall monitoring process, strategic issues and in initiating exits. He personally has raised and managed more than €400 million in fund capital. He also brings legal and corporate finance skills to the team with his experience as a tech investment banker at Drake Star Partners / IMPROVED Corporate Finance.

Robert holds an MBA from the Rotterdam School of Management and a Master Degree in Law from the Free University of Amsterdam. 

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Dennis Blom

Partner Solid Ventures II Investments

Dennis has more than  20 years of experience in technology investing. Next to that he is very experienced in guiding companies from start-up phase to the growth phase thanks to his position as Managing Partner of Silicon Polder Fund. 

Early in his career he was the CTO of the first Dutch Internet Service Provider Planet Internet.

Dennis has been the founder of several software and video conference solutions companies, such as McNolia, Vidyo etc. 

Dennis is an experienced board member of technology companies. 

His specialties are in the field of software development, information technology and business consultancy.

Dennis holds a Bachelor Degree in mechanical engineering.

The Partners are supported by Venture Partners, Industry Associate Partners, Analysts and Interns. 

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Floris van Alkemade

Co-Founder, Managing Partner Solid Ventures I & Venture Partner Solid Ventures II Investments

Floris has co-founded Solid Ventures in 2005 with Robert Wilhelm. Floris has more than 25 years of experience in investing in seed and early stages IT and telecom companies. He has managed more than €370 million in fund capital in total. Floris has been a Partner at the NeSBIC Converging Technology Funds. In 2000 he spent time in Silicon Valley to manage the US operations for the funds. Floris is also board member at Coolgames.com, the last remaining active company in the portfolio of Solid Ventures I. 

Floris holds a Master's degree in business econometrics from the Free University of Amsterdam.

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Co-Investor, Associate Partner Solid Ventures II Investments

Roelant van Herwaarden

Roelant has been co-investing with Solid Ventures II since 2018 and  has been a partner at ARV Group since late 2010.   Roelant has more than 20 years' experience in operations, continuous improvement projects and change management. He has a quick grasp of operational issues and potential improvements and is able to turn these into an approach that fits the organization and its ambitions.

 

Roelant studied electrical engineering at Eindhoven Technical University and business administration at the IBO Business School.

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Floris van Alkemade

Co-Founder, Managing Partner Solid Ventures I & Venture Partner Solid Ventures II Investments

Floris has co-founded Solid Ventures in 2005 with Robert Wilhelm. Floris has more than 25 years of experience in investing in seed and early stages IT and telecom companies. He has managed more than €370 million in fund capital in total. Floris has been a Partner at the NeSBIC Converging Technology Funds. In 2000 he spent time in Silicon Valley to manage the US operations for the funds. Floris is also board member at Coolgames.com, the last remaining active company in the portfolio of Solid Ventures I. 

Floris holds a Master's degree in business econometrics from the Free University of Amsterdam.

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Foto Robert Wilhelm.jpg

Robert Wilhelm

Founder & Managing Partner

Robert is founder of Solid Ventures. He has been active in the private equity sector for more than 30 years. He has gained experience in international venture capital and supported many early stage technology companies, both in Europe, the US and Latin America, most notably as the founder of the 300M. NeSBIC Converging Technologies Funds in the early internet days investing in B2B, B2C, software and telecom companies. He started his career at Atlas Ventures, a pioneer in the European tech venture capital scene since 1980. In addition to deal sourcing, he is competent and very experienced in the overall monitoring process, strategic issues and in initiating exits. He personally has raised and managed more than €400 million in fund capital. He also brings legal and corporate finance skills to the team with his experience as a tech investment banker at Drake Star Partners / IMPROVED Corporate Finance.

Robert holds an MBA from the Rotterdam School of Management and a Master Degree in Law from the Free University of Amsterdam. 

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Dennis Blom

Partner Solid Ventures II Investments

Dennis has more than  20 years of experience in technology investing. Next to that he is very experienced in guiding companies from start-up phase to the growth phase thanks to his position as Managing Partner of Silicon Polder Fund. 

Early in his career he was the CTO of the first Dutch Internet Service Provider Planet Internet.

Dennis has been the founder of several software and video conference solutions companies, such as McNolia, Vidyo etc. 

Dennis is an experienced board member of technology companies. 

His specialties are in the field of software development, information technology and business consultancy.

Dennis holds a Bachelor Degree in mechanical engineering.

The Partners are supported by Venture Partners, Industry Partners, Analysts and Interns. 

fvanalkemade.jpg

Floris van Alkemade

Co-Founder, Managing Partner Solid Ventures I & Venture Partner Solid Ventures II Investments

Floris has co-founded Solid Ventures in 2005 with Robert Wilhelm. Floris has more than 25 years of experience in investing in seed and early stages IT and telecom companies. He has managed more than €370 million in fund capital in total. Floris has been a Partner at the NeSBIC Converging Technology Funds. In 2000 he spent time in Silicon Valley to manage the US operations for the funds. Floris is also board member at Coolgames.com, the last remaining active company in the portfolio of Solid Ventures I. 

Floris holds a Master's degree in business econometrics from the Free University of Amsterdam.

Foto website.webp

Co-Investor, Associate Partner Solid Ventures II Investments

Roelant van Herwaarden

Roelant has been co-investing with Solid Ventures II since 2018 and  has been a partner at ARV Group since late 2010.   Roelant has more than 20 years' experience in operations, continuous improvement projects and change management. He has a quick grasp of operational issues and potential improvements and is able to turn these into an approach that fits the organization and its ambitions.

 

Roelant studied electrical engineering at Eindhoven Technical University and business administration at the IBO Business School.

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Felipe Santamaria

Associate Partner Solid Ventures II Investments

Felipe is the founder and managing Director of Rockstart LATAM in Bogota, Colombia since 2016 to support startups by providing access to capital, market, community and expertise.  In that capacity he has seen thousands of start-up business plans in LATAM and invested and supported more than 40 start-ups of which a significant number have become successful scale-ups. In 2019 he was the founder of the Amateur Fund, investing in 23 tech companies. Also Felipe has been the co-founder of a number of tech companies. The relationship with Solid Ventures dates back to 2016, when the partners of Solid Ventures invested in Rockstart LATAM via Monserrate Ventures.  

Felipe studied law at Universidad de los Andes in Bogota, Colombia and innovative business models at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business in the US.

Isolde Goulooze

Controller  Solid Ventures II Investments

Isolde is managing director of audit firm Finance Anders and as such involved as controller of the Solid Ventures activities since 2017. Prior to that, she was Finance Manager for venture capital investor and family office Qmulus Private Equity and several international firms.  She is skilled in financial reporting and analysis. The relationship with Solid Ventures dates back to 2013, when one of the partners of Solid Ventures worked as colleagues with her at a previous company.

Isolde studied Finance & Accounting in The Netherlands.

Our Contact Details

Schedule Initial Video Meeting

 

Apollo Building, Apollolaan 153

1077 AS Amsterdam  

The Netherlands

Carrera 19b #83-49
110221 Bogotá
Colombia

deals@solidventures.nl

We do not respond to unsolicited requests for funding that do not fit our investment criteria

or are sent to other mail addresses of Solid Ventures team members!

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IMPORTANT NOTICE  
Solid Ventures is managed by Solid Capital Partners BV, registered, authorized and regulated by the Autoriteit Financiële Markten ("AFM")   Authority Financial Markets AIFMD Act under number 15001346.

DISCLAIMER 
Investing in early stage tech businesses involves risks, including illiquidity, lack of dividends, loss of investment and dilution. It should only be done as part of a diversified portfolio. Any co-investment opportunities are targeted exclusively at a closed group of known investors who understand the risks of investing in early stage businesses and can make their own investment decisions and are thus considered to be “A Professional Investor”. Any pitches for co-investment with Solid Ventures are not to be considered as an offer to the general public, but co-investment opportunities by invitation only. The value of an Investment may go down as well as up and an Investor may not get back the full amount invested and may therefore lose some or all of their Investment. The investment opportunities offered in the Solid Ventures funds are not covered by any Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

CONFIDENTIALITY & EXCLUSIVITY
Solid Ventures is registered and authorized under the AIFMD Act by the Authority Financial Markets under no. 15001346 to (co-)invest only with “Professional Investors” in private companies and strictly adheres to the investment guidelines of Invest Europe. Solid Ventures only invites selected and known co-investors for its proprietary deal flow provided that this deal flow will be kept strictly confidential and for investment purposes via Solid Ventures investment vehicles only. Without prior written permission of Solid Ventures it is explicitly not allowed to share this proprietary deal flow with any other investors or approach the target, target’s management or target’s investors directly for whatever purpose, which conditions are accepted by the receipt of this information. This strict confidentiality also of course applies to portfolio management information provided to all Investors in the Solid Ventures investment vehicles. 

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