Dutch Analyst Startup Golden Egg Check Secures €5M for Investment in Tech Companies

Enschede-based startup analyst Golden Egg Check (GEC) has announced that it has raised €5M from investors to fuel its GEC Capital I fund. This funding will support the company's plan to invest in approximately 35 tech companies over the next three years.

Founded in 2022, GEC Capital I already boasts a portfolio of 22 startups, primarily consisting of Dutch software companies. Among these are Runnr.ai, an AI chatbot designed for hotels, Sirius, a sustainability co-pilot for the metals and mining industry, Haaven, a platform for designing and constructing wooden homes, and QDI Systems, which specializes in quantum dot technology for medical imaging.

With the recent capital injection from several former tech entrepreneurs, the fund has successfully reached its hard cap of €5M. Thomas Mensink, partner at GEC Capital, elaborated on their investment strategy, stating, "We have now co-invested with, for example, Speedinvest (Austria), Norrsken (Sweden), and Curiosity VC (Netherlands). We hitch a ride on their knowledge and expertise. At the same time, we bring in our network of investors so that our portfolio companies get faster and better access to follow-on capital."

This announcement comes just four months after GEC raised €2.5M from Koejans Capital, 819 Capital Partners, Arje Cahn (former Hippo), Geert-Jan Smits (former Flinders CEO and author of "The start-up scorecard"), and Investeringsfonds Groningen. Gilles Meijer, founder of Golden Egg Check and partner at GEC Capital, highlighted their investment approach, noting, "We generally invest at an early stage, in Pre-Seed and Seed, but in terms of sector we are broadly interested because we always co-invest with a specialist. With our 5 million euros, we can make 30 to 35 investments and still keep enough behind to continue investing in the most successful companies."

The investment period for Golden Egg Check's first fund will run until the summer of 2025. Meijer also revealed future plans, stating, "We will make sure that our second fund is ready immediately after that. We will flesh out that plan in the coming period. The next fund will be slightly larger but because we see that our co-investment strategy is working, we will continue to focus on that."

Golden Egg Check is a startup analyst company leveraging data, insights, and a robust network within the Dutch tech and VC ecosystem. The company's mission is to propel the Netherlands to the forefront of European startup ecosystems. GEC assesses the potential, feasibility, and investor readiness of companies, employing the perspective of venture capital investors. Drawing on years of studying VC investment preferences and decision-making, GEC applies "best practices" to assist startups, scale-ups, internal ventures, and new business cases in becoming success stories.

Ytsen van der Meer, venture partner at GEC Capital, added, "In addition, we are building a founder community because we see that entrepreneurs learn an awful lot from each other. That peer-to-peer interaction is valuable and comes into its own in an active fund in which many deals take place." Van der Meer also emphasized the importance of their network, stating, "These investors have backgrounds in fintech, cyber security, e-commerce, AI, online marketplaces, and HR tech, among others. We use their expertise in assessing the quality of the startup and they are willing to help our portfolio companies move forward. We consider them part of our community."

With the continued support of experienced investors and a strategic focus on co-investment, Golden Egg Check is poised to make a significant impact on the tech startup landscape in the Netherlands and beyond.