Robin Capital, a Germany-originated VC fund solely led by former entrepreneur Robin Haak, has successfully finalized the closing of “Robin Fund One” at €13 million. By including an auxiliary growth-focused investment mechanism of €2 million, the fund’s total financial pool now reaches €15 million. In the context of European solo GPs, who typically secure significantly less than their U.S. contemporaries, this is a commendable amount. 

Incepted in 2023, Robin Capital’s primary focus is on European B2B midmarket enterprise SaaS startups, particularly in the DACH area, during the pre-seed and seed phases. The investments span across domains like HR, AI, fintech, climate, DevOps, robotics, and industrial technology. 

At present, 28 enterprises are included in the portfolio, and precisely half of the fund has already been allocated to ventures such as Germany’s Kombo Dev and France’s Phacet Labs.

In December 2022, Haak, a previous co-founder of Jobspotting (acquired by SmartRecruiters Inc. from San Francisco in 2017), initiated Robin and had made a pioneering check into Germany’s neobank N26.

Haak’s fund enlists 70 limited partners, encompassing GPs from private equity and venture capital entities, besides founders and operators.

Additionally, Haak has recruited some venture allies, notably Renaud Visage, former CTO of Eventbrite and current Slate.VC founder; Jerome Ternynck, SmartRecruiters founder and the Rypples VC; and Lea Vajnorsky, Women Inc. co-founder.

In a dialogue with TechCrunch, Haak expressed that fundraising had been notably challenging due to the economic environment. 

“These past eighteen months were possibly the toughest for venture in history, given the macroeconomic factors. My fund doesn’t include institutions, or even the EIF.”

Yet, he believes the broad network provided leverage: “The current LP base consists of 70 individuals, all professionals. … The beneficial aspect is the emergence of an exceptional value-add community.”

Robin Capital aligns with other solitary GPs in Europe, many of whom previously served as fund partners, founders, startup operators, or content creators (like podcasters).

While solitary GPs might execute quicker choices compared to full-fledged, multi-partner funds, they typically function more like supercharged angels. However, it allows quicker entry to their connections, skills, and spectators, notably in the case of creators who have cultivated personal brands.

Hypernova, a $25 million fund of funds, was quietly launched in 2022 to back solo GPs in Europe.  

TechCrunch has recorded 28 “solo” GP VCs initiated in Europe in recent years, despite a couple (such as 20VC and Unruly Capital) expanding large enough to incorporate other partners, transitioning out of the “solo” phase:

14Peaks Capital
GP: Edoardo Ermotti

20VC
GP: Harry Stebbings

Air Street Capital
GP: Nathan Benaich

Amino Collective
GP: Manuel Grossmann

Anamcara 
GP: Annelie Ajami

BackFuture Ventures
GP: Alex Theuma

Booom 
GP: Felix Plapperer 

Chalfen Ventures
GP: Mike Chalfen

Cocoa 
GP: Carmen Alfonso Rico

Common Magic
GP: Sarah Drinkwater

Day One Ventures
GP: Masha Bucher

Entropy 
GP: Sam Cash

Firedrop 
GP: Pietro Invernizzi

Foreword 
GP: Declan Kelly

Helloworld
GP: Rodrigo Martinez

Inflection
GP: Alexander Lange

Lemonade Stand
GP: Siim Teller

Monte Carlo Capital
GP: Ian Sosso

Nomad Capital
GP: Marc McCabe

No Label Ventures
GP: Ramzi Rafih

NP-Hard Ventures 
GP: Anke Huiskes

Nebular
GP: Finn Murphy

OpenseedVC
GP: Maria Rotilu

Puzzle Ventures
GP: Gloria Baeuerlein

System.One
GP: Max Claussen

The Nordic Web
GP: Neil Murray

Underline Ventures
GP: Bogdan Iordache

Unruly Capital
GP: Stefano Bernardi