Pitchdrive Closes $65M Fund IV for AI-Native Startups

Jan de Vries · 2026-06-09

Pitchdrive, an Antwerp-based venture firm led by experienced entrepreneurs, just closed its fourth fund at $65 million. That's a big deal for the European startup scene. This fund strengthens their unique approach, which they call the Co-founder Capital model. In simple terms, they put seasoned tech founders and operators on your cap table from day one, not just money. ### What Makes Fund IV Different? What's really interesting is that Fund IV is entirely privately backed. No government money, no institutional funding. That's pretty rare for a European fund of this size. The firm actually blew past its initial $54 million target within weeks. But here's the kicker: they deliberately capped it at $65 million. They even turned down extra cash from existing backers. "We could've raised more. Plenty of LPs were ready. But a bigger fund would've pulled us in the wrong direction," said Wim Derkinderen, Managing Partner at Pitchdrive. "The whole point of Co-founder Capital is staying close to the founders we back and rolling up our sleeves with them. You can't do that across fifty companies. So we keep the number small and go all in on each one."  ### The Team Behind the Money Pitchdrive was founded in 2020 by a group of heavy hitters: Wim Derkinderen, Lorenz Bogaert, Toon Coppens, Boris Bogaert, Jonas Dhaenens, Koen Christiaens, Luc Verelst, and Bart Swanson. Jonas Dhaenens, who also founded the European unicorn team.blue, serves as Chairman. These aren't just investors; they're builders who have been in the trenches.  ### How They Invest The firm backs pre-Seed and Seed founders right from the start. Check sizes range from $270,000 to $3.3 million. They operate across Europe with offices in Antwerp, Ghent, Amsterdam, Berlin, Barcelona, London, and New York. So far, they've invested in 70 startups across the continent. Their earlier funds placed them in the top 10% of venture funds globally. Their portfolio includes companies like Henchman (acquired by LexisNexis), Introw, Heltia, Happl, Axe, Ravical, Conveo, Foodamigos, and Gro. Their active scout network feeds them more than 500 pitch decks per month, but they only back a tiny fraction by design. ### The AI-Native Thesis Fund IV will invest in 25 to 30 early-stage startups in Europe and beyond. The investment thesis is laser-focused on one question: "Does this company have a reason to exist in the AI era, and does it operate like an AI-native company?" "The product itself doesn't have to be AI, but the business has to be a product of this moment," Pitchdrive explained. "Either AI enables a category that couldn't exist before, or it fundamentally changes the economics of an existing one." Operating AI-native means small teams can scale faster. Infrastructure replaces headcount as the main growth driver. They want founders who build with AI from the start, not those who bolt it on later. ### Focus Areas and What They Avoid Pitchdrive's focus areas for Fund IV include: - AI-native products like vertical AI, developer infrastructure, and agent platforms - AI-enabled categories such as consumer, commerce, content, and marketplaces where AI unlocks new unit economics - Software-defined physical companies including hardware, robotics, and mobility where AI sits in the design or operations They'll pass on pure model labs, "AI for X" wrappers without a defensible data or operator angle, and businesses whose AI story is bolted on just for fundraising. ### First US Deal Pitchdrive just announced its first US investment. They put $10 million into Zerodrift, a New York-based compliance AI startup, as part of a pre-Seed round. The company was founded by serial entrepreneur Kumesh Aroomoogan. This marks a big step for the firm as they expand beyond Europe. "When we built team.blue, the kind of investor I wished I'd had on day one didn't exist in Europe," said Jonas Dhaenens. "That's what Pitchdrive is: a firm run by people who've already been in the founder's seat. Fund IV doubles down on the model: stay small, stay close, stay disciplined."