Belgium’s Henchman founders have launched 100IN, a €10 million pre-seed fund targeting bold, product-obsessed tech builders. The vehicle plans to invest €100,000 in each of 100 founders, converting a year of quiet angel activity into a formalized, founder-led platform. The announcement follows Henchman’s exit to LexisNexis Legal & Professional, signaling a new phase of hands-on capital and operator support for early teams.
Background
Henchman, a legal-tech scale-up, built tooling that enriched data from document management systems to speed up drafting for lawyers. Co-founders Gilles Mattelin and Julie Capiau grew the company into a recognizable European player prior to the acquisition. Their track record underpins 100IN’s premise that experienced operators can compress learning cycles at the riskiest stage.
Fund Thesis and Structure
100IN is positioned as a pre-seed private VC fund with a simple, repeatable check size and a portfolio construction built for breadth. The goal is to place 100 targeted €100,000 investments, allowing the team to back a wide slate of “exceptional” founders while building pattern recognition across use cases. This approach reflects the founders’ belief that velocity, access, and practical guidance outperform heavy process at the earliest stage.
Team and Network
The initiative is led by Mattelin and Capiau with fellow operator Jorn Vanysacker, bringing product, go-to-market, and scaling experience to the table. Around them sits a network of seasoned entrepreneurs and executives encountered during Henchman’s build, several of whom are known in Belgium’s tech scene. Names referenced publicly by Mattelin include Louis Jonckheere, Anthony De Clerck, Matthias Geeroms, Wouter Van Respaille, and Lorenz Bogaert, signaling a deep bench of peers.
What the Founders Are Saying
Mattelin framed 100IN as the natural escalation from more than 20 early investments made over the past year. He described the fund as “built by the founders of Henchman, together with some amazing people we’ve met along the way,” underscoring its operator-first DNA. The message to founders is direct, with Mattelin inviting outreach to himself, Capiau, or Vanysacker and hinting at live presence around community events like Tectonic.
Investment Focus and Support
While sector-agnostic within tech, 100IN’s posture clearly favors founding teams that move fast and build ambitiously. The promise extends beyond capital into practical help across product, distribution, hiring, and subsequent fundraising, areas where first-time founders often stall. By concentrating many small, consistent bets, the fund aims to create a dense portfolio community that learns in public and compounds know-how.
Why Now
Pre-seed dynamics in Europe have shifted toward specialized, founder-led funds that trade rigid committees for speed and empathy. 100IN’s launch taps that momentum, offering a crisp ticket, crisp expectations, and quick decisions for teams at day zero. The fund also leverages Belgium’s growing operator base, which has matured through recent exits and now recycles experience and capital back into the ecosystem.
Differentiation
The Henchman founders’ operating history provides credibility with customers, candidates, and later-stage investors, a currency that can be decisive at pre-seed. Their public network and clear access points reduce friction for founders seeking a short path to a yes or no. The sheer volume target, 100 checks, creates a flywheel of references and learnings that a slower, concentrated strategy cannot replicate.
What Comes Next
Founders can expect an emphasis on speed from first contact to term sheet, with 100IN optimizing for founder time. Portfolio support will likely concentrate on early design partners, measurable go-to-market milestones, and preparation for seed. The team’s visibility at ecosystem gatherings suggests a high-touch sourcing model anchored in community presence.
100IN formalizes a year of founder-to-founder backing into a €10 million, 100-deal program built by operators who have shipped and exited. With €100,000 checks, a bias for momentum, and an experienced bench, the fund is engineered for clarity at the most ambiguous stage. For European founders looking to move fast with pragmatic partners, 100IN adds another sharp option to the pre-seed landscape.