Zurich-based Herbert Ventures has officially announced the launch of its inaugural fund, Herbert Ventures Fund I, a ₣30 million vehicle targeting pre-seed and seed investments across Europe. Founded by Ben Simon and Luis Huber, the firm aims to redefine early-stage venture capital with a founder-centric and structurally unique approach. The fund, which completed its first close in the first quarter, has already made its first investment, signaling its active entry into the market.
A New Approach to Early-Stage Investing
The firm is led by a duo with complementary expertise, combining operational and investment experience. Ben Simon, a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, co-founded the ETH spin-off VAY, which was acquired by BowFlex, and is an active angel investor. Luis Huber contributes institutional venture capital knowledge from his time as Senior Partner at QBIT Capital, a fund focused on university spin-offs.
Before launching, the partners conducted over 80 interviews with founders, LPs, and other key ecosystem players to validate their strategy. The feedback consistently highlighted shortcomings in the venture capital landscape, particularly regarding speed, transparency, and meaningful post-investment support. Herbert Ventures was specifically designed as a direct response to address these identified gaps and better serve the needs of early-stage entrepreneurs.
An Unconventional Investment Strategy
Herbert Ventures employs an intentionally industry-agnostic strategy, deliberately avoiding thematic investing and short-term market hype. This approach allows the fund to focus on the quality of the founding team rather than prevailing trends. The fund plans to make approximately 30 investments, with a primary geographical focus on the promising DACH region of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
A defining characteristic that sets the fund apart is its decision not to reserve capital for follow-on investments. This single-shot approach is structured to eliminate potential sunk-cost bias, ensuring that the team's sole objective after investing is to support the company's growth. This model aligns the firm completely with helping its portfolio companies successfully reach their next major funding stage and key milestones.
The fund's structure is further designed for strong alignment with its limited partners, featuring a substantial general partner commitment and an 8% hurdle rate. Herbert Ventures also commits to providing consistent and unfiltered reporting to its investors, fostering a high degree of transparency. The fund is managed through Zurich-based HS Capital AG and is legally structured as a Luxembourg SCSP to meet institutional standards.
Inaugural Investment and Founder-Centric Philosophy
The fund has already deployed capital, making its first investment in DroidRun, a German pre-seed company. DroidRun is developing the Model Context Protocol (MCP), an orchestration layer designed for AI agents operating across mobile applications. This initial investment, made in a round led by Merantix, exemplifies the fund's focus on backing ambitious technical teams at the earliest stages.
"We don’t know exactly what the next five years will look like, and neither does anyone else," stated founding partner Ben Simon. "That’s precisely why we focus on people; great founders adapt and find solutions, regardless of what the market does." This philosophy underscores the firm's core belief in backing exceptional and resilient founding teams over speculative market predictions.
Herbert Ventures enters the European venture capital scene with a clear and differentiated proposition for early-stage founders. Its unique no follow-on investment strategy, combined with a commitment to speed, transparency, and deep operational support, positions it as a distinctive new player. By prioritizing people over trends, the firm aims to build a portfolio of resilient companies poised for long-term success in a dynamic market.