Antwerp-founded and London-based Hummingbird Ventures is set to deploy 800 million dollars in new funds, doubling down on its signature strategy of investing in unconventional, ‘misfit’ entrepreneurs.
The Belgian-origin firm, known for its early and lucrative bets on companies like crypto exchange Kraken and AI start-up Lovable, has rapidly closed its latest funding round –oversubscribed within a week – despite a challenging market environment.
The new capital will bring Hummingbird’s total assets under management to nearly 2 billion dollars, underscoring investor confidence in its contrarian approach.
Hummingbird’s founder, Barend Van den Brande, describes their ideal founders as “truly misfits” and “anomalies” who often “built their own theory of the world.”
Managing partner Firat Ileri adds that the firm seeks entrepreneurs who are “almost unemployable” in traditional settings, valuing those who defy conventional business norms. “There are our type of founders all across the world”, Ileri noted, highlighting the firm’s global ambition to identify and support rule-breaking innovators.
The funding includes Hummingbird’s first growth fund of approximately 600 million dollars, alongside 200 million dollars earmarked for earlier-stage investments. This expansion will enable the firm to back more mature start-ups, such as the UK chip venture Olix, where it recently led a 220 million dollars round. The move also aims to address a funding gap in Europe for later-stage companies, many of which currently rely on US-based investors for scaling up.
