Just Moved!
How Smile Invest is helping Henri de Vil develop as an investor
Smile Invest has promoted investment associate Henri de Vil to an investment manager.
Henri de Vil joined Smile Invest as an investment associate in September 2024. But while getting involved in deals is generally reserved for managers, at Smile, he has been involved in several exciting mergers and acquisitions.
“We work in small, hands-on deal teams, so even as an associate you are exposed early on to the full deal cycle: sourcing, structuring, negotiations, as well as the dialogue with founders and management teams,” Henri says.
He explains that what changes now is the level of ownership. “As investment manager, I take more responsibility for driving processes end-to-end and for the relationship with our portfolio companies after closing.”
What excites Henri most about the new role is moving beyond the transaction itself and contributing to value creation over the years that follow. “Recent investments such as BAP Medical and Alphatron Medical show the kind of ambitious growth stories we want to support, and being able to play a more active role in shaping those journeys is what makes this step so rewarding,” he shares.
Read more: Smile Invest achieves deal hat-trick in one week
In the two years that Henri has been with Smile Invest so far, two things have stood out about the company. “First, the entrepreneurial DNA and mindset that runs through everything we do: pragmatic, hands-on and genuinely close to the companies we back…” he points out. “Meeting founders, understanding what drives them and their business, and ultimately building a partnership with them is particularly rewarding.”
The second thing that has stood out to Henri is the Smile Invest team. “We operate as one team across Belgium and the Netherlands, with complementary backgrounds and a real culture of learning from each other,” he reveals.
“The combination of a flat structure, early responsibility and high-quality colleagues makes it a great place to develop as an investor.”
An appreciation for institutional rigour
Henri also believes Smile Invest’s institutional rigour is impressive. “My earlier experience taught me the discipline of rigorous underwriting. Our investor base of successful entrepreneurs gives us not just capital but also operational expertise and networks that our portfolio companies can tap into directly,” he explains.
Prior to joining Smile Invest, Henri worked in M&A advisory at Rothschild & Co, and before that, he gained experience in private equity at BNP Paribas Principal Investments and CIM Capital. “That background gave me a solid toolkit in deal execution, valuation and sector analysis, as well as an important appreciation for what makes a business truly resilient,” he shares.
That combination is what Henri brings to every investment. “At Smile Invest I can apply that discipline in true partnership with founders and management teams, supporting them hands-on after the investment – whether through buy-and-build, internationalisation, product development or professionalising the organisation – depending on what each company needs,” he says.
“I want to thank Henri for his contribution in making Smile Invest the success it is today,” adds managing partner Bart Cauberghe. “We strongly believe bringing the right people together is the start of great achievements. Our team has been key to our success, and we look forward to continuing this journey together with them, as well as our portfolio companies, advisors and investors!”
