Syndicate One closes €22M second fund to back Belgian tech founders

Syndicate One, an international network-driven investment firm backing Belgian startup founders, has completed the first close of its second fund at €22 million. The fund was oversubscribed within eight weeks of the initial pitch, reflecting strong investor interest in the Belgian tech ecosystem. The new capital follows Syndicate One’s €6.5 million fund raised in late 2024.

The new fund will be deployed through Syndicate One’s network of founders, investors and operators, and will be managed by founder Laurens De Poorter together with founding members Arnaud Bakker and Robin Wauters.

Since its launch in early 2022, Syndicate One has invested in a range of Belgian early-stage startups, including Aikido Security, Techwolf, Conveo, Sirona Technologies, Donna, Warren, SAPI, Ravical, Cosmic Aerospace, Powernaut, Tekst, and Mindoo. Two early portfolio companies, Fundamental and Aikido Security, have since reached unicorn status with private valuations exceeding $1 billion.

Laurens De Poorter, founder of Syndicate One, said the new fund reflects the continued maturation and compounding momentum of the Belgian tech ecosystem:

What started as a tight-knit network of ambitious founders and operators has evolved into a powerful flywheel, where today’s founders become tomorrow’s backers. We are doubling down on exceptional Belgian entrepreneurs, wherever they are in the world, and on the ecosystem initiatives that help them scale faster, think bigger and build globally competitive companies from day one.

A growing investor base

Syndicate One was the first Belgian investment firm backed by four governmental funds – PMV (Flanders), SFPIM (federal), Finance&Invest Brussels, and Wallonie Entreprendre. Together with prior anchor investor Sofina and new institutional backers including Finhouse and COI, all previous institutional investors have recommitted to the new fund.

The €22 million vehicle has also attracted a broad group of founders and ecosystem builders as investors, including Felix Garriau, Roeland Delrue and Willem Delbare (Aikido Security), Matthias Geeroms (Lighthouse), Stijn Christiaens (Collibra), Andreas De Neve (TechWolf), Cedric De Vleeschauwer, David Du Pré and Jos Polfliet (Warren), Alexis Eggermont (Accountable), JC Velge (Qover), Sebastien Deletaille (Rosa), Thoralf Gutierrez (Sirona), Elise Pepermans (ImmuneSpec), Benoit Deper (Aerospacelab), Benjamin Schrauwen (Oqton), Raf Mertens (CrazyGames), Jeroen De Wit (Teamleader), Dewi Van De Vyver (Effex), Hendrik Isebaert and Pieterjan Bouten (Showpad), Sam Heymans (Lizy), Otto Debals (Segments, Uber), Tom Vroemans (Gorilla, Spencer, November Five), Victor and Louis Mortreu (Just Russel), Willem Schroe (Botanix Labs), Michiel Van Beirendonck (Belfort), Michiel Bearelle (Officient, Vendorvue), and Benoit Baervoets (Eagl), among others.

In total, more than 120 entrepreneurs and several Belgian entrepreneurial families have backed the fund, with a growing number of founders from previously backed companies now investing in Syndicate One.

Beyond capital, Syndicate One provides founders access to a network of Belgian entrepreneurs and operators with experience scaling companies such as Collibra, Deliverect, Accountable, DataCamp, Showpad, THEO Technologies, N26, EyeSee, Oper, and Bnewable. The community offers expertise across investment, operations, go-to-market strategy, sales, platform development, marketing, and communications.

Together with Sofina, SFPIM, and Bain & Co, the firm recently published the second State of Belgian Tech Report. It has also released an updated version of the Syndicate One Convertible, a standardised convertible loan agreement for early-stage financing, and launched a video podcast showcasing Belgian technology talent.