Connecting
Investors

As an investment firm we work together with the companies we invest in, we provide growth capital, open up our network and share our knowledge and expertise. We invest our own capital and look for successful entrepreneurs that co-invest and partner alongside us to realize the ambitions of the tech entrepreneurs and companies we invest in.

We are entrepreneurs and are just as passionate and crazy about technology as you are. We are people-driven and deeply value long-term relationships. We want to learn, grow and build. We are in it for the long run. And most importantly, we love to connect and have fun, together with the entrepreneurs we work with.

Our money is the same as anybody else’s. But we like to be active and focused, with a limited number of companies and in areas we know by heart. We look for companies we like to invest in and invite like-minded people to join us. And we don’t believe in entrepreneur retirement. So we encourage active participations, also after an entrepreneur has sold (part of) his or her shares. Providing a commitment, only receiving quarterly (financial) updates and see your money back in 10 – 12 years? Not with us.

We invest in companies with their roots in the Benelux region. Because we want to be close to and with the founders, owners and management teams we work with. But technology is international and so is the focus we have with our investments.

Our investment criteria are quite simple actually. We invest in:

1. Great and fun people.
2. Robust, tech-driven companies in the Benelux, with a positive EBITDA and scaling potential that are active in high-tech, IT, SaaS and Platform
3. We invest EUR 2-10m of our equity per deal, in both majority and meaningful minority shareholdings, as long as we are fully aligned.
4. We happily provide growth capital and facilitate (pre-)exits, Management Buy-Outs, Management Buy-Ins

Every situation is unique, but our approach is consistent. What we always look for are great people, a shared vision and a true connection. Entrepreneurs that want to grow, professionalize and/or transform their business. Or situations where founders want to (partially) hand over their life’s work to a successor and/or existing management and together with us grow their business, safeguard continuity and create long-term value. We encourage founders to remain involved even if it’s in the background, because most often entrepreneurship is what gets them up in the morning.

We put our money where our mouth is. First of all we invest our own money, and therefore have substantial ‘skin in the game’. We invite investors to co-invest alongside us and participate in fast-growing tech companies. We are not a so called “closed” investment fund, we invest on a situation-by-situation basis and put the money of our investors to work from day one. We have a strong focus on long-term sustainable value creation and are incentivized to maximize absolute returns at eventual exit, not maximize management fees during the investment period.

We are fully committed to serve the interests of all stakeholders in our ecosystem, including employees, clients, the environment and society. Long-term sustainable value creation. We strongly believe that only if the interests of all stakeholders are met, sustainable value creation is possible. Together with the management teams of our investment companies, we are continuously and consciously implementing and adhering to an effective ESG policy. This is an integral part of doing good business. The guiding principles for our active ESG policy are:

• Environment: focus on improving energy efficiency, reduction of waste and pollution and using renewable energy and raw material sources
• Social: employee safety and security, complying to legislation, regulations and permits
• Governance: good governance and transparency, works councils and trade unions, the prevention of bribery and corruption

We go beyond ESG and actively support the United Nations Sustainable development goals. Although we support all UN SDG’s, we focus on 3 SDG’s to maximize our direct impact at microscale:SDG 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. We actively support and pledge to facilitate inclusive high-quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for our employees, their families and for society at large.

1. SDG 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all. We strongly pledge to be a good employer. Thereby indirectly impact SDG’s 1 (no poverty), 2 (zero hunger), 3 Good health and well-being), 4 (quality education) and 5 (gender equality) for all our employees, their families.
2. SDG 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. We actively support and pledge to facilitate inclusive high-quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for our employees, their families and for society at large.
3. SDG 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation. We strongly believe technology can make life easier, smarter and more sustainable. Therefore we invest only in technology that provides solutions for societal challenges. We believe technology can foster innovation, improve infrastructure and can make industry climate neutral and even circular.

You are more than welcome to connect with any of us at ESquare. Please take a look at our team section.