Curiosity VC Closes €17M First Tranche of Fund II to Back Vertical Applied AI
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TL;DR
Amsterdam-based Curiosity has reached a €17M first close on Fund II, with a €30-40M target and a final close planned for later this year. The thesis is sharper than Fund I's: vertical applied AI, split roughly 50/50 between pre-seed and seed, backing founders with deep industry expertise who use AI to change how a specific sector works. The fund keeps Curiosity's most distinctive feature, a community model in which portfolio founders and advisors share in the carried interest, and is backed by 44 private investors plus the Dutch government's RVO Seed Capital scheme. With Fund I producing real markers, including Strise, Dreamdata, and Altura, this is a credible thesis-driven manager scaling a differentiated model into the busiest theme in venture.
Key Takeaways
Vertical applied AI is the whole bet, and it is the right one. Curiosity is not chasing foundation models or horizontal tooling. It is backing AI-native software aimed at specific industries, finance, legal, real estate, energy, manufacturing, cybersecurity, where domain expertise and data access are the moat. That is where European software has the best shot at defensible winners.
Going earlier sharpens conviction but raises the risk profile. A 50/50 pre-seed/seed split means Curiosity is underwriting teams before product-market fit is proven. The upside is bigger ownership at lower entry prices; the cost is more variance and a longer road to validation.
The carry-sharing community model is the genuine differentiator. Letting portfolio founders and advisors share in the fund's carried interest structurally aligns the network around collective success. It is a real recruiting and support edge, though it also dilutes GP economics and only compounds if the community actually drives proprietary dealflow and help.
Fund I has receipts, not just narrative. Ten of 23 companies raising €84M+ in follow-on, with Series A rounds led by Atomico and Octopus and a $55M Series B into Dreamdata, gives the Fund II thesis evidence rather than just ambition.
Fund Overview
Fund Name: Curiosity Fund II
Fund Size: €17M first close; €30-40M target, final close expected later this year
Stage: Pre-seed and seed, split roughly 50/50
Check Size: Not disclosed; first-check, lead/early-investor posture
Geography: Primary focus on Benelux, Nordics, and Baltics; selective co-investment in London, Berlin, and Paris
Focus: Vertical applied AI and agentic services, AI-native software solving high-value problems inside specific industries
Key LPs: 44 private investors (many entrepreneurs) and the Dutch government via the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) Seed Capital scheme
Why This Fund Matters
The applied-AI thesis has become consensus, which usually means the alpha has moved on. Curiosity's angle is more specific and more defensible than the average AI fund: vertical software where the edge is not the model but the domain. In financial-crime detection, pharma compliance, public tendering, or building sustainability, the hard part is understanding the workflow, the regulation, and the data, and AI is the lever that finally makes a better product economically viable. Founders who own that domain knowledge can build something incumbents and horizontal AI startups cannot easily copy. Backing those founders at the first-check stage is a coherent way to play AI without paying the inflated prices attached to anything with a model in the pitch.
Going earlier with a 50/50 pre-seed/seed split is the strategic adjustment that matters most. It signals confidence that Curiosity can identify category winners before the crowd and before valuations run, which is exactly where a small, specialized fund should compete. The trade-off is honest: pre-seed underwriting is judgment over evidence, and a €30-40M fund backing very early companies needs disciplined reserves to protect ownership when the winners raise their Series A. Fund I's follow-on record suggests the firm can pick; the open question is whether it has enough capital to hold its position as those companies scale.
The community-and-carry model is where Curiosity is genuinely contrarian. Sharing carried interest with portfolio founders and advisors turns the portfolio into a network with a financial stake in each other's outcomes, an alignment most funds only gesture at with platform teams and Slack groups. Layered on top is a pledge of 10% of carry to a foundation supporting underrepresented founders. The strategic bet is that this network compounds into better dealflow, better founder support, and a brand that wins competitive early rounds. The skeptical read is that carry-sharing dilutes the GP's own economics and only pays off if the community measurably outperforms a conventional platform model; it is a differentiator that has to prove it drives returns, not just goodwill.
There is also a timely macro tailwind. Europe's push for tech sovereignty and EU AI Act-compliant, responsible AI plays directly to Curiosity's portfolio, companies like Orq.ai building sovereign enterprise-AI infrastructure are positioned for exactly the regulatory environment Brussels is creating. A fund explicitly backing European software built on European terms is aligned with where both policy and enterprise demand on the continent are heading.
The Team
Curiosity was founded in 2021 by Herman Kienhuis and Maurice Beckand Verwée, both experienced investors and former operators. Kienhuis, the co-founder and managing partner who is the public face of the thesis, brings a track record from earlier roles in Dutch tech and venture, and his framing, that applied AI is moving from demos to deployments, captures the firm's deployment-over-hype discipline. The operator-and-investor background of the founding partners suits a strategy that depends on judging founder-market fit in technical, regulated verticals. As with any sub-€40M fund, the firm's success rides on a small senior team's selection ability and on whether the community model genuinely extends the partnership's reach beyond what two partners could cover alone.
Early Portfolio
Fund II's investments have not yet been detailed, but Fund I provides the proof points. Standouts include Strise (Oslo), an AML and KYC automation platform that raised a €10M Series A led by Atomico after Curiosity's seed; Altura (Amsterdam), an AI bid-management platform for tendering that closed an €8M Series A led by Octopus Ventures in 2025; Dreamdata (Copenhagen), a B2B revenue-attribution platform that raised a $55M Series B from PeakSpan; and Orq.ai (Amsterdam), an enterprise-AI infrastructure and collaboration layer built for EU AI Act and GDPR compliance. Across Fund I and Fund II, Curiosity counts 24 portfolio companies and roughly €50M in assets under management.
What This Means for Founders
If you are a pre-seed or seed founder building vertical applied AI in Northern Europe, particularly the Benelux, Nordics, or Baltics, Curiosity is now one of the most natural first calls. The pitch is not just capital but a community of fellow AI founders and advisors who have a financial incentive to help you, plus a manager that genuinely understands regulated, industry-specific software. The earlier stage focus means Curiosity will engage before you have all the answers, which is valuable if you have deep domain expertise but limited traction to show.
Calibrate for fit. This is a thesis-driven fund, so horizontal AI tooling, consumer plays, or projects without a clear vertical and industry-insider angle are likely off-thesis. Come with evidence that you understand a specific sector's workflow and economics better than generalist competitors, and a view on why AI changes the rules in that sector now. Founders outside the core geography can still be relevant through Curiosity's selective co-investments in London, Berlin, and Paris, but the center of gravity is Northern Europe.
Fund Momentum Take
We rate this one of the more intellectually honest AI funds raising in Europe right now. The vertical-applied-AI thesis is where we would want a specialist seed fund to play, the move earlier is the right way for a small fund to compete on conviction rather than capital, and Fund I's follow-on markers give the strategy real evidence. The carry-sharing community model is the kind of structural differentiation we wish more emerging managers attempted, because it aligns incentives in a way platform teams never quite do.
Our reservations are about scale and proof. At €30-40M, Curiosity will need ruthless reserve discipline to hold ownership through the Series A rounds its best companies will raise, and pre-seed-heavy underwriting widens the outcome variance. The community model is a genuine edge only if it demonstrably drives proprietary dealflow and founder outcomes; otherwise it is a goodwill mechanism that quietly trims GP economics. And the firm is competing in the single most crowded theme in venture, where even a sharp vertical thesis has to fight for the best rounds against larger, faster generalist funds.
Our bet: Curiosity is a high-quality, differentiated manager and the thesis is correct, deployment-stage vertical AI is where durable European software value will accrue. If the team holds its reserve discipline and the community model keeps producing the kind of follow-on outcomes Fund I did, Fund II should be a strong vintage. We would watch the pace of Fund II deployment and whether the firm can hold meaningful ownership in its breakout companies, because at this fund size, that, not sourcing, is the binding constraint on returns.
Frequently Asked Questions
How big is Curiosity Fund II?
The fund reached a €17M first close and is targeting €30-40M, with a final close expected later this year.
What does Fund II invest in?
Vertical applied AI, AI-native software solving specific problems inside industries such as finance, legal, real estate, energy, manufacturing, and cybersecurity, split roughly 50/50 between pre-seed and seed.
Where does Curiosity invest?
Primarily the Benelux, Nordics, and Baltics, with selective co-investments in other European AI hubs like London, Berlin, and Paris.
What makes Curiosity's model different?
Portfolio founders and advisors share in the fund's carried interest, aligning the community around collective success. Curiosity has also pledged 10% of its carry to a foundation supporting underrepresented founders.
Who runs Curiosity and who backs the fund?
It was founded in 2021 by Herman Kienhuis and Maurice Beckand Verwée. Fund II is backed by 44 private investors and the Dutch government through the RVO Seed Capital scheme.
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