Herbert Ventures Fund I

Switzerland
Pre Seed
Share

About Herbert Ventures Fund I

Herbert Ventures Fund I is a €32.5M (CHF 30M) pre-seed and seed deeptech fund targeting DACH and pan-European founders. Unique no follow-on reserves model with ~30 concentrated bets and 8% hurdle rate. Structured as Luxembourg SCSP via HS Capital AG.

Investment Focus

Location / RegionSwitzerland
Funding StagePre Seed
Industry Focus
Ai Ml
Deep Tech

Investor Signals Profile

active

Sweet Spot

European founder team, Pre-Seed/Seed, outlier conviction, co-investor ready

Pre-Seed/Seed
Europe-wide
founder-teams-only
no-follow-on
power-law-outliers

Bullish Signals

First close announced April 2026, actively writing checks nowblog
8% LP hurdle rate signals high conviction and outperformance orientationblog
No follow-on reserves eliminates downstream cap table politics for foundersblog
Portfolio includes Droidrun, Pluto, Rheo — active dealswebsite
Strong founder NPS — multiple unsolicited testimonialswebsite
Always co-invests — founder gets broader VC network instantlywebsite
Check size 500K–1M — clear, no ambiguitywebsite
Portfolio spans DPHI Space, Helio, Logbook, Lumvin, Billtewebsite
Luis: Zurich + Madrid — dual European hub coveragewebsite
Founders back wherever they build — not Europe-lockedwebsite
LP base: experienced entrepreneurs + industry leaderswebsite
Founder testimonials: educated approach, no BS, trusted partnershipwebsite
Ben: direct guidance on vision, clear commercial traction feedbackwebsite
Luis: connector who sparks opportunities, relentless founder supportwebsite
Ben challenges founders to think bigger, bolder growthnew_content
Underpromise, overdeliver — transparent communication + intellectual honestynew_content

Contrarian Signals

No follow-on reserves — cannot back winners post-Series Ablog
Only ~30 slots; binary selection, no small exploratory checksblog
Consumer-only or non-DeepTech pitches explicitly poor fitblog
Solo founders categorically excluded — hard filterwebsite
Opportunistic scope — no defined sector focuswebsite
Pre-category bets — no existing market validation requiredwebsite

Founder Do's

Come as a team — no solo founders considered
Show relentless drive + operational excellence
Be Europe-based or strongly Europe-connected
Expect deep diligence — knowledge-driven, not hype-driven
Embrace co-investor dynamic — always syndicates

Founder Don'ts

Pitch solo — single founders explicitly excluded
Expect follow-on capital post-initial check
Lead with trend/hype narrative over fundamentals

Key GPs & Partners

BS
Ben Simon
General Partner
ex-founderdirect-feedbackvision-shaper
LH
Luis Huber
General Partner
institutional-platform-builderconnectorrelentless-founder-support

Unlock Investor Signals

$29/month for full signal access. Cancel anytime.

Fund Overview

Fund Size€32.5M
Saves0

Key People

Ben Simon, Luis Huber

Ben SimonGeneral Partner
Luis HuberGeneral Partner

Related Funds

Riceberg Ventures Fund

$20M
Switzerland
Pre Seed
Saas, Ai Ml, Climate Sustainability, Digital Health
Fund Manager:Ankit Anand, Lino Gandola, Shubham Raj
Pre Seed
Saas
Ai Ml
Climate Sustainability
Digital Health

Ufenau VIII Asset Light SLP

€2100M
Switzerland
Pre Seed
Saas
Fund Manager:Ralf Flore, William Clegg
Pre Seed
Saas

Lakestar Continuation Fund

€265M
Switzerland
Growth
Saas, Fintech, Deep Tech
Fund Manager:Klaus Hommels, Oliver Heimes, Akis Bratsos, Stephen Nundy, Christoph Schuh
Growth
Saas
Fintech
Deep Tech