Herbert Ventures, a Zurich-based, newly founded early-stage venture firm, has today announced the launch of Herbert Ventures Fund I, a €32.5 million (CHF 30 million) early-stage venture capital fund focused on pre-Seed and Seed investments across Europe.
The fund has completed its first close in Q1 and made its inaugural investment in DroidRun, a German pre-Seed company developing the MCP (Model Context Protocol) orchestration layer for AI agents across mobile applications.
“We don’t know exactly what the next five years will look like, and neither does anyone else. That’s precisely why we focus on people. Great founders adapt and find solutions, regardless of what the market does,” said Ben Simon, founding partner, Herbert Ventures.
Founded in 2026 by Simon and Luis Huber, Herbert Ventures backs “exceptional” DeepTech founders and serial entrepreneurs, with a European mandate, at pre-Seed and Seed stages, before consensus forms.
Simon is a founder turned investor. He is a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree in Technology (Europe), co-founder and COO of VAY (an ETH spin-off acquired by BowFlex Inc.), and an active angel investor involved with over 15 startups and multiple venture funds. He holds an M.A. from the University of St. Gallen (HSG) and is based in Zurich.
Huber is an early-stage venture investor who has built and operated institutional venture platforms. He was most recently Senior Partner at QBIT Capital, a Swiss fund focused on university spin-offs. He studied Computer Science and Psychology in Vienna and is based in Zurich and Madrid.
Herbert claims that it focuses on execution over narratives, making fast, direct investment decisions and partnering closely with founders from inception. It states that its strategy is intentionally industry-agnostic, avoiding thematic investing and short-term hype cycles. The fund targets approximately 30 investments at the pre-Seed and Seed stage with a focus on the DACH region.
“Prior to launching Herbert, the partners conducted over 80 structured interviews with founders, exited entrepreneurs, LPs, and angel investors to validate their strategy. The feedback was consistent: early-stage funds often fall short on speed, transparency, and meaningful support. Herbert is built as a direct response,” the firm mentioned in the press release.
A key differentiator that sets Herbert apart is that the fund does not reserve capital for follow-on investments. It notes that this single-shot approach eliminates sunk-cost bias and ensures that post-investment, the only objective is to support the company in reaching the next stage.
It also backs founder teams only, and not individual founders. The fund is further designed for alignment, including a substantial GP commitment, an 8% hurdle rate, and consistent, unfiltered reporting to LPs. It is managed through HS Capital AG (Zurich) and structured as a Luxembourg SCSP.
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2026/04/zurichs-herbert-ventures-launches-e32-5-million-fund-i-to-back-european-founders-at-pre-seed-and-seed/
