Investor Profile: byFounders — Thesis, Cheque Size & How to Apply

byFounders is Europe's most literal "by founders, for founders" VC: a community-powered early-stage fund for the New Nordics (the Nordics plus the Baltics) whose byFounders Collective — 35+ accomplished founders, operators, and angels — works directly with portfolio companies. It closed an oversubscribed €130M+ Fund III in May 2026, and its portfolio already includes breakout names like Lovable and Corti.

The thesis: invest in people before ideas

byFounders is deliberately a generalist tech fund with no sector thesis — it goes where the talent is. Its own site is explicit: "we invest in people before ideas." What the team looks for is the founder's history and drive — "why you keep going when things get tough" — rather than market sizing. Companies are evaluated through the firm's 8T framework, and byFounders positions itself as a first investor: "Invite us on board as your first investor, and we will be your trusted ally."

The Collective: the real product

The differentiator is the byFounders Collective: more than 35 of the region's most accomplished founders, operators, and angels. They advise on strategy, host workshops, coach founders, open networks, and sometimes take board seats on the fund's behalf — and many have invested in the fund themselves. Several are active angels who invest alongside the fund. Day-to-day support can mean cold-DMing a candidate to close a hire, sitting in as chief of staff for six months, testing the product and telling you what's broken, or tearing apart your deck for the next round.

Sectors, stages, and portfolio

The firm is at its best as an early-stage, first investor and runs a decision process of typically 2–4 weeks. The portfolio counts 65 companies, including Lovable, Verda, Sumary, Safetywing, Bob W, Parahelp, Corti, and Normative. The firm is headquartered in Copenhagen (byFounders VC Management II ApS) and backs founders connected to the Nordics and Baltics, wherever they are based.

Founder-friendly terms

byFounders publishes its full term sheet and invests in the same share class as the founders — removing almost all downside protection so incentives point in the same direction. A public, founder-aligned term sheet is rare in European venture capital and worth reading even if you never take their money.

Key people

The firm's voices on its Fund III announcement included Sara Rywe and Magnus Hambleton, working alongside the wider Collective of Nordic unicorn-builders behind the portfolio.

How to apply for funding

The route is a direct outreach via the firm's website, byfounders.vc. The site's own guidance: "it's never too early to start a conversation with us — though it can definitely be too late." Come with your hardest story, not your TAM slide — this is a fund that spends its time on the founder, not the spreadsheet.