Investor Profile: 10x Founders — Thesis, Cheque Size & How to Apply

10x Founders is a network-powered early-stage investor backing Europe's most ambitious technology founders, with a simple promise in its name: multiply a founder's potential by surrounding them with entrepreneurs who have already built global companies. Formed at the beginning of 2021 by seven founding partners, the firm has grown into one of the continent's most founder-connected sources of early capital, and understanding 10x Founders funding is a useful first step for any European team raising a pre-seed or seed round.

Investment thesis

The firm's thesis is that Europe's best founders should be backed by people who have done it themselves. Its founding partners, Andreas Etten, Andrej Henkler, Claudius Jablonka, Felix Haas, Jan Becker, Jan Reichelt and Robert Wuttke, had made more than 300 investments before coming together, and describe their model as entrepreneur-to-entrepreneur investing. 10x Founders draws on a network of more than 300 entrepreneurs and angels who co-invest, share knowledge and open doors. The stated goal is to help European startups become global technology leaders and to make Europe the world's strongest tech hub.

Sectors and stages

10x Founders is sector-agnostic within technology, with a focus on software and enterprise software, and it invests across Europe. It backs companies at pre-seed, seed and Series A, and its own site describes it as the leading early-stage investor partnering with Europe's most ambitious founders. The partners were earlier first backers of Adyen, EquipmentShare and Luminar, a track record the firm puts at 16 unicorns, 40+ exits and 8 IPOs.

Fund size and cheque size

The firm's first fund reached a final close of approximately €160 million, backed by more than 200 European entrepreneurs, according to legal adviser YPOG. Typical cheques run from €250,000 to €3 million, and the fund had already made 27 investments with more than 200 co-investors by the time it stepped into public view.

Notable portfolio

The firm's own site highlights Simpleclub, the German learning platform, and Augustus as portfolio champions, and its wider portfolio spans companies including Ixana, Hydra Host, Workmotion, Fernride and Upvest. Its wider list spans European B2B software, fintech infrastructure and applied technology.

Programs and support

10x Founders does not run a fixed accelerator cohort. Its support model is the network itself: portfolio founders gain access to its community of entrepreneurs, experts and angels, with the firm pitching radically open exchange and knowledge sharing inside a trusted community. That includes co-investor introductions, hiring help and operational advice from people who have scaled companies before.

How to apply for funding

There is no open application portal advertised on the firm's site, so learning how to get funding from 10x Founders starts with a warm introduction. Founders typically reach the team through an entrepreneur in its network, an existing portfolio founder or a co-investor, or through the contact route on 10xfounders.cc. A concise pitch that shows genuine ambition, a credible early team and a path to global scale will fit best with a firm that explicitly seeks Europe's most ambitious founders.