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

Trind Ventures is a seed-stage venture capital firm headquartered in Tallinn, Estonia, with team members also in Helsinki and Munich. It backs European software startups, with its core region in the Nordics and Baltics, and its portfolio now spans more than 70 companies, according to the firm's own portfolio page.

The firm's thesis is deliberately narrow: it looks for startups with a consumer or community component. In practice that means marketplaces, platforms and products with many users — businesses people actually use, love and talk about, as the firm puts it. Consumer focus is the filter; the sector itself can range from circular-economy marketplaces to fintech, music technology, recruitment and digital health.

Trind Ventures was founded in Tallinn in 2018 by Joel Aasmäe, Kimmo Irpola, Taavi Lepmets and Ivar Siimar, partners who had worked together since 1999 as business angels and as co-founders of LHV bank and New Economy Ventures, the first venture fund in the Baltics. Reima Linnanvirta, formerly chair of the Finnish Business Angels Network, later joined as a partner to support the Finnish-Baltic strategy.

On fund size, Trind Ventures launched its second fund in 2022 at €55 million, aiming for eight to ten deals a year and a portfolio of 30 to 40 companies. Its first fund reached a first closing of €21 million, backed by the European Investment Fund, LHV pension funds and the team itself. For cheque size, the firm has previously described seed capital starting from €100,000, with follow-on investments of up to €3 million per company; a current-fund cheque range is not publicly disclosed in the sources reviewed.

Notable portfolio companies include Fractory, a cloud manufacturing platform connecting engineers with metal-fabrication suppliers; Jobilla, an AI-driven recruitment platform; Tandem, the language-learning app; and Neural DSP, the audio-technology company. Exits in the portfolio include Ready Player Me, the cross-game avatar platform acquired by Netflix, and RangeForce, the cyber-training platform acquired by Cyberbit. More recent investments include second-hand book marketplace Hamelyn, home-services marketplace Webel, rental-management tool Your.Rentals, vehicle-logistics platform Bahn Express, pre-loved furniture marketplace Mjuk and authenticated luxury resale marketplace Saclàb.

Trind Ventures does not run a cohort-based accelerator programme. Its model is direct seed investment plus hands-on partnership, with the team positioning itself as a long-term backer rather than a short programme operator. No startup credits or perks package is publicly advertised by the firm, so founders should not assume one is on offer.

How to apply for funding

Trind Ventures does not publish a public application form. Founders can reach the firm through its official website, trind.vc, and its partners publish direct contact details — for example, partner Reima Linnanvirta lists [email protected]. A concise pitch that makes the consumer or community angle obvious, alongside evidence of early traction and a credible plan for European expansion, is the strongest way in. Because the fund's sweet spot is seed-stage companies with many users, pre-seed teams should be ready to explain how they will reach that user base.