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

Founders researching SET Ventures funding should know they are dealing with Europe's longest-running energy specialist: an Amsterdam-based venture capital firm founded in 2007 that has backed the energy transition for nearly two decades. SET — short for Sustainable Energy Technologies — invests exclusively in digital technologies for a carbon-free energy system, and its fourth fund, SET Fund IV, closed at €200 million in 2024, doubling the size of its predecessor. For European founders building at the intersection of software, data and energy, SET Ventures funding is among the most sector-deep sources of early-growth capital on the continent.

Thesis and focus areas

SET Ventures describes itself as the VC for Europe's digital energy pioneers. Its thesis is that the energy transition has matured from a linear shift into a supercycle, and that hardware alone will not hit climate goals — the missing piece is the digital layer. It backs startups building an energy system that is hyperlocal, automated and resilient: producing, optimising and storing energy where it is used, automating millions of volatile assets to respond to price signals, and securing the system against cyber and physical threats. Sector coverage spans energy generation, distribution and storage, energy efficiency, mobility, buildings and industry — always with strong digital DNA. The firm's official boilerplate, repeated across its press releases, says SET Fund III provided early-growth capital to ventures shaping the transition through smart software and services-based business models, and SET Fund IV continues that digital-first mandate.

Cheque size and stage

SET's sweet spot is late seed and Series A, and it deliberately avoids drifting into later stages — managing partner Anton Arts told TechCrunch the firm grows the fund by "doing more deals, not different deals". SET Fund IV targets 20 to 25 European startups with initial tickets of €2 million to €5 million and follow-on reserves of up to €15 million per company. The fund is an SFDR Article 9 vehicle, meaning sustainability is a binding objective, and its LP base includes the European Investment Fund (EIF), Triodos Energy Transition Europe Fund, a.s.r., Carbon Equity and several European grid operators. The firm operates from Amsterdam and Hamburg and invests across Europe.

Notable portfolio

SET's portfolio reflects two decades of energy bets, including standouts such as Instagrid (portable battery systems), Sensorfact (industrial energy efficiency) and sonnen (home energy storage). Recent SET Fund IV investments include Munich-based e-mobility startup e-mobilio, smart heat-management startup vilisto GmbH, energy renovation advisor Fuchs & Eule and Eindhoven-based Tibo Energy Management Software. Its newsroom also records investments in EV-charging pioneer Easelink, UK-based Minibems and home energy IoT provider GreenCom Networks, with the portfolio page listing over ten exits to date.

Team

SET Ventures was founded in 2007 by Wouter Jonk and René Savelsberg, both still active as managing partners. The partnership team managing SET Fund IV includes Anton Arts, Julia Padberg and Till Stenzel alongside the two founders — a team the firm leans on to argue it knows precisely what it takes to scale in the energy industry.

How to apply for funding

SET Ventures runs an open-door approach to pitches. The firm's website carries a "Want to send us a pitch deck? Share it with us" invitation, so founders can submit their deck directly through the contact section of setventures.com. Given the firm's narrow thesis, the deck should make the digital DNA explicit: how software and data drive your energy business model, and how the company fits one of the firm's focus areas — hyperlocal, automated or resilient energy.