The world of European defense technology investment just got a significant boost. Keen Venture Partners recently announced the first close of its new fund at €150 million, setting a record as Europe’s largest defense-tech-focused VC fund. For entrepreneurs like me, who have navigated the maze of starting, scaling, and adapting businesses in dynamic sectors, this news is both exciting and promising.
When I think about the struggles I’ve faced bootstrapping my startups, including Fe/male Switch, a gamified incubator fostering women in STEM, this milestone represents an opportunity. Not just for defense technology founders, but for the broader ecosystem of European entrepreneurs who may benefit indirectly. Here’s what makes this fund unique, why it matters, and actionable insights from my years in the trenches.
What’s Unique About Keen Ventures’ €150M Fund?
Keen Venture Partners, founded by Giuseppe Lacerenza, Alexander Ribbink, and Ties Klinkhamer in 2016, operates with a firm belief: Europe needs to secure its tech independence, especially in defense and security. With €150 million already secured, the fund promises more than just capital. It has a thesis-driven model aimed at early-stage companies specializing in deep tech innovations with real-world scalability across NATO member states. For those unfamiliar, NATO countries inherently offer large addressable markets, particularly given rising security tensions.
The first category this fund supports includes autonomous systems, cybersecurity solutions, and resiliency platforms, technologies pivotal to Europe’s defense strategies. Investments range from €1–10 million per company, with plans to fund over 25 startups. Keen’s hands-on approach ensures founders get operational guidance alongside capital. As an entrepreneur, I know firsthand how crucial that mentorship can be. Startup growth seldom comes from money alone.
Backing and Vision: Who’s Behind This Fund?
Behind the €150 million secured are heavyweight contributors like the European Investment Fund (EIF), Dutch pension fund PME, and organizations like TNO (the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research). Both EIF and PME pledged €40 million each, emphasizing a collective belief in the importance of homegrown European innovation.
This fund aligns with broader trends. Europe itself has been reshuffling its defense budget priorities, with spending expected to breach €400 billion by 2025. It’s not just money being thrown out, it’s targeted spending designed to close strategic gaps worsened by challenges like the war in Ukraine. For business owners, the lesson is clear: understanding where governments and large institutional players are allocating resources can open doors to indirect opportunities.
Lessons Female Entrepreneurs Can Learn from This
As a woman navigating male-dominated sectors like deeptech and blockchain, the defense-tech industry evokes many parallels. Here are three lessons this milestone offers:
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Know Your Value: Keen’s fund focuses on startups with strong technical capabilities that also demonstrate commercial viability. Investors care about numbers, but they’re increasingly drawn to value propositions that scale. When bootstrapping Fe/male Switch, I often had to over-communicate our unique audience appeal, women founders in STEM, to make our proposition undeniable.
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Aim for Big Markets: NATO member states collectively represent a massive opportunity for defense and security startups. Whether you’re in defense or blockchain or education (like me), targeting regions with shared strategic interests often improves market uptake. When launching CADChain, we received backing from Dutch and EU-level programs because our product addressed cross-border intellectual property issues.
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Think Long-Term Resilience: European entrepreneurship often leans toward short-term survival instead of sustainable growth. If Keen’s fund teaches us anything, it’s that sustainability in markets requires calculated moves, not rushed expansion. Building long-lasting ventures, even when bootstrapping, ensures you remain relevant to institutional investors, or create alliances they notice.
Common Mistakes to Avoid as Founders
Funding announcements like these often entice founders to jump into adjacent sectors they know little about. But having spent over 20 years working across multiple sectors, I can confidently say strategic missteps can be avoided. Here’s what I learned:
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Chasing Hot Trends: Many founders pivot into "fundable" areas, like defense tech, without awareness of regulations or entry barriers. This wastes capital and credibility. Stick to your expertise first and validate product-market fit before trying to ride investment waves.
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Ignoring Collaboration Opportunities: Like Keen Ventures demonstrates, partnerships elevate outcomes. Seek institutional allies that align with your mission. Our collaboration with Brightlands visibly strengthened CADChain’s standing in both intellectual property and blockchain communities.
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Underestimating Local and Cultural Nuances: NATO markets are diverse, spanning regions with unique barriers like legal frameworks, procurement standards, or even societal trust toward new technologies. Every scalable idea requires agility in cultural adaptation.
How Entrepreneurs Can Harness This Wave of Investment
You don’t need to be launching autonomous drones or cybersecurity platforms to take advantage of Europe’s defense-centric funding renaissance. Here’s how I would approach this strategically:
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Look for Indirect Opportunities: Are you creating design software, instructional platforms, or AI tools? Many adjacent sectors (like mine) end up partnering with defense players for secondary applications. Read up on the European Investment Fund’s programs to see industries linked to Keen’s defense tech initiative.
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Explore Government Grants: Europe offers grants linked to priority sectors, including defense and related dual-use technologies. Platforms like EUIPO and OECD outline funding calls supporting women-led businesses innovating around STEM.
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Stay Open to Networking: Keen Ventures is Amsterdam-based, a fertile ground for cross-border networking. Join related accelerator initiatives like Yes! Delft or engage with development agencies like LIOF that are involved in similar goals. I can’t emphasize enough: relationships often lead to funded opportunities.
My Main Takeaway
This fund is more than its sizeable amount. It symbolizes shifting attitudes about Europe leading its innovation charge rather than playing catch-up. As female entrepreneurs, it’s critical that we look at milestones like these not as competitors but as signals for entry points. Whether you aim for direct partnerships in defense tech, indirect sectors like education or mentoring, or consider applying your startup’s resources toward government contracts, the doors are opening.
This announcement inspires me to keep pushing for my own businesses to break barriers, to redefine entrepreneurship for women like me, bootstrapping with big visions. For founders across Europe, now might be the season to explore paths you once deemed unreachable. Looking back, the hardest choice isn’t often launching a company, it’s deciding to lead in spaces others fear. Let’s make the most of this.
FAQ
1. What is Europe’s largest defense-tech VC fund?
Keen Venture Partners’ new defense-tech fund, announced in November 2025, is Europe’s largest, securing over €150 million at its first close. Read more about Keen Venture Partners’ milestone
2. Who founded Keen Venture Partners?
Keen Venture Partners was founded by Giuseppe Lacerenza, Alexander Ribbink, and Ties Klinkhamer in 2016. Learn about the fund founders here
3. What types of startups does the fund target?
The fund focuses on early-stage startups specializing in deep tech, including autonomous systems, cybersecurity, resiliency platforms, and space technologies. Explore Keen Ventures’ focus areas
4. How much does Keen Ventures invest per startup?
The fund invests between €1–10 million per company and plans to back more than 25 startups across Europe. Check Keen Ventures’ investment strategy
5. Which markets does Keen Ventures prioritize?
The fund focuses on NATO member states, providing startups access to large addressable defense markets in Europe. Discover Keen’s targeted markets
6. Who are the institutional backers of the fund?
Key backers include the European Investment Fund (EIF) (€40M), Dutch pension fund PME (€40M), TNO (Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research), ABN AMRO, and LIOF (Limburg regional agency). Learn about the fund’s backers
7. Why is defense technology VC growing in Europe?
Rising security tensions, particularly due to the war in Ukraine and NATO challenges, have made defense technology critical to European strategic autonomy. Understand the Europe’s defense VC trends
8. How does this fund impact European startups outside defense?
The broader ecosystem benefits indirectly as secondary applications, government grants, and investment opportunities open up for startups in adjacent tech sectors. Explore secondary opportunities
9. What lessons can female entrepreneurs learn from this milestone?
The fund emphasizes scalable deep tech with commercial viability, highlighting the importance of targeting large markets, knowing your value, and prioritizing resilience, lessons applicable across industries.
10. How can non-defense startups benefit from this investment wave?
Non-defense startups can explore indirect collaborations, government grants, and networking opportunities linked to defense-centric initiatives. Platforms and institutional frameworks align with sectors like STEM education, blockchain, and AI.
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta Bonenkamp's expertise in CAD sector, IP protection and blockchain
Violetta Bonenkamp is recognized as a multidisciplinary expert with significant achievements in the CAD sector, intellectual property (IP) protection, and blockchain technology.
CAD Sector:
- Violetta is the CEO and co-founder of CADChain, a deep tech startup focused on developing IP management software specifically for CAD (Computer-Aided Design) data. CADChain addresses the lack of industry standards for CAD data protection and sharing, using innovative technology to secure and manage design data.
- She has led the company since its inception in 2018, overseeing R&D, PR, and business development, and driving the creation of products for platforms such as Autodesk Inventor, Blender, and SolidWorks.
- Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling CADChain from a small team to a significant player in the deeptech space, with a diverse, international team.
IP Protection:
- Violetta has built deep expertise in intellectual property, combining academic training with practical startup experience. She has taken specialized courses in IP from institutions like WIPO and the EU IPO.
- She is known for sharing actionable strategies for startup IP protection, leveraging both legal and technological approaches, and has published guides and content on this topic for the entrepreneurial community.
- Her work at CADChain directly addresses the need for robust IP protection in the engineering and design industries, integrating cybersecurity and compliance measures to safeguard digital assets.
Blockchain:
- Violetta’s entry into the blockchain sector began with the founding of CADChain, which uses blockchain as a core technology for securing and managing CAD data.
- She holds several certifications in blockchain and has participated in major hackathons and policy forums, such as the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum.
- Her expertise extends to applying blockchain for IP management, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and secure sharing in the CAD industry.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond, launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks and is building MELA AI to help local restaurants in Malta get more visibility online.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.
About the Publication
Fe/male Switch is an innovative startup platform designed to empower women entrepreneurs through an immersive, game-like experience. Founded in 2020 during the pandemic "without any funding and without any code," this non-profit initiative has evolved into a comprehensive educational tool for aspiring female entrepreneurs.The platform was co-founded by Violetta Shishkina-Bonenkamp, who serves as CEO and one of the lead authors of the Startup News branch.
Mission and Purpose
Fe/male Switch Foundation was created to address the gender gap in the tech and entrepreneurship space. The platform aims to skill-up future female tech leaders and empower them to create resilient and innovative tech startups through what they call "gamepreneurship". By putting players in a virtual startup village where they must survive and thrive, the startup game allows women to test their entrepreneurial abilities without financial risk.
Key Features
The platform offers a unique blend of news, resources,learning, networking, and practical application within a supportive, female-focused environment:
- Skill Lab: Micro-modules covering essential startup skills
- Virtual Startup Building: Create or join startups and tackle real-world challenges
- AI Co-founder (PlayPal): Guides users through the startup process
- SANDBOX: A testing environment for idea validation before launch
- Wellness Integration: Virtual activities to balance work and self-care
- Marketplace: Buy or sell expert sessions and tutorials
Impact and Growth
Since its inception, Fe/male Switch has shown impressive growth:
- 5,000+ female entrepreneurs in the community
- 100+ startup tools built
- 5,000+ pieces of articles and news written
- 1,000 unique business ideas for women created
Partnerships
Fe/male Switch has formed strategic partnerships to enhance its offerings. In January 2022, it teamed up with global website builder Tilda to provide free access to website building tools and mentorship services for Fe/male Switch participants.
Recognition
Fe/male Switch has received media attention for its innovative approach to closing the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship. The platform has been featured in various publications highlighting its unique "play to learn and earn" model.
