Venture Capital

PreSeed Ventures

PreSeed Ventures is Denmark's most active pre seed fund, originally rooted in the DTU science park. It provides the first institutional capital for university spin outs and technical founders, typically investing at idea or prototype stage. The firm has backed early Danish successes including Unity and Trustpilot and continues to nurture deep tech and software startups across the Nordics. PreSeed is a crucial bridge from research to venture.

DenmarkLyngbyPre-Seed to SeedDeep TechSoftwareEngineering

Details

Location

Lyngby, Denmark

Category

Venture Capital

Stage

Pre-Seed to Seed

Profile

/denmark/venture-capital/preseed-ventures

Portfolio startups

Startups this investor has backed

Unity Technologies

Copenhagen, Denmark · Startup

Unity Technologies was founded in Copenhagen in 2004 as a small game studio and evolved into the Unity game engine, a widely used platform for building 2D, 3D, and real time experiences. Unity helped democratize game development with a friendly pricing model, cross platform deployment, and a massive developer ecosystem. The company expanded into industries like automotive, architecture, and simulation, and it went public on the NYSE in 2020. Unity remains one of the most influential Danish founded technology companies in the global developer tools space.

StartupGrowthGamingDeveloper Tools3D

Trustpilot

Copenhagen, Denmark · Startup

Founded in 2007 by Peter Holten Muhlmann, Trustpilot is a Copenhagen-born consumer reviews platform that helps people share feedback about businesses and helps companies respond to and learn from customers. The platform operates a freemium model, pairing public reviews with paid tools for analytics, review invitations, and trust widgets. Trustpilot scaled internationally, opened major offices in London and New York, and went public on the London Stock Exchange in 2021. Today it hosts hundreds of millions of reviews and remains one of Denmark's best known global software successes.

StartupGrowthSaaSReviewsE-commerce

Related entries

Startups with overlapping focus

AINOT Business Angels Network

Warsaw, Poland · Angel Investor

A network of private investors associated with NOT (Federation of Engineering Associations), supporting early-stage high-growth companies. AINOT runs a structured support program from idea scouting and pre-incubation to equity investment (up to €200k) and follow-ons. Notable focus: deep innovation and engineering-heavy startups, leveraging NOT’s technical expertise to vet and mentor projects.

Angel InvestorPre-Seed to SeedEngineeringHardwareDeep Tech

DTU Skylab

Lyngby, Denmark · Innovation Hub

DTU Skylab is the innovation hub of the Technical University of Denmark, providing students and researchers with prototyping facilities, mentoring, and startup support. The space includes electronics labs, workshops, and maker facilities that help teams build hardware, robotics, and deep tech prototypes. Skylab runs courses, hackathons, and incubation programs that turn student projects into real ventures. It is one of the most important feeders of new engineering startups in Denmark.

Innovation HubHardwareDeep TechEducation

Furthr VC

Dublin, Ireland · Incubator

Early-stage fund rebranded from DBIC Ventures in 2022, backing Irish software and deep tech startups.

IncubatorSeedSoftwareDeep TechSustainability

NovaUCD

Dublin, Ireland · Incubator

NovaUCD is the innovation and startup incubator of University College Dublin (UCD), one of Ireland’s premier research universities. Established in 2003 on UCD’s Belfield campus, NovaUCD provides a supportive environment for knowledge-intensive startups, particularly those arising from university research in life sciences, engineering, and ICT. The center offers modern incubation facilities, including lab space, prototype workshops, and offices set in a historic Georgian building refurbished for innovation. NovaUCD runs a 9-month VentureLaunch accelerator program to help researchers and students validate business ideas, build teams, and refine commercialization strategy. Startups benefit from UCD’s resources – access to faculty experts, graduate talent, and sometimes use of specialized equipment (for biotech, etc.). Over nearly two decades, NovaUCD has supported 450+ companies. Alumni include Evolution (Bio) – a UCD bioinformatics spin-out acquired by Evotec, Logentries (cloud logging, acquired by Rapid7 for $68M), and Equinome (equine genomics, acquired by Plusvital). These successes underscore NovaUCD’s strength in turning academic excellence into enterprise. A hallmark is its focus on knowledge transfer: NovaUCD works closely with UCD’s tech transfer office, so startups often license university patents or software as a basis. The incubator also facilitates seed funding through networks like Halo Business Angel Network (HBAN) and University Bridge Fund (a college-focused VC). The Irish government and Enterprise Ireland are key backers, aligning NovaUCD with national goals to foster high-tech industry. The incubator has expanded physically too – in 2022, it opened “AgTech UCD” on UCD’s Lyons farm for agri-tech startups, reflecting an effort to specialize. NovaUCD contributes hugely to Dublin’s startup scene, connecting academic founders with industry mentors and investors. Each year it hosts the UCD VentureLaunch Competition awarding cash prizes to the most promising spin-outs. Notably, NovaUCD companies have raised over €760M in capital and created thousands of jobs in Ireland. By offering an “on-campus home” for entrepreneurs, NovaUCD helps ensure that Ireland’s top research doesn’t just stay on paper, but translates into impactful businesses – from lifesaving medical devices to groundbreaking software – driving innovation and economic growth.

IncubatorLife SciencesEngineeringSoftware

360 Capital

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European VC with a Paris and Milan presence investing in consumer and deep tech companies.

AcceleratorSeed to Series AConsumerDeep Tech

Accent

Lower Austria, Austria · Incubator

Founded 2003. Lower Austria's high-tech incubator providing 18-24 months of pre-seed funding, intensive coaching, and training sessions to build regional deep-tech companies. Support: grants, business coaching, advisor network. Scope: Regional (Lower Austria).

IncubatorHigh TechDeep TechRegional