Inside Europe’s Top Performing VC Fund (That You’ve Probably Never Heard Of)
The boutique European venture capital firm quietly backing unicorns like Kraken and Deliveroo—with €200M AUM and 10x+ returns that rival Sequoia and a16z
Most VC firms shout.
This one whispers—and wins.
No flashy LinkedIn threads. No “we’re founder-friendly” slogans.
Just 10 people, zero Sand Hill Road presence… and a portfolio that includes Kraken, Deliveroo, and more.
They’ve built one of the best-performing venture portfolios in Europe—maybe the world—by quietly backing bold founders where others hesitate.
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So how did a 10-person team, with no flashy presence on Sand Hill Road, end up backing companies like Deliveroo and Kraken?
By doing what most VCs don’t:
They ignored the noise, skipped the PR game, and focused obsessively on backing overlooked founders in overlooked markets—often before anyone else was paying attention.
And it worked.
💥 Over $150B in portfolio value
📈 Three funds with 10x+ net TVPI
💰 DPI returns LPs dream about
In this article, I’ll break down the lessons behind their strategy, their contrarian bets, and what founders and LPs can learn from one of Europe’s best-kept venture secrets.
What They Believe: Founder Obsession > Market Obsession
While other VCs debate TAMs and competitive landscapes, Hummingbird zooms in on one thing:
Is this founder exceptional?
They look for:
Missionary founders with a chip on their shoulder
Personal obsession with the problem
Grit that shows up in the dark moments
Unpolished insight from an unusual angle
If that founder happens to be building in Algeria, Pakistan, or Turkey? Even better.
“By the time the market believes, your edge is gone.” —Barend Van den Brande
The Portfolio: Betting on Misfits, Winning Big
Hummingbird doesn’t do spray-and-pray. They take concentrated swings on founders building where others aren’t looking. The results?
Deliveroo — scaled UK food delivery
Kraken — one of the largest crypto exchanges globally
Peak Games — acquired by Zynga for $1.8B
Gram Games — also acquired by Zynga
Yassir — the super app for North Africa
Zapp — ultra-fast groceries in London
Airlift — Pakistan’s ecommerce infrastructure
Cazoo — transformed used car sales in Europe
What they have in common:
Pre-Series A entry
Non-obvious markets
Outsider founders with a point to prove
The Performance: Elite Returns Few Have Seen 📊
When Hummingbird announced their latest €200M fund, it was fully subscribed in just a week. Why? Because LPs had seen the numbers—and they’re eye-popping.
As reported by The Generalist, Hummingbird has produced:
These are net figures—after fees and carry. To put this in perspective:
Most great VC funds are thrilled with a 3x net TVPI
A DPI above 1.5x is considered strong
Hummingbird has three funds over 10x net TVPI, with cash-on-cash returns (DPI) well above 7.5x.
That’s not “paper unicorns.” That’s realized cash back to LPs.
How?
Big outcomes from small, early bets (Peak, Gram, Kraken, Deliveroo)
High ownership stakes from pre-seed or seed rounds
Patience to let companies mature before exiting
This places Hummingbird in an elite class globally—on par with the likes of Benchmark and Accel, but without the spotlight.
The Playbook: Stay Small, Move Fast, Go Weird
Most VCs scale success by adding people, platforms, and growth funds. Hummingbird doubled down on focus:
10-person team with deep trust
Single Slack channel, one-page website
No platform, no “value-add” theater
No content marketing or brand team
Instead, they:
Make conviction bets, often as the first check
Spend hours (not weeks) on founder calls
Ignore consensus and act alone
Build long-term trust with founders—not transactional support
They’re often:
First to back companies in Nigeria, Algeria, or Pakistan
Only institutional investor on the cap table
Willing to invest based on a Notion doc or phone call
The Culture: Low-Ego, High Conviction
Hummingbird doesn’t believe in “smartest person in the room” dynamics. Decisions are collaborative, but conviction-led. There are no Monday partner meetings, no memos to impress committees.
If a partner believes in a founder, the firm backs them.
They’re often:
Investing before a pitch deck exists
Supporting second-time founders from previous wins
Helping build new companies from scratch with operators they trust
They’re not trying to be everywhere. Just exactly where others aren’t.
The Next Chapter: Getting Even Earlier
With €200M freshly raised, Hummingbird isn’t going multi-stage or launching a scout program. They’re going even earlier:
Pre-company: back people before they incorporate
Frontier markets: from LATAM to Sub-Saharan Africa
Founder-led sourcing: letting their portfolio guide who’s next
They’re not scaling. They’re going deeper.
“If you’re building something that looks crazy today but might be obvious in 10 years—we want to be your first call.”
In a VC world racing toward hot deals and headlines, Hummingbird remains refreshingly strange: tiny, focused, wildly successful.
And maybe that’s exactly why it works.
The Generalist wrote a great post about Hummingbird https://thegeneralist.substack.com/p/hummingbird