Belgian Venture Capital Firm NewSchool Closes Debut Ten Million Euro Fund
Ghent, Tuesday 22 September 2026
NewSchool VC has closed its debut ten million euro fund, led by solo manager Christophe Morbee—who personally contributed a quarter of the capital—to back early-stage European tech startups.
A High-Velocity, Operator-Led Investment Strategy
The final close of NewSchool Fund I at €10 million on 20 September 2026 marks a significant milestone for the Ghent-based venture capital firm [1]. This final figure represents a growth of 63.934% over the initial €6.1 million close achieved in September 2025 [1]. Solo General Partner Christophe Morbee, who also serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Belgian payroll and HR services firm besox, personally committed 25% of the fund’s total capital, which translates to a personal injection of 2.5 million euros [1]. This substantial personal backing underscores Morbee’s commitment to transitioning from a long-term angel investor into a structured fund manager [2].
Leveraging Entrepreneurial Experience and Corporate Synergy
The fund’s limited partner (LP) base consists of approximately 50 investors, including six family offices, such as The Millers Office [1]. It also features prominent Belgian entrepreneurs, including Willem Delbaere and Roeland Delrue of Aikido Security, Jean-Louis Van Houwe of Monizze, and Luc Coopman of Cobofisk [1]. A key competitive advantage for NewSchool VC is its ability to leverage besox’s corporate infrastructure [2]. With 110 employees and a projected revenue of €15 million in 2026, besox services roughly 4,000 SME clients, providing a robust network that can offer immediate commercial introductions and early customer pipelines for portfolio startups [2][3].
Targeting Legacy Industry Automation Across Europe
NewSchool VC operates with a high-velocity, operator-led strategy, writing cheques typically valued between €100,000 and €500,000 [1]. The investment thesis focuses on pre-seed and seed-stage B2B technology companies, specifically targeting sectors like artificial intelligence, SaaS, cybersecurity, robotics, and compliance software [1][3]. Geographically, the fund allocates approximately 75% of its capital to Belgian startups, with the remaining 25% distributed across Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, France, and the UK [1]. This strategy is designed to address what Morbee identifies as a common European bottleneck: technically brilliant engineering teams that lack the commercial expertise required for go-to-market execution, sales, and storytelling [2].
A Rapidly Growing Portfolio with Scaling Successes
To date, NewSchool VC has deployed capital into 32 companies, with three additional deals currently in the pipeline [1]. Notable early investments include Ravical, a Ghent-based AI agent platform for professional services that subsequently raised €7.3 million from Lakestar [3], and Warren, a workplace pension fintech that secured a €10 million seed round led by Motive Ventures [3]. Additionally, the firm co-led a €1 million pre-seed round for Ghent legaltech startup Alice alongside Seeder Fund [2][3]. More recently, the fund has backed Holmes, an AI-native quality assurance platform based in Ghent that raised €1.15 million pre-revenue [4], and expanded its geographic reach by investing in Vienna-based content monetisation startup Talentir and Paris-based Outline [2][5].
Navigating a Highly Active Belgian VC Landscape
The closure of NewSchool’s debut fund comes at a time of unprecedented activity within the Belgian venture capital ecosystem. NewSchool VC was recorded as the most active investor in Belgium during the first half of 2026 [2]. This operational velocity occurred during a period when Belgian startups secured a total of €1.1 billion in capital, marking a significant increase in funding compared to the previous year [2]. NewSchool operates in a market alongside other active micro-funds, such as Pitchdrive, which closed its fourth fund at €60 million, 100IN, a €12 million vehicle writing €100,000 cheques, and Berlin-based seed+speed, which closed its third fund at €90 million [2][3].
The Challenge of Defending Equity Ownership
While NewSchool’s high-velocity approach has allowed it to build a highly diversified portfolio quickly, market analysts point out the long-term structural challenges of this model. Spreading a €10 million fund across 32 or more companies leaves a relatively small amount of dry powder per company for subsequent funding rounds [1]. As these early-stage B2B SaaS and industrial automation startups mature and seek larger institutional rounds, NewSchool will face the critical test of defending its equity ownership against dilution from larger venture capital firms [1]. The ultimate success of the fund will likely depend on its ability to effectively transition from high-volume pre-seed deployment to concentrated follow-on support for its breakout performers [1].