Private Equity Cycle 2023

About

Would you like to know what it is like to work at the highest level in strategy and finance? The Private Equity Cycle aims to connect talented students with the world of private equity and venture capital in the Netherlands by introducing them to a wide variety of prominent private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) firms. The Private Equity Cycle consists of five PE in-house days, a Private Equity Dinner with three firms and two Venture Capital in-house days. Are you interested in experiencing what it is like to work in the dynamic field of private equity or venture capital?  Seize the opportunity by applying for this unique event.

Note: you apply for the different days separately, and will be considered for the different days of the Private Equity Cycle, separately (by the participating firms). This means that when you apply for all days of the Private Equity Cycle, you will not have to actually participate in all of the days (only for the ones for which you will be selected).

Applications have closed. In the upcoming weeks the participating companies will take your application(s) into consideration. You will be informed about the results around the last week of April. 

Who are we looking for

This project is designed for students from all backgrounds in the final stage of their Bachelor or Master’s study. An economics-related study background is not a requirement for participation in the event. Therefore, we welcome students from all fields of study who have an affinity with finance. Fluency in Dutch is required.

Program:

The PE Cycle consists of both in-house days, two Venture Capital days and a PE dinner. Note that applications for multiple days will be considered separately. This means it is possible you will only be selected for a part of the days that you originally applied for.

Broad overview of each day’s program*:

*The program of each day will differ. This overview serves as a general idea of what to expect from an in-house day. Upon selection, you will receive further information of the individual companies with the schedule of the day.

How to apply?

To apply, hand in a merged PDF file of the following files:
1) Your high school grades
2) Your most recent bachelor’s grade transcript(s)
3) Your most recent master’s grade transcript(s) (if applicable)
4) Your CV
5) Fill in this form

*Without any of these elements, the companies will not take your application into consideration.

Additional Information

PE In-house day

During an in-house day, you will be visiting a PE firm’s office, while partaking in activities like cases, workshops and drinks. This gives you the chance to quickly learn more about a company’s culture, the work it does, and it will give you the 0pportunity to network with a firm’s employees.

PE dinner

During the PE dinner you will have dinner with 3 different private equity companies in The Grand Amsterdam. During each course, you will switch tables to get to meet all participating companies.

Venture Capital days

Get to know 2 different Venture Capital firms at their offices in Amsterdam. Each in-houseday will be hosted separately, by one of the participating venture capital firms.

What is Private Equity?

Private equity is a general term used to describe all kinds of funds that pool money from a group of investors in order to amass millions or even billions of dollars that are then used to acquire stakes in private companies.

Technically, venture capital is also private equity. But “PE” is often associated with funds looking for mature, revenue generating companies in need of some revitalization — maybe even some tough choices — in order to become worth much more.

Venture capital often looks for younger companies involved in unproven, cutting-edge technologies. This means that Venture Capitalists will be looking for promising start-ups that have yet to prove themselves and might not even have made a profit at all.

Below you’ll find a description of each participating company.

Holland Capital

Holland Capital, founded in 1981, is one of the first independent private equity firms in the Netherlands. We have been successfully and responsibly investing in promising small and medium-sized Dutch and German businesses with growth ambitions for more than 40 years. With a clear investment strategy, we anticipate long-term trends in attractive growth markets, focusing on the Healthcare and Technology sectors. Our experienced and dedicated investment team knows what entrepreneurship is. We aim for an open, sustainable and professional relationship with the management teams, with the common goal of achieving growth. We are supported by a broad network of successful entrepreneurs in Healthcare and Technology. Holland Capital invested in more than 150 companies and currently holds EUR 250m assets under management.

Main Capital Partners

Main is a strategic investor with an exclusive focus on enterprise software companies in the Benelux, DACH and Nordics regions. We have a long-term, value-added investment horizon centred around successful partnerships with founders and management teams. Our common goal is to create operational and strategic value, and build large and healthy software groups driven by solid business fundamentals.

Within the software sector, we are the most specialized company for management buyouts and later-stage growth capital. With an experienced team of financial- and operational professionals we have over €2.2bn in assets under management for investments in mature, profitable and growing product software companies that disrupt markets and trigger change.

Since 2003 we successfully support and closely collaborate with our portfolio companies to realize their full potential, focusing on sustainable growth through strategic product-market positioning and selective buy-and-build, partnerships and internationalization strategies.

Slingshot Ventures

Slingshot Ventures is a Dutch venture capital fund solely backed by successful entrepreneurs that invests in digital consumer brands, platforms and marketplaces. We back ambitious, talented and charismatic entrepreneurs and actively help them accelerate their businesses with our knowledge, experience and international network of people and companies. By providing smart growth capital we help these start- and scale-ups catapult their business to the next level. This makes us the partner of choice for consumer-focused fast growing ventures with international growth ambition and potential.

We believe that proven entrepreneurs are the best inspiration for the next generation of entrepreneurs. That’s why both our team and our carefully selected group of investors consist of proven entrepreneurs and venture builders. This makes us truly hands-on in our investment approach. It’s what we call “inspirational growth capital”. We currently manage a portfolio of multiple investments across Europe and Israel, all with a cross-border ambition. Since inception we have invested in companies such as Chronext (online luxury watch platform), Wundermart (autonomous, self-checkout stores), Wild (sustainable deodorant brand), Temper (online marketplace for freelancers), Wasteless (dynamic pricing solution for supermarkets), Stox Energy Socks (innovative pressure socks), VanMoof (smart design city bikes) and Boldking (online male grooming).

Egeria

With over 20 years of investment experience, we are passionate about building healthy and growing businesses, developing great places to live and work and engaging in meaningful dialogues with management teams. We are pragmatic and no-nonsense investors who do not shy away from a challenge. In fact, that is when we thrive. We believe in growth and we believe in cooperation. Whether this means working together with entrepreneurs, management teams, architects or our vast network of industry experts, we aim to be value-adding partners every step of the way.

We work closely together in our teams. We learn from each other every day, by building together and creating and sharing solutions. Celebrating successes together is an important part of our culture.  Investing in the growth of our people is our key to success. To ensure this we have a mentor and coaching system. All employees get the opportunity to participate in various development programs. But most important; we believe in learning by doing. That is why we offer possibilities for secondments to our portfolio companies and our international offices.

Rivean Capital (formely Gilde Buy Out Partners)

A pioneer in European mid-market private equity, Rivean Capital (formerly known as Gilde Buy Out Partners) has been partnering with aspiring management teams to cultivate differentiated opportunities for 40 years. With €3 billion under management, Rivean has executed over 250 transactions, guiding the transformation of compelling businesses with complex opportunity sets and helping to execute creative growth solutions for aspiring business leaders. The firm has offices in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Switzerland, creating a distinctly local presence that allows for alignment and engagement with management teams while maintaining a global reach for international M&A, organic growth initiatives, and structural enhancements to bolster winning platforms.

HAL Investments

HAL Investments’ Inhouse event gives selected students the opportunity to meet HAL. HAL Investments holds significant positions in a number of listed and non-listed companies in a wide range of industries both in the Netherlands and internationally. HAL’s strategy is focused on acquiring significant shareholdings in companies, with the objective of increasing long-term shareholder value. Curious to find out more?

Apply and perhaps you will be invited to join on May 9th, 2023!

Torqx Capital Partners

Torqx is a leading investment firm focused on medium-sized companies headquartered in the Benelux with attractive improvement and / or growth potential. We currently invest out of a EUR 150 million fund backed by highly reputable, international institutional investors and the Torqx team itself. We have a highly experienced team with one of the best track records in the market. Our team consists of 15 investment professionals with a down to earth approach, diverse international business backgrounds and complementary skills and expertise. We work closely together with executives and entrepreneurs to expand, improve or transform their enterprise. We take an entrepreneurial approach to investments and can offer both analytical and practical support to management to accelerate planning and implementation. By doing so, we help them to build momentum and drive performance. Leading to better results and winning companies. The Torqx company culture is professional, entrepreneurial, ambitious and open. Our office is located in Bussum and is easily accessible by car and public transport. 

Gimv

Gimv is a European investment company with over four decades’ experience in private equity. Listed on Euronext Brussels, Gimv manages a portfolio of 55 portfolio companies with a combined turnover of EUR 2.8 billion and 15,000 employees in various industries and businesses.

We have a successful trackrecord of identifying entrepreneurial and innovative companies with above-average growth ambition. We aim to create value in these companies by bringing in our operational and financial skills, as well as by offering our international network and expertise. We invest in companies that fit into one of our four investment platforms: Consumer, Health & Care, Smart Industries and Sustainable Cities. Each of these platforms operates with a dedicated and experienced multidisciplinary team located across our European offices located in Antwerp, the Hague, Munich and Paris.

The Dutch investment team consists of 10 investment professionals supported by 2-4 interns (internships between 3-6 months).

Parcom

Parcom is a private equity firm based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, with a focus on investing in mid-sized companies in the Benelux region (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg) and DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland). The firm was founded in 1982 and has invested in over 90 companies across a variety of industries, including healthcare, technology, and industrial services.

Mentha

Mentha is an independent private equity firm active in the lower end of the mid-market in the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark. We are an entrepreneurial team of investment professionals and help inspired entrepreneurs and management teams to go beyond their ambitions by fast-growing their company in a durable manner.

We focus on established, medium-sized and profitable companies with clear growth opportunities, such as organic growth, international expansion and buy-and-build. We seek an active approach that is based on true entrepreneurship, growth acceleration and transformation, and is spurred by the human factor and sustainability.