Vendep Capital Announces €80 Million Vendep Fund IV

Vendep Capital, a B2B SaaS VC in the Nordics and Baltics, led by Sakari Pihlava, Tanja Alanen, Jupe Arala, Sami Ahvenniemi, Taru Wahlroos, and others, has announced a €80 million Fund IV. The fund has already reached its €80 million target, with fundraising open until April 2026. Since 2013, Vendep Capital has built one of the strongest SaaS track records in the Nordics, backing breakout companies such as AlphaSense, Hostaway, Leadfeeder, and Happeo.

The new fund is strongly backed by existing institutional investors, including Tesi, KRR, Sitra, Pension Insurance Company Elo, Saastamoinen Foundation, Gösta Serlachius Fine Arts Foundation, and Teknologiateollisuus, along with new institutional LPs as well as family offices and individuals who share a belief in the future of SaaS.

Focused on early-stage B2B SaaS from pre-seed to Series A, with a strong emphasis on AI-first products, the firm has established itself as one of Northern Europe’s leading B2B SaaS specialist investors.

Fund IV will target investments in approximately 20 early-stage SaaS startups across the Nordics and Baltics. The initial ticket size is set between €0.1 million and €3 million, with continued support provided to portfolio companies in subsequent funding rounds.

The launch of Fund IV coincides with a particularly dynamic period for SaaS. Despite claims that the model is “dead” in the era of agentic AI, the opposite trend is evident: SaaS continues to evolve, with AI-first SaaS representing its next chapter. Many AI startups build upon the same foundations that have historically ensured the resilience of the SaaS business model, cloud infrastructure, recurring revenue, and data. These core elements remain crucial even as AI agents and automation transform the software landscape.

The AI landscape is moving from hype to execution. Many early startups are confronting market realities, and only those creating useful, repeatable, and defensible solutions will endure. True opportunities lie in use cases that drive productivity, requiring years of development and iteration rather than reliance on a flashy demo.

The investment strategy aligns with the market’s maturity, focusing on long-term businesses where AI serves as a differentiator rather than a growth crutch. Key considerations include whether AI addresses a real user problem, scales within workflows, and is supported by proprietary data or defensibility. Pitches relying solely on model access, interface novelty, or generic productivity claims are approached with caution. Core fundamentals remain unchanged: recurring revenue, defensibility, and genuine customer value continue to underpin strong businesses.