Capricorn Partners

Who they are

Jos is Founder of Capricorn Partners — an independent European VC and equity fund manager he built around investing in technology-driven companies across healthtech, cleantech, and industrial biotech.

Person

Jos founded Capricorn Partners in Belgium and has built it into an independent European venture capital and equity fund manager based in Leuven. The firm focuses on technology-driven European companies, with particular concentration in healthtech, sustainable chemistry, cleantech, and industrial biotech — sectors that require long holding periods and deep domain patience. The through-line is a conviction-driven, European-first investment thesis at a time when most deep-tech capital still flowed through US or Anglo funds. Capricorn's active LinkedIn presence signals the firm keeps a public voice on European innovation and sector themes.

Company

Capricorn Partners is an independent European venture capital and equity fund manager headquartered in Leuven, Belgium. The firm invests in technology-driven European companies, with active focus areas spanning healthtech, sustainable chemistry, cleantech, and industrial biotech. Its positioning as an independent manager — not affiliated with a corporate or bank — is a deliberate structural choice, keeping investment decisions founder- and fund-aligned rather than strategic-parent-aligned.

Market

Capricorn operates in the European deep-tech and growth equity space, where competition comes from both pan-European VCs and national innovation funds backed by governments. The firm's sector mix — healthtech, cleantech, industrial biotech — places it squarely in the long-cycle capital segment, where patient multi-year holds and technical due diligence matter more than quick SaaS multiples.

How they likely show up

  • Founded and leads an independent VC firm (not a spin-out of a bank or corporate) → likely values autonomy and structured around long-term conviction over short-cycle performance pressure.
  • Investment focus on healthtech, cleantech, and industrial biotech → comfortable with multi-year development timelines; probably thinks in fund cycles, not quarters.
  • Based in Leuven, not Brussels or Amsterdam → suggests proximity to KU Leuven's research base matters; thesis likely rooted in academic spinout and deep-science deal flow.
  • Active public writing signal on LinkedIn for the firm → comfortable being a visible voice on European tech and investment themes; likely responds well to engagement on those topics.
  • Role type is investor, not operator → meetings will be evaluated through the lens of portfolio fit, market thesis, and founder quality — not execution detail.

Conversation tips

  • → Reference a specific sector Capricorn backs — healthtech or industrial biotech — rather than talking about 'deep tech' broadly; they have a defined thesis, not a catch-all mandate.
  • → Engage on the European angle specifically: why European-first, why independent. These are deliberate choices and likely points of pride.
  • → They post actively on LinkedIn about European venture and sector themes — referencing a recent piece shows you've done the work.
  • → Don't pitch speed or short liquidity timelines — their sectors demand patience, and that's a feature of the strategy, not a bug.

Toolbox

Openers

  • Open on Capricorn's independence as a structural choice — being unaffiliated with a corporate or bank in European VC is unusual; ask how that shapes their LP base and investment thesis.
  • Reference their Leuven base and the KU Leuven research corridor — the firm's focus on industrial biotech and sustainable chemistry maps closely to academic spinout deal flow from that region.
  • They're active on LinkedIn on European innovation themes — lead with a specific topic they've posted on recently to signal you've engaged with their public voice, not just their website.

Discovery questions

  1. Capricorn backs healthtech, cleantech, and industrial biotech — how do you calibrate capital allocation across sectors with such different regulatory and commercialisation timelines?
  2. As an independent fund manager in Europe, where do you see the biggest gap between available capital and the stage companies actually need it most?
  3. Industrial biotech and sustainable chemistry are long-cycle bets — what does your portfolio construction look like to manage liquidity across a fund?

Avoid

Don't pitch or discuss quick-flip SaaS deals or short hold periods — Capricorn's entire thesis is built around patient, deep-tech European investing, and misreading that signals you haven't done basic homework.

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Sources

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Generated by briefthecall.com from public web sources on June 23, 2026. Each claim is linked to its source above.

Automatically generated by AI from public sources. May be inaccurate or out of date. Remove or correct this profile →