investment-philosophy
Driving consumer revolutions

Verlinvest is a leading family owned evergreen investment group with over €1bn assets under management backed by families who have together built one of the world’s largest consumer businesses. Capitalising on our 25-year heritage and experience across the world, we partner with entrepreneurs in Europe, the US, and Asia, to build a community of purpose-led brands to drive growth and sustainable change.

Our team is made up of young and ambitious consumer specialists with a long-term, operational mindset geared to building and accelerating brands, ultimately helping entrepreneurs convert their vision into global success stories.

In a crowded market, Verlinvest stands out as a go-to investor partner for entrepreneurs who seek a global network of like-minded thought-partners. Our capital base is usually the start of the conversation, but we endeavour to be collaborative thought-partners to the entrepreneurs we work with rather than simply be investors.

Together with capital we provide the managerial and strategic tools to help our partner entrepreneurs to find solutions, implement their ideas and ultimately accelerate their brand vision. We are passionate about products; we believe that a company’s relentless drive to consistently improve customer & consumer experience is key to long-term, durable success.

The types of entrepreneur partners Verlinvest seeks are businesses which provide the most effective solutions to drive changing consumer patterns and be an integral part of consumer revolutions. The consumer revolutions that Verlinvest seeks to identify and fuel are global in impact.

• Brand-minded
• Global reach
• Consumer focused
• Operational mindset

Brand-minded

Brands are at the core of our DNA. As an investor, we are ready to invest time and money in building brand equity.

Our team and operational advisors have solid consumer background and experience in branding and marketing, which we actively share with our portfolio companies, including:

• Brand tracking and monitoring tools
• Smart online and offline marketing tactics with proven ROI
• Network of branding, design and digital/media advisors and agencies

Global reach

The Verlinvest Group has offices in Brussels, London, New York, and Singapore to look after our investments in Europe, the US, India, South-East Asia and China.

Our sector focus helps us foster a strong network of advisors, talent and strategic buyers in each of these geographies, and many of our investments have benefited from those to expand outside of their domestic market.

Consumer focused

Verlinvest’s background, experience and investment themes are built on a deep understanding of key consumer trends, across markets, offline and online:

• Digital & E-commerce: Experience, Mobile, Social, Big Data, E-commerce
• Food & Beverage: Authenticity, Functionality, Natural, Indulgence, Convenience
• Health & Care: Omni-channel Services, Remote & Virtual Care, Well-being, Lifestyle Interventions, DTC Spectialists

Operational mindset

Combining the best of a financial and a strategic investor, our team spends significant time with our portfolio companies on:

• Bringing insights on innovative products and new business models
• Sharing digital and social media best practices
• Creative and effective marketing and sales approaches
• Supply chain and distribution network optimization
• Recruitment and retention of top talent
• Strategic partnerships and M&A

• Market
• Business model
• Team
• Deal structure

Market

We are looking for companies active in markets which:

• Fall within our three investment pillars (Digital & E-commerce, Food & Beverage, and Health & Care)
• Are growing and/or consolidating
• Offer healthy margins in the long term
• Allow for sustainable business models

Business Model

We are looking for companies with:

• A proven concept, with at least a successful early commercialization
• The potential to become category leader and expand internationally
• Strong barriers to entry (brand, technology, IP, innovation, scale, control of supply or distribution)

Team

We are looking for companies with:

• A highly capable team and a credible plan
• Whom we share common values and a vision for the market
• A deal structure which creates alignment between us and the team

Deal Structure

We are looking to invest in:

• Private or public companies
• A minority or majority stake
• Equity tickets from €10 to €150m (with the capacity to access and deploy higher amounts)
• Growth capital