One-liner: a Valencia-founded impact VC (est. 2022) investing pre-seed/seed in startups tackling social and environmental challenges — climate, circular economy, sustainable mobility, and health — with tickets of €50k–€400k and follow-on capacity up to €4M.
What a founder gets
- Pre-seed/seed equity investment, €50,000–€400,000 initial ticket (site copy separately states €100k–€300k — treat the news-reported €50k–€400k range as the more current figure,
#status/verifyto reconcile), with the fund able to follow on into later rounds with up to €4M. - Impact-plus-returns mandate — explicitly dual-focus: financial return alongside measurable social/environmental impact, with portfolio companies getting impact-measurement support.
- Mentorship from an advisory board of serial entrepreneurs/investors (see below) and hands-on guidance from the core team, not just capital.
- First Drop House — a Valencia-based coliving + acceleration concept combining investment, acceleration, and shared living space for founders of impact startups (
#status/verify— launch announced in local press, full program details not yet independently confirmed on-site). - Listed as an active fund in Startup Valencia's investor directory.
Who it's for
- Pre-seed and seed-stage founders, sector-agnostic within the impact lens — the fund's actual portfolio spans sustainable mobility (Motoreto), agrotech/resource efficiency (Agrow Analytics, Fresh Greens), circular economy (Recovo, Banbu), and health (Rehand, Ealyx).
- Best fit for teams that can credibly claim both a large-market opportunity and a genuine social/environmental thesis — not a general-purpose seed fund.
How to engage
- Apply via the pitch form linked from firstdropvc.com (Fillout form) or through the "Contáctanos" contact page.
- Warm path: connect via the Startup Valencia ecosystem, where the fund is a listed directory member.
- No fixed deadline — rolling, direct-to-fund pitch process typical of a VC.
Key facts
- Founded 2022 with an initial vehicle of €5.25M, raised to invest in impact startups "desde Valencia" (from Valencia) per Spanish business press (El Economista, Nov 2022).
- First close of investments (4 startups: Motoreto, Colibid, Banbu, Rehand) reported May 2023.
- Scale as of mid-2026: €7.4M invested across 23 operations (investments + committed capital); the fund is targeting a close of its current vehicle at €25–30M in H1 2026 (Valencia Plaza).
- Portfolio (named across sources): Motoreto, Colibid, Banbu, Rehand, Fresh Greens, Agrow Analytics, Recovo, Ealyx, Emendu.
- Team: Manuel Nieto — Co-Founder & Managing Partner; Alejandro Valero — Co-Founder & General Partner; Orfeo Balboa — Partner & Investment Manager; Irene González — Investment Analyst.
- Advisory board: Alicia Rubí (Sustainability Partner, EY Strategy & Transactions), María Ángeles León (Co-Founder, Global Social Impact Investments & Open Value Foundation), Agustín Vitórica (Founder & Co-CEO, GAWA Capital), Gorka Goikoetxea (Manager, GAUDE Association).
- Legal domicile flagged
#status/verify: Startup Valencia's own directory lists the fund's HQ as Luxembourg (typical for a fund's legal vehicle) while local press consistently frames it as "el fondo valenciano" operating from Valencia — likely a legal-vehicle-vs-operating-base distinction, not a contradiction, but not independently confirmed.
Relations
- Partners with: Startup Valencia
- See also: Angels Capital
- See also: GoHub Ventures
- See also: JME Ventures