Round One Ventures Invests in Startup Dingdong

Eindhoven, October 25, 2024 – Round One Ventures, a student-run venture capital fund that invests in promising student startups, has made an investment in the startup Dingdong. This early-stage investment is aimed at launching Dingdong in the Netherlands.

Dingdong and the team of Round One

Dingdong, founded by Henco Schaap and Josh Bleijenberg, aims to simplify the roommate search process with: “The Tinder for finding your new roommate.” With this investment, Dingdong will launch its app in Nijmegen in January 2025.

The current process of finding a new roommate or a room is highly inefficient, time-consuming, and frustrating, largely due to the widespread use of email and Facebook. Dingdong provides a central platform where people sharing a home can find a new roommate in a fun and easy way.

Round One Ventures is committed to creating a vibrant startup ecosystem by offering financial support and mentorship to student entrepreneurs.
“We believe in the potential of student startups to drive innovation and economic growth, even in their early stages. By supporting them, we are investing in the future of entrepreneurship,” says Linn Smetsers, Managing Director at Round One Ventures. “With this investment, we are excited to support a startup focused on solutions that specifically address the challenges and needs of students.”

“Round One Ventures is one of the few organizations in the Netherlands willing to invest early in startups, and we are incredibly grateful for that. Round One Ventures gives us the trust we need at a very early stage to realize our ambitions. Together, we can make the search for a new roommate or room fun again, helping a huge number of students and starters,” says Henco Schaap.

Round One Ventures continues to seek out the next generation of student startups and to support this group. Over the next few years, Round One Ventures expects to invest 2 million euros in student startups to stimulate the entrepreneurial climate among students.