Emiel Birza

Emiel Birza is an Investment Manager at Greenfield (Greenfield Capital Partners), an independent Dutch private equity firm founded in 1995 and based in Naarden. He holds a bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering and Management from the University of Groningen and a master's degree in Finance, and he completed two years of officer training in the Royal Netherlands Navy.

Before joining Greenfield, Birza worked at BDO Corporate Finance in Utrecht, where for several years he focused primarily on advisory services for mergers and acquisitions in the SME segment and for family-owned businesses. That M&A advisory background in mid-market and family-business deals maps directly onto Greenfield's focus on buyouts, successions, and growth capital for established companies.

At Greenfield, Birza is part of a small, close-knit investment team alongside colleagues Stef and Job (with Yvette serving as office manager). The firm describes the three investment professionals as each having the essential skills of an investor while complementing one another in style and perspective. Greenfield operates as a "hands-on," operationally involved investor that partners closely with management teams.

Since its founding in 1995, Greenfield states it has invested in roughly 50 companies and managed six funds. The firm uses an "evergreen" structure, which it says allows long-term investment without the time constraints of traditional fixed-life funds.

• What they back: Mature, profitable private companies in the Netherlands and Belgium with clear growth objectives — primarily in technology, B2B services, IT/managed services, and industrial sectors.
• Deal types: Growth capital, management buyouts (MBO/MBI), family-business successions, consolidation/buy-and-build, and restructuring situations.
• Size focus: High-growth-potential companies around €2–10M turnover, and mid/later-stage companies in the €10–100M turnover range.
• Stated thesis (firm): *"Our aim is to create value by actively supporting Dutch and Belgian firms in achieving their growth objectives. Norms and values are central at Greenfield."*
• Style: A hands-on, operationally engaged partner that emphasizes long-term ownership via its evergreen fund structure, technology expertise, and strategic add-on acquisitions to strengthen market position and enable international expansion.
• Important caveat: Despite the "angel / seed round" stub label, Greenfield does not make early-stage seed/angel investments — founders raising a first seed round are outside its mandate.