Index Venture, the well-known european VC, will soon launch a new fund focused on early stage deals, TechCrunch reports. Neil Rimer, who will manage this new program called Index Seed, explained yesterday to the Wall Street Journal why Index Venture decided this strategic move towards seed money investment.

In partnership with The Accelerator Group, Index Venture plans to make twenty early stage investments over the next 24 months. Investments will range from $50,000 – $1 million in size. And unlike many seed funds that have been carved out of larger venture funds, Index Venture partners will take board seats or otherwise be heavily engaged with their startups.