Zurich-based Founderful, a enterprise capital agency, on Thursday, introduced the ultimate shut of its second fund – Fund II at $140M (roughly €133M)
The Fund II is backed by a variety of establishments, household places of work, and founders who’ve efficiently scaled their startups into international unicorns reminiscent of Duolingo, Climeworks, GetYourGuide, On, Proton, and Scandit.
The VC’s concentrate on Swiss know-how and expertise has allowed Fund II to spend money on 15 firms, together with Chiral Nano’s various silicon chips and Eigthinks’ enhancements in lithium-ion batteries.
Alex Stöckl, Associate at Founderful, says, “From day one, we’ve been relentless in our efforts to create a foothold for the Swiss tech ecosystem on the worldwide stage. Fund II is proof that we’ve walked the discuss, and traders have taken observe. This was no straightforward win, however we fought arduous. We’re deeply grateful to our LPs, each current and new, for recognising our drive and sharing our conviction within the Swiss tech ecosystem—a powerhouse that’s solely simply beginning to declare its place within the international tech trade.”
Fund I: Invested in 40 startups
The announcement comes after the Swiss VC had a profitable journey with its $90M Fund I, which invested in 40 startups.
Based on Founderful, its portfolio firms have created over 1,100 jobs and raised greater than $450M (roughly €427M) in further funding from prime enterprise corporations.
Notable successes embody manufacturing analytics startup Ethon AI, Corintis, Grape Insurance coverage, and DePoly.
Founderful: Swiss’ main pre-seed fund
Founderful was based in 2019 by Pascal Mathis (GetYourGuide co-founder), Alex Stöckl (former Creathor Ventures Switzerland Lead), and Lukas Weder ( EAT.ch co-founder).
The VC is Switzerland’s main pre-seed fund, backing founder groups constructing tech firms with the potential to develop into international market leaders.
The fund’s technique is laser-focused on main first rounds in Switzerland’s tech panorama, the place Founderful works in shut partnership with main educational establishments and trade gamers to establish and nurture breakthrough applied sciences.
VC’s thesis on Swiss tech and expertise
Based on Founderful, its thesis on Swiss tech and expertise has been confirmed by three megatrends:
Switzerland has ranked first within the International Innovation Index for 13 years, excelling in know-how and creativity, with the very best patent-per-capita ratio on the earth and ETH Zurich producing probably the most college spin-outs globally.
Main tech firms are interested in Switzerland, with Google’s largest tech workplace outdoors the US using 5,000 builders. Different firms like Disney, Nvidia, Meta, Huawei, and Intel have additionally expanded their R&D groups there.
Switzerland is named a “Unicorn State,” having extra billion-dollar tech startups per capita than every other European nation. Latest profitable firms like Scandit, Climeworks, and SonarSource showcase their rising power in B2B know-how.
Transferring ahead, Founderful plans to strengthen its position as Switzerland’s main pre-seed investor, leveraging its sturdy ties with academia and trade to establish promising breakthroughs at their earliest phases.
Severin Hacker, CTO and co-founder at Duolingo, provides, “Constructing Duolingo, I’ve seen my fair proportion of VC corporations, and it’s uncommon to collaborate with an investor who’s as meticulous and relentless towards creating worth to the founders they backed, because the crew at Founderful. Their method, mixed with the unfolding potential of the Swiss tech ecosystem, most likely makes them one in every of Europe’s most promising VC corporations nowadays.”
