Amid growing pressure on European venture capital to consolidate, Swiss pre-seed fund Founderful has successfully closed its second fund at €133 million. The oversubscribed round, achieved despite broader market challenges for emerging managers, underscores strong investor confidence in Founderful’s focus on Swiss tech talent and innovation. The new fund has already backed 15 early-stage companies, supporting breakthroughs such as Chiral Nano’s alternative silicon chips and Eigthinks’ lithium-ion battery advancements.
Founderful’s Fund I, which totalled €85.5 million, was fully deployed across 40 startups and yielded impressive early results. Companies in Fund I have collectively created over 1,100 jobs and attracted more than €428 million in follow-on funding from prominent venture firms. Portfolio highlights include manufacturing analytics firm Ethon AI (raised €15.7 million from Index Ventures), Corintis with pioneering chip cooling technology, Grape Insurance (raised €9.5 million from Spark), and DePoly, which is developing a facility to recycle 500 tons of plastic waste annually.
Founded in 2019 by Pascal Mathis (GetYourGuide co-founder), Alex Stöckl (former Creathor Ventures Switzerland Lead), and Lukas Weder (EAT.ch co-founder), Founderful has maintained its vision of transforming Swiss tech startups into global leaders.
Alex Stöckl, Partner at Founderful said: “From day one, we have been relentless in our efforts to create a foothold for the Swiss tech ecosystem on the global stage. Fund II is evidence that we have walked the talk, and investors have taken note. This was no easy win, but we fought hard. We’re deeply grateful to our LPs, both existing and new, for recognizing our drive and sharing our conviction in the Swiss tech ecosystem—a powerhouse that’s only just starting to claim its place in the global tech industry.”
Fund II is supported by institutions, family offices, and high-profile founders behind unicorns such as Duolingo, Climeworks, GetYourGuide, On, Proton, and Scandit.
Severin Hacker, CTO and co-founder at Duolingo noted: “Building Duolingo, I’ve seen my fair share of VC firms, and it is rare to collaborate with an investor who is as meticulous and relentless toward creating value to the founders they backed, as the team at Founderful. Their approach, combined with the unfolding potential of the Swiss tech ecosystem, probably makes them one of Europe’s most promising VC firms these days;”
Founderful’s Swiss tech and talent thesis
Founderful’s investment strategy emphasises pre-seed rounds in Switzerland’s tech landscape, tapping into the country’s strengths through collaborations with top academic institutions and industry leaders. The firm’s focus on Swiss tech is supported by three key trends:
- Global Innovation Leadership: Switzerland has held the top position in the Global Innovation Index for 13 years, leading in technology, knowledge, and creative output. The country also boasts the highest patent per capita ratio globally, with ETH Zurich producing more spin-outs than any other university.
- Big Tech Presence: Major technology firms, including Google (with its largest office outside the US), Disney, Nvidia, Meta, Huawei, and Intel, have invested in local R&D teams in Switzerland.
- Unicorn Density: Switzerland leads Europe in billion-dollar tech startups per capita, with recent unicorns like Scandit, Climeworks, and SonarSource underscoring the country’s prominence in B2B technology.
As Switzerland’s leading pre-seed investor, Founderful plans to expand its support for early-stage breakthroughs in technology, reinforcing partnerships with academia and industry. In a European venture landscape marked by consolidation, Founderful’s successful fundraising reflects strong investor confidence in its focus and expertise.
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2024/11/zurich-based-founderful-closes-a-e133-million-fund-aiming-to-establish-a-strong-foothold-in-the-swiss-tech-ecosystem/
