The Zurich-based venture capital firm Wingman Ventures has announced its rebranding as Founderful and launched a $120 million second fund to invest in Swiss tech startups. The company has already raised $85 million toward the new fund's target.

Swiss VC Firm Rebrands as Founderful, Launches $120 Million Fund

Founded in 2019, Founderful provides early-stage capital and support to ambitious Swiss startups. The firm typically invests at the pre-seed stage and has made nearly 50 investments from its first fund of $60 million, backing companies like Wingtra, DePoly and Corintis. In total, Founderful's portfolio firm have gone on to raise over $350 million in additional funding.

"Switzerland is one of the world's fastest-growing venture capital markets," said Alex Stöckl, a Partner at Founderful. "With the global shift towards more complex technologies solving some of our society's most pressing challenges, it will become one of the world's most important tech hubs."

Founderful II is backed by institutional investors as well as founders of successful startups like Duolingo, Climeworks, GetYourGuide and Delivery Hero. The firm plans to focus its new venture on startups in areas like robotics, artificial intelligence, computer vision and material sciences. It aims to work closely with universities and industry partners.

"Our fresh identity as Founderful reflects our purpose as a venture capital business to have the deepest understanding of founders and give them the highest level of support," said Lukas Weder, the Founding Partner at Founderful.

The new fund emerges at a time when European tech and fintech startups find themselves on the brink of a funding cliff. The latest Pulse of Fintech report by KPMG showed that in 2023, global investments in financial technology fell $85 billion to $113.7 billion.

Switzerland to Become Leading VC Ecosystems in Europe

Several key trends back the Founderful thesis on investing in Swiss startups. Firstly, Switzerland has maintained its position as the leader in the Global Innovation Index for 13 years in a row, excelling in technology, knowledge, and creativity. The country boasts the highest number of patents per capita globally, and ETH Zurich is renowned for generating the most university spin-offs worldwide.

“Founderful's initiative to raise $120 million for Swiss tech and AI startups is very exciting! With Switzerland's booming venture capital market and robust research institutions, the potential for building successful startups is immense,” commented Marcin Majewski, the Founder and Managing Partner at Aventis Advisors.

Secondly, The attraction of major technology firms to Switzerland is notable, with Google housing its largest tech office outside the U.S. and employing 5,000 developers. Other tech giants like Disney, Nvidia, Meta, Huawei, and Intel have recently expanded their R&D teams in Switzerland.

“When looking at our data, Switzerland has been on the rise as one of Europe’s fastest growing VC ecosystems over the past five years, and in 2023 becoming the fifth largest venture market on the continent only behind powerhouses UK, Germany, France and Sweden,” commented Yoram Wijngaarde, the CEO and Founder of Dealroom.

And thirdly, Switzerland has earned the title of a Unicorn nation, with a higher density of billion-dollar tech startups per capita than any other European country. Newly successful unicorns such as Scandit, Climeworks, and SonarSource, along with less visible but successful ventures like Proton, highlight Switzerland's increasing importance in the global B2B technology sector.

Switzerland also stands out as one of the most forward-thinking countries in terms of developing regulations for new technologies and asset classes.