Founderful raises $140 million fund as Switzerland fights for Europe's prime spot in tech

Zurich-based venture capital firm Founderful has raised $140 million in its second fund – $20 million more than its target and a strong sign of investor confidence in Switzerland's thriving tech ecosystem.

The fund, announced in February, has already invested in 15 early-stage startups. This includes Chiral Nano, which develops nanomaterials for silicon chips, and 8inks, which upgrades the lithium-ion battery.

Founderful – formerly Wingman Ventures – was founded in 2019 by Pascal Mathis, co-founder of local travel marketplace Unicorn GetYourGuide, Eat.ch co-founder Lukas Weder and Alex Stöckl, former managing director of Creator Ventures.

The VC, led by the founder, only supports Swiss startups in the pre-seed or seed phase. His vision? Transforming emerging Swiss companies into global industry leaders.

“From day one, we have worked tirelessly to help the Swiss technology ecosystem gain a foothold on the global stage,” said Stöckl, Partner at Founderful.

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“Fund II is proof that we put our money where our mouth is and that investors have taken notice. It wasn’t an easy win, but we fought hard.”

Founderful's new Fund II is backed by a number of institutions, family offices and unicorn founders such as Duolingo, Climeworks, protonand Scandit

Silicon Alps?

Stöckl called that The Swiss technology ecosystem is a “powerhouse” that is just beginning to carve out its place on the global stage. The Alpine nation has that highest number of unicorn companies per capita in Europe and ranks first in the Global Innovation Index for 13 years in a row.

But perhaps the Swiss technology ecosystem's greatest asset is its universities and research institutions. ETH Zurich, for example, now produces more university spin-outs than any other university in Europe.

We featured one of these companies, Oxyle, in an earlier this year detailed piece about PFAS, commonly known as “forever chemicals.” Under the direction of Dr. Fajer Mushtaq, Oxyle has developed a reactor that mineralizes these cancer-causing compounds and breaks their carbon-fluorine bonds.

Founderful led Oxyle's pre-seed investment in 2022 as part of its first $90 million fund, which has since been fully deployed across 40 startups.

That's what the VC claims These portfolio companies have since created over 1,100 jobs and secured more than $450 million in follow-on financing. Notable successes include Ethon AI, which helps factories like that Lindt chocolate factory Saving waste and plastic recycling startup DePoly.

Severin Hacker, CTO and co-founder of Duolingo and investor in Founderful's Fund II, called the emerging VC “meticulous and tireless” when it comes to creating value for the founders he backs.

“Their approach, combined with the emerging potential of the Swiss tech ecosystem, probably makes them one of the most promising VC firms in Europe,” Hacker said.