February 16, 2024
Sustainable trust ecosystem
Dear reader
In just four years, Founderful, formerly Wingman Ventures, has become an important investor in the Swiss ecosystem for pre-seed stage start-ups, a testament to the trust placed in the firm. With more than 48 start-ups in its portfolio, Founderful has reached more than 70% of its target USD 120 million Fund II, which will be used to propel the growth and development of tech start-ups.
Lausanne-based start-up Logmind operates in the field of big data analytics, with its platform providing visibility and automated insights into unstructured log data. The company’s seed round, led by Spicehaus and with angel investors from several countries, has now closed, and the funds raised will accelerate its development and commercialisation. DropZ, which aims to supplement tap water with its dissolvable vitamin-enriched flavour cubes, secured Redalpine to lead its seed round and lend support to its mission to reduce plastic waste in the drinks industry.
Deskbird, which provides hybrid workplace management solutions used by 1,000 organisations, is pursuing further growth with the acquisition of French SaaS company Hubtobee and its more than 50,000 users.
Customers are equally crucial when it comes to fuelling start-up growth as they ultimately purchase and use the product or service. Sirius Aviation has landed a USD 400 million contract from MEHAIR, India’s premier seaplane operator, which has ordered 100 of the Sirius Millennium Jet. Splint Invest by Mark Investment Holding AG, which offers tokenised shares of tangible assets, is another start-up that has proven that building trust pays off. In just three years, the company has gained an investment volume of more than EUR 11 million from its users, representing a year-on-year growth of 292%. PayGreen, which enables online retailers to become sustainable, and C.technology, which connects powersport vehicles to the cloud, are also examples of start-ups with remarkable customer growth.
Even bootstrapped start-ups can achieve the same level of success if they find the right product-market fit. Boataffair, which provides luxury yacht charters, has grown organically and achieved more than 210% revenue growth over the past two years. The company is now profitable, thanks to the growing customer base, platform users and partners worldwide.
But sometimes, these efforts are not sufficient to reach investors and customers from different parts of the world, and this is where the support ecosystem comes in. Exposure to a global audience is essential and Venture Kick is taking 10 tech start-ups to Silicon Valley and eight to the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The third edition of the LeadiNNg to Scale-Up programme from IMD and Innovaud is helping 16 growth-stage start-ups fast-track their progress.
Several events in our calendar give start-ups the opportunity to grow their network, as the deadlines for the Sustainable Impact Award from Start Summit, Zuger Jungunternehmerpreis, Swiss FinTech Awards, MassChallenge Switzerland and Esa BIC Switzerland draw closer.
Have a good weekend.
Ritah Ayebare Nyakato
Duty Editor, Startupticker.ch
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The new Swiss Venture Capital Report was published on 26 January. It analyses 304 financing rounds closed in 2020 and includes further article such as an interview with Michael Hengartner, President of the ETH Board, and a list of Swiss "soonicorns". 
