Swisscom Ventures Research
Overview
Swisscom Ventures is the corporate venture capital arm of Swisscom AG, Switzerland's leading telecommunications and ICT provider. Founded in 2007, the firm operates from offices in Zurich, Bern, Lausanne (Switzerland), and Palo Alto, California. It advises investment funds totalling approximately USD 650 million for Swisscom and institutional investors. Since inception, Swisscom Ventures has backed over 80 technology companies and achieved nearly 40 profitable exits — including IPOs, strategic acquisitions, and mergers — over an average holding period of six years.
Investment Thesis
Swisscom Ventures invests in digital technologies that are well-positioned to disrupt specific verticals, targeting companies with exceptional founding teams that have the potential to become category leaders. The firm focuses on five core verticals aligned with Swisscom's strategic domain expertise: Telco & IT Cloud, Deep Tech, Cybersecurity, Fintech, and Big Data & AI. A hallmark of the strategy is backing Swiss university spin-offs, particularly from ETH Zurich and EPFL, while maintaining a global perspective by co-investing with leading VCs on international deals. Roughly 50% of capital is deployed in Switzerland, with the rest spread across North America, Europe, and Israel.
Stage Focus
Swisscom Ventures targets the full startup lifecycle, with a sweet spot from Seed through Series C. Typical initial ticket sizes range from $2 million to $10 million, with reserves for follow-on rounds. The firm deploys $50–100 million annually across 8–10 new investments per year.
- Seed: $1–2M initial check
- Series A: $2–10M initial check
- Series B: $5–20M initial check
- Series C: $10–20M initial check
Check Size
Initial investment: $2M–$10M, with significant follow-on reserves. The firm maintains pro-rata participation across most rounds in its core Swiss portfolio.
Lead Tendency
Swisscom Ventures typically leads or co-leads financing rounds within Switzerland, often taking board seats. On international deals, they commonly co-invest alongside leading global VCs such as Andreessen Horowitz, WestCap, DTCP, and Team8. Recent examples of leading include the amnis CHF 10M round (2025) and the Spacetek CHF 5.8M seed (2023).
Recent Activity
Swisscom Ventures has been extremely active in 2025–2026, with multiple new investments, two acquisitions of portfolio companies, and a unicorn milestone:
- July 2026: Co-led Aylight €4.5M pre-seed (photonics deeptech, Zurich) with Elaia
- June 2026: Portfolio exit — SurePath AI acquired by F5 Networks
- June 2026: Portfolio exit — Apono acquired by 1Password
- January 2026: Portfolio milestone — Preply achieved unicorn status at $1.2B valuation (Series D)
- November 2025: Spacetek Technology CHF 9.6M follow-on; Apono $34M Series B
- October 2025: New investment in RiPSIM (eSIM-as-a-Service, USA)
- July 2025: Beekeeper joined LumApps (portfolio exit)
- June 2025: Cato Networks raised $359M at $4.8B valuation; AccelerComm $15M
- May 2025: OX Security raised $60M (Series B)
- March 2025: amnis led CHF 10M round
Portfolio Highlights
Notable active portfolio companies include:
- Cato Networks: SASE cybersecurity pioneer, $4.8B valuation (2025)
- Fireblocks: Institutional digital asset security platform, $4T+ in assets secured
- Preply: Online language learning platform, $1.2B valuation (2026 unicorn)
- Scandit: Enterprise smart data capture (computer vision), global leader
- Cognism: B2B sales intelligence, European leader
- ANYbotics: Autonomous quadruped robots for industrial inspection
- OX Security: Application security risk prioritization platform
- Aircall: Cloud call center software, 14,000+ customers
- Yokoy: AI-powered expense management for enterprises
Notable exits include:
- Fastly (NYSE IPO, 2019) — edge cloud platform
- Amplidata (acquired by Western Digital)
- Exoscale (acquired by Telcom Austria)
- bexio (acquired by Mobiliar, 2018) — Swiss SME software
- Netrounds (acquired by Juniper Networks, 2020)
- SurePath AI (acquired by F5, 2026) — AI-powered network security
- Apono (acquired by 1Password, 2026) — privileged access management
Team
- Stefan Kuentz, Managing Partner: Focus on IT, Cloud, Enterprise Software, Telecom Infrastructure, USA ecosystem. Over 20 years experience including IBM and Swisscom senior management. Key investments: Fireblocks, Cato Networks, Cognism, Scandit, Aircall.
- Pär Lange, Managing Partner: At Swisscom Ventures since founding in 2007. Focus on Telecom Services, Semiconductors, Sensors. MSc Physics, MBA INSEAD. Co-founder of a Swedish mobile operator with 3G license. Key investments: AccelerComm, Billogram, Spacetek, Tibit.
- Alexander Schläpfer, Managing Partner: Joined 2016. Focus on EdTech, Fintech, Robotics, Industry 4.0. MSc Finance, London Business School. Formerly at Aster Capital (Paris) and Alstom. Co-founded the first robotics startup at ETH Zurich. Key investments: ANYbotics, Preply, xFarm, Labster, Yokoy.
- Jennifer McCloskey, Investment Director: Focus on B2B software, AI, deep technology, energy transition. MBA, Oxford PPE. Formerly at Lightrock (London) and Monitor Deloitte. Serves on boards including Pexapark, Viboo, Medimaps.
- Semih Kaçan, Investment Director: Focus on Fintech, Digital Assets, Cybersecurity. MSc Corporate Finance, Henley Business School. Formerly at Credit Suisse and BearingPoint. Co-founded Trust Square (blockchain hub) and Blocksport. Key investments: Apono, OX Security, RiPSIM, Fireblocks, Cato Networks.
- Victoria Lietha, Investment Director
- Klea Wenger, Investment Director: Co-led CDDS investment (2025)
- Sören Fehrmann, Investment Manager
- Max Vogt, Investment Manager
- Peter Ibbotson, Investor Relations Partner
- Anish Srivastava, US Venture Partner (Palo Alto)
- Emelle Stottele, Investment Analyst
Decision Process
Swisscom Ventures operates with an independent decision-making process and a dedicated investment committee comprising three managing partners (Stefan Kuentz, Pär Lange, Alexander Schläpfer). Investment directors source and manage deals, with partners driving final investment decisions. The firm is backed by Swisscom AG and institutional investors, giving it long-term capital commitments. They regularly take board seats or observer roles in portfolio companies.
Founder Preferences
Swisscom Ventures strongly favors technical founders with deep domain expertise, particularly those with academic origins at Swiss universities (ETH Zurich, EPFL). Teams targeting global markets from day one are preferred. The firm values product differentiation combined with strong execution capabilities. They look for cohesion in founding teams and alignment on goals. The firm especially values founders building category leaders with outstanding technology or disruptive business models who have achieved product-market fit and are scaling rapidly.
Geographic Focus
Approximately 50% of capital is deployed in Switzerland, targeting Swiss university spin-offs and high-tech companies. The remaining 50% is split across:
- North America (USA — Silicon Valley presence via Palo Alto office)
- Europe (UK, France, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Denmark)
- Israel (major cybersecurity and deeptech investments)
Value Add
As a strategic corporate CVC, Swisscom Ventures offers portfolio companies:
- Access to Swisscom's distribution channels and key account managers
- Go-to-market support through an in-house business development team
- Discounted access to Swisscom's technical infrastructure
- Access to Swisscom's 3,000 enterprise clients and 100,000+ SMB clients in Switzerland and Italy
- Network of Swisscom technical and domain experts
- Active board involvement and strategic support