As one of Europe’s most active venture capital investors, we grant qualified private investors access to top-tier European startups. With investments starting at EUR/CHF 10’000, you can build your own tailored portfolio over time and diversify across stages and sectors.
Meet our Network of
Experienced Startup Investors
Our investor network consists of successful entrepreneurs, seasoned C-level executives and owners of SMEs. A typical Verve investor client invests between 50k and 200k in a given round, but investments are possible already as of 10k. Read the interviews with some investors from our network to learn more about their backgrounds and motivations to invest in startups with Verve Ventures.
Ines Kljucar
Chief Commercial Officer, Phoenix Mecano
“Every single investment opportunity that is on Verve’s digital platform has already undergone an in-depth analysis by clever people. There is an essential aspect of risk minimization to this. But since the platform provides the documentation necessary as well, I can do my own research and come to a conclusion, which I like a lot.”
Martin Scholl
Former CEO of Zürcher Kantonalbank
“Verve has been around for almost 15 years now and has developed a very good reputation and a sophisticated investment infrastructure with a fully digital investment process. To make investments in venture capital, you have to know the companies inside out, you have to actually understand the technology and the team. That’s what you get from Verve, not reselling deals others have done, not following big “brand names” out there that are overhyped in the media, but actual on-the-ground work to find the best founders and startups out there.”
Anette Heimlicher
CEO Contrinex
“Investing in startups shouldn’t be the privilege of a select few insiders. By investing in startups, I help entrepreneurs take a shot at big dreams. That is my main motivation, even though I also consider it an interesting financial investment.”
Vvivi Hu
Board of Harvard Club of Switzerland
“As an angel investor moving from APAC to Europe, I’m impressed by the professionalism and seamlessness of how the Verve Ventures team operates as well as excited by the quality of the deals with great industry and social impact.”
Stefan Brunner
Co-Founder Bexio and iBrows
“As an entrepreneur who built and sold two companies, I appreciate the easy and professional access that Verve Ventures grants me to exciting startups.This way I can focus on building my companies and also build my startup portfolio.”
Jean-Pierre Wyss
Founder & Head of Production u-blox
“Verve Ventures does all the heavy lifting, enabling me to build a diversified top quality startup portfolio without all the work that this would usually entail.”
Latest Portfolio Exits
Beiersdorf acquires our portfolio company S-Biomedic
German skincare company Beiersdorf announced that it acquired a majority stake in our Belgian life science startup S-Biomedic. Verve Ventures first invested in S-Biomedic’s Series A financing round alongside Beiersdorf in 2018. In this article, we look back at our journey with S-Biomedic.
commercetools acquires our portfolio company Frontastic
Verve Venture's 6th exit this year was a speedy one: Our network invested in Frontastic at the beginning of 2021, based on our conviction that a paradigm shift in e-commerce is gathering speed. E-commerce firms don't want to rely on monolithic software anymore, but switch to a headless…
How does the investment Platform work?
Every investment proposal is structured the same way and is based on our depth analysis of each startup. The aim is to make it easy as possible for you to reach an informed investment decision. Whenever we launch a new financing round we notify you via email.
INVESTOR RELATIONS TEAM
Our investor relations team is happy to answer your questions regarding the investment fees. Please contact us via email: investors@verve.vc
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LEARN WHAT IT TAKES TO BECOME
A STARTUP INVESTOR YOURSELF
Would you like to know more about venture capital and startup investing? In the Verve Investing Academy, you will find eBooks, blog articles, slides, and webinars, that will help you on this learning path. All you need to know about the challenges of startup investing and the returns of startup investing.
INVESTING
Are you a future investor looking for the best way to start? Here are the key points you should inform yourself about before starting.
CAPITALIZE
Achieving many successful and big exits is the goal of everyone who invests in startups. It is a sign that they know how to identify promising investment opportunities.
QUALIFIED?
Frequently Asked Questions
When you join Verve Ventures (free of charge) you gain access to the startups that have passed our rigorous selection process. Merely 1% of startups we look at are accepted by our investment committee. For this 1%, we do an in-depth due diligence, negotiate the terms and structure a financing round together with other co-investors. At this point, you have access to all relevant information in order to reach an informed investment decision, including an online profile, term sheet and due diligence documents.
Of the thousands of companies we assess each year, merely 40-50 startups make it through our rigorous selection process. This detailed examination includes numerous meetings with the founders, talks with industry experts, clients and partners as well as a close examination of the company’s documentation.
We invest in disruptive, technology-driven companies that have the potential to return multiple times the invested capital. First validation/traction is vital for us to consider a case. We invest in science and technology startups and focus on three verticals (digital, tangible, health & bio).
From a geographical point of view, Verve Ventures is open to investors no matter where they reside, except US persons. But startup investing is not for everyone, because of the elevated financial risks. To join Verve Ventures, you have to go through an accreditation process. We require that people be “qualified investors” according to the laws of their home country. For Swiss investors, this means net assets of more than CHF 2 million or assets of more than CHF 0.5 million and financial experience or knowledge necessary to understand the risks associated with investments in illiquid asset classes such as venture capital.
As an investor via Verve Ventures, you pay no membership fees, no up front due diligence fees and are not required to commit capital upfront. All investment sourcing and due diligence work is financed by Verve Ventures. If you decide to invest, we charge a one-off access fee, a yearly management fee over 5 years and a fee to cover expenses related to the investment structure (investment structure fee). If there is an exit before 5 years, we refund the remaining years of the management fee. Read more about our fees here.
Verve Ventures was founded in 2010 by Steffen Wagner and Lukas Weber with the goal of making investments in startups easier and more transparent. The company Verve Capital Partners (VCP), which runs Verve Ventures, is backed by business angels and Switzerland’s third-largest bank, Zürcher Kantonalbank.