Fund achieves milestone with quarter of a billion francs

Berne, 19 December 2019 – The interest of institutional investors, pension funds and qualified private investors in the Swiss Entrepreneurs Fund remains strong. Many investors view the fund as an attractive supplement and opportunity to diversify their investment portfolio. A quarter of a billion francs have already been entrusted to the fund in less than a year. This is in line with the amount targeted for 2019 and has resulted in a successful second closing of the fund.

With the assets accumulated so far, start-ups and innovative SMEs are being supported by an amount currently totalling some CHF 160 million through investments in existing funds, under a ‘fund of funds’ approach. The fund is directly investing up to CHF 90 million in carefully selected companies that have a funding requirement of CHF 5-15 million, their headquarters (or a significant portion of their value added) in Switzerland and which are pursuing a global strategy. UBS is responsible for selecting the fund investments, while Credit Suisse is re- sponsible for the direct investments.

An investment has been made in the fund of funds area through a secondary market transaction in two vehi- cles of the Swiss fund manager CGS Management AG. CGS focuses on majority interests in Swiss and German industrial enterprises that display powerful synergies and high growth potential through corporate acquisitions. A capital commitment to Endeavour Medtech Growth II LP has also been carried out. The Geneva growth fund comprising USD 400 million invests in innovative enterprises in the field of Swiss and global medical technol- ogy.

Two initial direct investments have also been carried out with Nexxiot and SkyCell. The Swiss Entrepreneurs Fund supports companies in exploiting their full growth potential and growing faster at an international level.

Further investments, for instance in the healthcare sector, are already in preparation for the first quarter of 2020.

Urs Berger, President of the Swiss Entrepreneurs Foundation and Chairman of the Board of Directors of anchor investor Swiss Mobiliar, explains: “We are delighted about the ongoing strong interest on the market. Thanks to the unique collaboration between Credit Suisse, UBS and Swiss Mobiliar, the fund has already concluded some initial investments for Switzerland as a centre of innovation. As announced, Swiss Mobiliar contributed CHF 24 million to the second closing and has therefore already contributed a total of CHF 100 million to the Swiss Entrepreneurs Fund.”

The two major banks and the other responsible parties are satisfied with the progress made. The fundraising will be continued in the months to come in order to be able to provide additional capital for Swiss companies.