15 Swiss female startup investors founders should meet in 2022

An article by VentureLab – Guillaume Tinsel

15 Swiss female startup investors founders should meet in 2022

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, it is more than time to highlight the ever-growing role that women play in the entrepreneurial and startup ecosystem. We have compiled a list of 15 Swiss female investors in decision-making roles.

Venture capitalists (VCs) are an essential part of the success of our future. From innovations in tech, science to art and entertainment, the world depends on startups’ innovations and VCs’ support to deliver success stories. While VCs continue to raise larger and larger funds, the number of women who have been promoted or hired to senior investment positions remains low. Pitchbook fund performance data shows that 69% of VC firms that scored a top-quartile fund between 2009 and 2018 had women in decision-making roles. This indicates a strong correlation between female investors and high returns.

Since the inception of the asset class in the 1940s, venture capital in a nutshell is men writing checks to men. On the occasion of International Women’s Day, it is more than time to highlight women in investment decision-making roles. We have compiled a list of Swiss female investors to help female founders to get access to the world of venture capital and to break down barriers.

ChaniaWomen appear on the picture in the same alphabetical order as in the list below, from left to right and up to down.

Ackermann CaroleDiamond Scull 
CEO and Co-founder of Diamondscull, she invests in early-stage companies in the technology and ICT fields. She is the non-executive director of Allianz Suisse, BKW, BNP Paribas Suisse, BVZ Holding, Swiss TXT, is Co-president of the female innovation forum, and a Venture Kick and TOP 100 Swiss startup award jury member.

Bachmann Marie-LineZKB
Marie-Line is an Investment Manager Start-up Finance for Zürcher Kantonalbank for a year and is specialized in startup finances for more than 3 years. The bank has expanded the startup finance department and attributed resources for startups at any stage.

Baumann BrigitteGoBeyond Investing
Brigitte Baumann is the Founder of Gobeyond Investing and has 30+ years of experience in bringing new technologies to market in the US and across Europe. She also acts as a keynote speaker, trainer, and consultant and is passionate about positive change and opportunities for innovative ideas.

Chemtob (Girod) NathalieAlpana Ventures
Nathalie is the Co-Founder and Partner of Alpana Ventures, a Swiss Venture Capital firm focusing on digital transformation. With more than 20 years of experience in investments, she is also a board observer for different startups.

Dallenbach KiranBioMedPartners
Kiran Dallenbach is an Investment Manager at Biomed Partners since 2019. She was an analyst at Redalpine, investing in European Life Sciences and ICT start-ups, and worked in the department of Immunotherapeutics at Cytos Biotechnology. 

Domanig GinaEmerald Technology Ventures
Gina Domanig is the founder and managing partner of Emerald Technology Ventures, a globally recognized venture capital firm focused on energy, water, advanced materials, and industrial IT. Gina founded Emerald Technology Ventures in 2000 and currently serves on the boards of several portfolio companies and national and international corporations.

Ernst BettinaBernina BioInvest
Co-Founder and CEO of Preclin Biosystems, she is a biotech entrepreneur and investor. She has been investing in healthcare companies for the past 8 years. Bettina Ernst studied biochemistry at ETH, obtained her doctorate, and worked as a research assistant.

Gueissaz CarolineBusiness Angels Switzerland
Caroline is the General Manager of Business Angels Switzerland. In 2007, she co-founded BAS in the French part of Switzerland and lead it to be one of the main local players in the startups world. She is a board member at SERV and at two SMEs, is an elected Cantonal legislative representative since 2005, and investor in 8 startups.    

Heimann JasminLightbird Ventures
Jasmin Heinmann is a Venture Capitalist at Lightbird Ventures. The company invests in ambitious founding teams that use technology to solve real problems for real people and businesses. Their main industry focus is Fintech, Proptech, Cybersecurity & Data Analytics.    

Laska AleksandraRedalpine
Aleksandra started her career at Goldman Sachs, where she brought to market an electronic trading platform. She has since spent the last seven years exposed to tech in various roles. As a founder, she launched a mobile payments platform followed by investing as a VC and angel. Since then, she built the corporate business for Improbable, now a unicorn that raised over USD 600M in funding. 

Saner KathrinPost Finance
Kathrin works as a Venture Capitalist at Post Finance where they invest and support promising startups. Her entrepreneurial journey started when she took over the role as the COO of the Swiss media company Nau.ch

Schorsch SusanneVerve Ventures
Susanne is an investment manager at Vere Ventures for 5 years and discovering the best tech startups. Susanne has extensive experience in finance, business management, strategy, and innovation.

Them CarinaSwissHealth Ventures
Carina is an Investment Manager for SwissHealth Ventures. She has many years of experience in Venture Capital and Consulting. SwissHealth Ventures focus on startups that present a solution for a high-quality, cost-effective healthcare system.

Wagner Karenysioscapital
Karen is a General Partner at Ysios Capital Partners and focuses on therapeutic investments. She coordinates the identification and evaluation of investment opportunities. She has more than 20 years of experience in business development for various biotech and pharma companies and started her career as a management consultant in McKinsey & Company’s global healthcare practice.
   
Wenger KleaSwisscom Ventures
Klea Wenger is an Investment Manager at Swisscom Ventures, a leading corporate venture capital investor since 2007 with more than 25 exits. Klea joined Swisscom Ventures in January 2018 and prior to Swisscom, Klea worked for 4 years in the FMCG industry. Klea holds a BSc of EPFL and an MSc of ETH in Materials Science. 

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