Investments in emerging and innovative startups are currently the latest trend in the financial world. Ideally, these investments promise high returns and the chance to participate in unique success stories that can contribute to making our world a better place in the medium term.

Under these premises, it’s no wonder that wealthy individuals are increasingly approaching their banks to invest in such companies.

Another Step Forward

The Swiss private bank Mirabaud is now also doing justice to this, having invested in so-called alternative investments since the 1970s, i.e. in assets whose performance does not correlate with the stock market, or only to a very limited extent.

But now, the Geneva-based institution is taking another step forward and is specifically targeting innovative startups in their earliest development stages, as Mirabaud announced on Tuesday.

Seventh Generation

Louis Fauchier-Magnan (Image: Mirabaud)

For this purpose, the bank has launched the «Mirabaud Swiss Venture Capital» approach after a year of preparation. It aims to invest in initially two to three funds that, in turn, directly invest in promising startups as venture capital providers, as Louis Fauchier-Magnan explained at a media briefing in Geneva.

Alongside his sister Camille Vial, a managing partner and CEO of the bank, he represents the seventh generation of the Mirabaud family. Overseeing the asset management business in Romandy, he has spent 15 years with the company, during which he has also worked in Zurich and Paris.

Investing with Unicorn Founders

Mirabaud has already entered into a partnership with a venture capital company. It is the Zurich-based firm Founderful, formerly known as Wingman, as reported by finews.ch. It was founded in 2019 by Pascal Mathis, co-founder of GetYourGuide, Eat.ch co-founder Lukas Weder, and Alex Stöckl, former Senior Investment Manager at Creathor Ventures.

Along with the renaming, Founderful also launched a new fund, which is to be capitalized with around 120 million dollars; approximately 85 million dollars are already available. Through the cooperation with Mirabaud, the target is within reach. Other investors include institutional investors and unicorn founders such as Duolingo, Climeworks, Delivery Hero, and Scandit, as Weder explained in Geneva.

Four Advantages

Founderful focuses on Swiss companies, particularly in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and technology. Other investment themes with a «future component» are climate change, food, and energy. As Fauchier-Magnan emphasized, the focus is on innovative startups that can disrupt entire industries and tackle the biggest challenges with their business models and solutions.

With this latest initiative, Mirabaud also aims to revolutionize the venture capital industry. Compared to typical venture capital investments, the investment vehicle offers four advantages: First, it is broadly diversified, so that unsuccessful startups do not wipe out the entire investment; second, it allows for smaller amounts to be invested, which is otherwise hardly possible in the venture capital scene.

Established Banks Keeping Pace

Third, investments are made in Swiss francs, eliminating currency risk. Finally, customers invest their money in an ecosystem that has enormous prospects – particularly in light of impending climate change, food security, or the energy transition.

For Fauchier-Magnan, this initiative should also illustrate that classic private banks – Mirabaud was founded 205 years ago – are indeed capable of keeping pace with the times and meeting the needs and concerns of the next generation.

Thinking in Generations

However, such investments are not merely speculations on short-term gains but an engagement that typically spans an average of ten years. In this sense, Mirabaud also remains true to the maxim of classic private banks, which think not in quarterly terms but in generations.