01PURPOSE
Bold ventures
Big societal challenges. Businesses worth building. We want to bring together founders who care about both.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF START-UP ECOSYSTEM
Build great
companies.
Keep the Cow.
For founders solving big problems.
For businesses built to last.
For value beyond the exit.
Why sell the cow
when you can
keep the milk?
A great company doesn’t stop creating value when it becomes successful.
So why make selling it the end goal? We’re exploring a different path: build profitable, independent companies. Keep them on their mission. Share in the value they create, again and again.
We call it Recurring Exits.
VALUE, OVER TIME Independent companies.
Stronger together.
An ecosystem where ambition, shared resources and patient thinking reinforce each other.
02LEVERAGE
Shared foundations
A shared AI backbone, knowledge and resources. Less rebuilding the basics. More room for original ideas.
03ENDURANCE
Long-term thinking
Independent companies that stay on their mission. Value that grows over time — and profits that can be shared.
Shared strength. Individual missions. Long-term value.
Smaller teams.
Bigger possibilities.
Longer horizons.
AI is changing what a small team can build. Shared foundations can turn that possibility into leverage.
Now we need a way of building and financing companies that looks beyond the next sale — towards years of useful work and lasting value.
Built to last.
Not to exit.
Some of the world’s most enduring businesses were built for long-term ownership, not a sale.
RolexBoschNovo Nordisk
Different businesses. Different ownership structures. Strong precedents for protecting a mission over generations.
These are role models for enduring ownership — not partners, endorsements or proof of our financing model.
Build the ecosystem.
Back the companies.
Philanthropic capital builds the ecosystem. Investment capital builds the companies.
PHILANTHROPIC CAPITAL
Shared foundations.
Fund the shared AI backbone, development platform and ecosystem capacity. Build reusable capabilities that can support many ventures — rather than subsidising their ongoing operating costs.
INVESTMENT CAPITAL
Independent companies.
Finance the companies. Successful, profitable businesses can distribute profits to investors while staying independent and on their mission. Returned capital can be invested again.
One shared foundation. Value across many ventures.
This is an investment thesis, not validated performance. Investments remain high-risk; distributions depend on business profits and are not guaranteed. The return model and the philanthropic multiplier still need validation.
The people behind
the long view.
Research depth, investment experience and decades of building companies — working on one shared idea.
Menna El-Assady
Co-founding board member
Science & Tech
- Professor of Computer Science at ETH Zurich, leading the IVIA Lab.
- One of 40 experts elected to the UN Independent International Scientific Panel on AI (2026).
- Internationally awarded AI researcher, specialising in human-AI collaboration and explainable AI.
Klea Wenger
CEO
Investments & Due Diligence
- Investment Director at Swisscom Ventures, investing in Deep Tech since 2018.
- Startup investment experience across companies including ANYbotics, Flyability, Yokoy and Labster.
- Innosuisse Expert & Venture Kick Jury Member, with engineering degrees from ETH Zurich and EPFL and an international MBA.
Hermann Arnold
Co-founding board member
Entrepreneurship & Scaling
- Serial entrepreneur with 30+ years of experience, co-founder of umantis (successful exit to Haufe Group) and b2venture.
- Angel investor in 80+ tech startups, including DeepL, AlpineAI and Fonio.
FOUNDERS. LONG-TERM INVESTORS. PARTNERS.
Want to help build
something that lasts?
Big ideas welcome.
A longer view encouraged.