Kickfund
Swiss venture capital firm (Kickfund AG, Basel) operating the CHF 70M+ Kickfund Ventures Fund I, co-investing up to CHF 850,000 in Swiss deep-tech startups recognized by the Venture Kick competition; backed by the Ernst Göhner and Gebert Rüf Foundations with a portfolio of 112 companies across seven verticals.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2023
- HeadquartersBasel, Switzerland
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Kickfund does
Kickfund AG is a privately held Swiss venture capital firm headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, with a related Luxembourg fund-management entity (Kickfund Partners Sàrl). The firm operates the Kickfund Ventures Fund I, which became operational in December 2023 with over CHF 70 million in Assets Under Management, cornerstone-backed by two prominent Swiss foundations — the Ernst Göhner Foundation and the Gebert Rüf Foundation. Kickfund's investment proposition is anchored to a co-investment strategy tied directly to the Venture Kick accelerator pipeline: the firm invests up to CHF 850,000 per company exclusively into Swiss deep-tech startups that have already been recognized by Venture Kick, positioning it as the next-stage institutional capital partner for these ventures and supporting founders through their two subsequent financing rounds.
The firm's portfolio had reached 100 companies within two years of operation (112 disclosed on its portfolio page), spanning seven verticals: Biotech, Medtech, Materials/Chemicals, Cleantech, Electronics/Mechanics, ICT, and Micro-/Nano Technology. Deal flow originates from leading Swiss research institutions including ETH Zurich, EPFL, the Universities of Zurich, Bern, Geneva, and Basel, the Paul Scherrer Institut, CSEM, EMPA, and Wyss Geneva. Kickfund operates a co-investment model, typically participating alongside other investors in rounds led by entities such as High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), Redstone VC, DSM-Firmenich Ventures, Navus Ventures, Zürcher Kantonalbank, Bloomhaus Ventures, and Linear Capital.
Beyond capital deployment, Kickfund builds ecosystem infrastructure including a Deep Tech Jobs portal (jobs.kickfund.ch) and co-publishes authoritative market intelligence — the Swiss Deep Tech Report in 2025 and 2026 (the latter launched at VivaTech Paris) — in partnership with Deep Tech Nation Switzerland, Founderful, Startupticker.ch, and Dealroom.co. The firm is led by a small, experienced team: CEO Wanja Humanes (formerly Investment Director at MTIP and Swisscom Ventures; CFA Charterholder), CIO Thomas Möller (General Partner at BioMedPartners with 20+ years of life-sciences VC experience), and Marketing Manager Angina Herrmann, overseen by a Board of Directors chaired by Dr. Thomas Sieber with Prof. Dr. Elgar Fleisch and Dr. Roger Schmid.
Kickfund firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Kickfund
- Legal name
- Kickfund AG
- Website
- https://kickfund.ch
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2023
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Swiss venture capital firm (Kickfund AG, Basel) operating the CHF 70M+ Kickfund Ventures Fund I, co-investing up to CHF 850,000 in Swiss deep-tech startups recognized by the Venture Kick competition; backed by the Ernst Göhner and Gebert Rüf Foundations with a portfolio of 112 companies across seven verticals.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Kickfund industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Venture Capital (Early-Stage Deep-Tech Investment)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B) (FSANAAAB)
Keywords
Where Kickfund is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Basel
- HQ country
- Switzerland
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
Kickfund business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others
Revenue model
- Fund management and investment returns: Kickfund operates as a venture capital fund (Kickfund Ventures Fund I) with over CHF 70 million in Assets Under Management, generating returns from equity investments in Swiss deep-tech startups. AUM-based and capital gains-driven model.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels6 records
Kickfund product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Kickfund operates the Kickfund Ventures Fund I, a Swiss deep-tech venture capital fund that co-invests up to CHF 850,000 per portfolio company in early-stage technology startups recognized by the Venture Kick competition. The fund is backed by the Ernst Göhner and Gebert Rüf Foundations and supports startups across Biotech, Medtech, Materials/Chemicals, Cleantech, Electronics/Mechanics, ICT, and Micro/Nano Technology sectors, with the stated goal of helping portfolio companies secure two subsequent financing rounds.
Product overview
Kickfund is a Swiss venture capital firm that operates as a single integrated investment offering — the Kickfund Ventures Fund I — rather than a software platform with discrete modules. Its core service is a co-investment vehicle that deploys capital up to CHF 850,000 into the country's most promising deep-tech startups, all of which are first recognized by the Venture Kick competition and backed by the Ernst Göhner and Gebert Rüf Foundations. The fund's output is its diversified Kickfund Portfolio of 112 companies (including the 100-company milestone reached in early 2026) across Biotech, Medtech, Materials/Chemicals, Cleantech, Electronics/Mechanics, ICT, and Micro-/Nano Technology, sourced from leading Swiss research institutions such as ETH Zurich, EPFL, the Universities of Zurich, Bern, Geneva, and Basel, plus the Paul Scherrer Institut, CSEM, and ZHAW. Complementing the fund, Kickfund operates a Deep Tech Jobs portal and publishes ecosystem reports (e.g., the Swiss Deep Tech Report 2026) to drive visibility, community, and deal flow for its portfolio.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Kickfund Ventures Fund: The venture capital fund operated by Kickfund AG, co-investing up to CHF 850,000 in leading Swiss deep tech ventures recognized by the Venture Kick competition.
Products and services
- Kickfund Ventures Fund I A Swiss deep-tech venture capital fund that co-invests up to CHF 850,000 per portfolio company in early-stage technology startups recognized by the Venture Kick competition. Backed by the Ernst Göhner and Gebert Rüf Foundations, the fund invests across Biotech, Medtech, Materials/Chemicals, Cleantech, Electronics/Mechanics, ICT, and Micro/Nano Technology verticals, and aims to support startups through two subsequent financing rounds.
- Kickfund Portfolio The diversified portfolio of 112 early-stage Swiss deep-tech companies backed by Kickfund, spanning Biotech, Medtech, Materials/Chemicals, Cleantech, Electronics/Mechanics, ICT, and Micro/Nano Technology sectors, with portfolio companies sourced from Swiss universities and research institutions including ETH Zurich, EPFL, University of Zurich, University of Bern, University of Geneva, University of Basel, University of Fribourg, Wyss Geneva, PSI, and EMPA.
- Deep Tech Jobs A dedicated jobs portal connecting talent with deep-tech startup opportunities across the Kickfund portfolio and the broader Swiss deep-tech ecosystem, supporting recruitment and community-building for portfolio companies.
Quantifiable outcome
- Reached 100 portfolio companies within two years of operation
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Kickfund
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Kickfund technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
Kickfund partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor, flagship and strategic.
- Wyss GenevaminorContinued support from Wyss Geneva as existing partner in Clee Medical's seed financing round. Wyss Geneva is also the origin institution from which Clee Medical spun off.
- Wyss CenterminorOrigin affiliation for Clee Medical; founder Matt Lapinski formerly of the Wyss Center.
- Venture KickflagshipVenture Kick is the primary deal-flow source and ecosystem partner for Kickfund. Kickfund invests specifically in technology startups recognized by the Venture Kick competition, providing the next co-investment step after Venture Kick's initial funding. Kickfund builds on the success of Venture Kick (18 years of impact, ~1,100 startups launched, ~9 Billion CHF raised, ~15,000 jobs created).
- Deep Tech Nation SwitzerlandstrategicCo-publisher of the Swiss Deep Tech Report 2026 (and 2025), launched at VivaTech in Paris. Documents Switzerland's leadership in deep tech VC allocation (63% share, $2.6B in 2025).
- FounderfulstrategicCo-publisher of the Swiss Deep Tech Report 2026 and 2025 alongside Kickfund, Deep Tech Nation Switzerland, Startupticker.ch, and Dealroom.co.
- Startupticker.chstrategicCo-publisher of the Swiss Deep Tech Report 2026 and 2025 alongside Kickfund, Deep Tech Nation Switzerland, Founderful, and Dealroom.co.
- Dealroom.costrategicCo-publisher and data partner for the Swiss Deep Tech Report 2026 and 2025 alongside Kickfund, Deep Tech Nation Switzerland, Founderful, and Startupticker.ch.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Kickfund competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Founderful: Swiss pre-seed and seed VC focused on early-stage technology startups, often co-publishing with Kickfund on the Swiss Deep Tech Report. Directly comparable by stage, geography, and target company profile.
- Swisscom Ventures: Corporate VC arm of Swisscom investing in Swiss early-stage technology companies, including deep tech. Kickfund's CEO Wanja Humanes previously helped institutionalize Swisscom Ventures, making it a directly comparable Swiss seed-stage venture investor.
- MTIP: Swiss healthtech-focused growth VC. Kickfund's CEO previously served as Investment Director at MTIP, and both target early-stage Swiss technology opportunities, making MTIP a directly comparable peer in the Swiss VC ecosystem.
- BioMedPartners: Swiss life-sciences VC where Kickfund's CIO Thomas Möller is also a General Partner. Directly comparable given overlapping leadership, similar stage focus, and parallel Swiss biotech/medtech mandate.
Broad incumbents
- Venture Kick: The Swiss pre-seed accelerator and primary deal-flow pipeline that Kickfund builds on. While not a fund manager itself, Venture Kick is the upstream partner/curator that defines Kickfund's investment universe.
- Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB) Startup Finance: Major Swiss bank that actively co-invests alongside Kickfund in deep-tech seed rounds (e.g., Cosaic, Clee Medical). Functions as a regional incumbent co-investor in the same Swiss deep-tech ecosystem.
Regional players
- High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF): Germany's leading early-stage deep-tech VC that recently co-led with Kickfund in Clee Medical's seed round. Comparable by stage and deep-tech focus, with a different (DACH) geographic anchor.
- FONGIT: Geneva-based early-stage technology investor and innovation park operator that co-invests with Kickfund (e.g., Clee Medical). Comparable by Swiss regional seed-stage focus on tech spin-offs.
Others
- Dealroom.co: Global startup and venture data platform that co-publishes the Swiss Deep Tech Report with Kickfund. An ecosystem enabler rather than a direct competitor, but closely tied to Kickfund's deal sourcing and LP marketing infrastructure.
- Deep Tech Nation Switzerland: Swiss deep-tech ecosystem initiative and co-publisher of the Swiss Deep Tech Report with Kickfund. An ecosystem/thought-leadership peer that shares the same deep-tech narrative and LP-facing branding.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Kickfund social profiles
Digital presenceKickfund financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Kickfund leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
Kickfund subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Kickfund funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Kickfund M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments51 records
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Kickfund
What does Kickfund do?
Kickfund operates the Kickfund Ventures Fund I, a Swiss deep-tech venture capital fund that co-invests up to CHF 850,000 per portfolio company in early-stage technology startups recognized by the Venture Kick competition. The fund is backed by the Ernst Göhner and Gebert Rüf Foundations and supports startups across Biotech, Medtech, Materials/Chemicals, Cleantech, Electronics/Mechanics, ICT, and Micro/Nano Technology sectors, with the stated goal of helping portfolio companies secure two subsequent financing rounds.
Is Kickfund a public or private company?
Kickfund is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Kickfund founded?
Kickfund was founded in 2023. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Kickfund based?
Kickfund is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, in the Europe region.
How does Kickfund make money?
One revenue line is on record: fund management and investment returns.
Who are Kickfund's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Founderful, Swisscom Ventures, MTIP and BioMedPartners. Broad incumbents are Venture Kick and Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB) Startup Finance. Regional players are High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) and FONGIT. Others are Dealroom.co and Deep Tech Nation Switzerland.
Does Kickfund have an API?
No public API is recorded for Kickfund.
What industry is Kickfund in?
Kickfund's product category is Venture Capital (Early-Stage Deep-Tech Investment). Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSANAAAB, Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B).