What Zeno Partners does

Zeno Partners is a privately held venture capital and private equity firm founded in 2016 that invests in technology companies across both early/growth-stage venture and private equity stages. The firm operates from offices in Geneva, Zurich, and San Francisco, and is incorporated in Switzerland as Zeno SA. Its stated investment thesis centers on partnering with 'extraordinary individuals building generational companies,' with a portfolio that spans autonomous vehicle simulation (Applied Intuition), fintech banking (Mercury), robotics (Standard Bots), scientific visualization (BioRender), and electric aviation (Heart Aerospace). The firm runs a subsidiary called Zeno Ventures, which focuses on early- and growth-stage consumer and enterprise technology investments.

The business model follows standard VC/PE economics. The firm raises capital from institutional investors and qualified high-net-worth individuals as Limited Partners and applies it to portfolio companies via direct investment relationships. Revenue is generated through two streams: recurring management fees (typically 1–2% of committed capital, which underwrites fund operations) and performance-based carried interest (historically ~20% of fund profits after returning capital to LPs). Founder-led and operated with a small 1–10 person team — co-founded by Christopher Kile (Managing Partner) and Duarte Moreira (CEO) — Zeno distributes capital through direct founder outreach rather than broad process-driven sourcing, and uses an LP login portal (InvestorFlow) for investor relations.

In October 2025, Zeno Partners signaled an expansion of mandate and geography by partnering with Vangest Engineering Solutions to jointly acquire UK-based medtech companies, marking the firm's first disclosed move into the healthcare/medtech vertical and the United Kingdom. This positions Zeno as a deliberately small, thesis-driven investor using selective partnerships to broaden its deal surface beyond its established deep-tech software and hardware portfolio.

Name

Zeno Partners

Legal name

Zeno SA

Website

http://zenoventures.com/

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Zeno Partners is a privately held venture capital and private equity firm, founded in 2016 and headquartered in Switzerland with offices in Geneva, Zurich, and San Francisco. It invests across venture and PE stages in consumer and enterprise technology companies, partnering with founders to build generational businesses.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital and Private Equity

NAICS

Other Financial Vehicles (525990), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Sector-Focused Venture Capital (Vertical Specialists) (FSANAAAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Multi-Sector / Generalist Growth Equity (FSANACAO)

Keywords

• Venture capital
• Private equity
• Technology investing
• Growth stage funding
• Startup capital

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Management Fees: VC/PE firms typically charge annual management fees (usually 1-2% of committed capital) to cover operational expenses of the fund.
2. Carried Interest: Performance-based allocation where fund managers receive a percentage of profits (typically 20%) after returning capital to LPs, representing the primary economic upside for the fund manager.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Zeno Partners is a venture capital and private equity firm founded in 2016 that invests capital in early and growth-stage technology companies. It operates two core activities: a Venture Capital vertical that backs technology startups in consumer and enterprise markets, and a Private Equity vertical that acquires and partners with established technology businesses. The firm also raises and manages investment funds on behalf of institutional and qualified limited partners (LPs).

Product overview

Zeno Partners is a venture capital and private equity firm established in 2016 that invests in extraordinary individuals building generational companies. The firm operates across two primary investment verticals: Venture Capital and Private Equity, focusing on technology companies. Their portfolio includes investments across sectors such as automated simulation (Applied Intuition), financial services (Mercury), robotics (Standard Bots), biotech visualization (BioRender), and electric aviation (Heart Aerospace).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Venture Capital Fund
• Private Equity Fund

Named customers5 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Vangest Engineering SolutionsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 October 2025Zeno Partners and Vangest Engineering Solutions partnered on a joint acquisition of UK-based medtech companies. This represents a co-investment relationship where both parties collaborated on evaluating and completing the corporate transaction for medtech assets.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Lightspeed Venture Partners: Global multi-stage technology investor with deep US and European presence that invests across consumer and enterprise software, similar to Zeno's VC arm. Operates both early-stage and growth funds with comparable thesis of backing exceptional founders.
• Index Ventures: Technology-focused VC with dual hubs in San Francisco and London/Geneva, investing from seed to growth across consumer and enterprise. Strong overlap with Zeno's cross-Atlantic, technology-only orientation and stage flexibility.
• Founders Fund: San Francisco-based venture firm investing across stages in transformative technology companies, with a founder-conviction-led thesis highly comparable to Zeno's 'extraordinary individuals' positioning.
• Bessemer Venture Partners: Heritage US venture firm with a long-running tech investing franchise across stages and geographies including Europe and Israel. Notable overlap in deploying capital into B2B SaaS, fintech (relevant for Mercury), and frontier tech verticals.
• Accel: Global venture investor with strong US and European presence investing in early and growth stage technology companies. Direct comparable on stage breadth, sector focus, and consumer/enterprise split.
• General Catalyst: Multi-stage technology investor headquartered in the Bay Area with global offices (London, NYC, Bengaluru), backing founders from seed to growth with a thesis-driven approach that overlaps Zeno's model.
• Insight Partners: Technology-focused investor that combines venture and growth/buyout-style investing, mirroring Zeno's dual VC/PE posture, with deep enterprise software and emerging tech exposure.
• Coatue Management: Crossover investor that bridges public and private technology markets across stages from early venture to structured equity. Directly relevant peer given Zeno's blend of venture and private equity mandates in technology.

Broad incumbents

• Andreessen Horowitz: Large-scale US venture firm with multiple sector-focused funds spanning bio, crypto, growth, and infrastructure. Broader incumbent alternative; takes early and growth stage technology bets similar to Zeno but at much larger AUM.
• Sequoia Capital: Premier global venture and growth franchise operating across seed, venture, and growth stages globally with both US and European offices. A natural incumbent anchor for a smaller competitor pursuing similar cross-stage, cross-border technology investing.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments60 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Zeno Partners