Investor Profile: Wingman Ventures — Thesis, Cheque Size & How to Apply

Wingman Ventures is a Zurich-based venture capital firm that leads the first financing round of Swiss technology startups. Founded in 2019 by Pascal Mathis, co-founder of GetYourGuide, Lukas Weder, co-founder of EAT.ch, and Alex Stöckl, formerly of Creathor Ventures, it was built by people who had founded and scaled companies themselves. In 2024 the firm rebranded as Founderful, and it now operates under that name, but the strategy profiled here is the Wingman playbook: be first, be fast, and be founder-friendly.

Thesis and sectors

Wingman backs founder teams building technology companies with the potential to become global market leaders from Switzerland. Its focus is business-to-business software and industrial technology, spanning robotics and industrial automation, artificial intelligence and machine learning, computer vision, and materials science, including clean technology, climate technology and construction technology. The firm argues that Switzerland's startup ecosystem was only beginning to write its best success stories, and that pre-seed founders deserved an institutional lead investor rather than unfavourable angel terms.

Fund size and cheque size

With its first fund, Wingman deployed $60 million into 40 startups, representing 109 founders who went on to create 1,093 jobs and raise more than $350 million in follow-on funding. Its second fund, Fund II, announced a first close of $85 million against a $120 million target, and typically invests $1 million at pre-seed stage and up to $2 million at seed stage. The firm's own site now says it has backed more than 50 startups and more than 120 founders.

Notable portfolio and partners

Portfolio companies named by the firm include Wingtra, the survey-drone company that scaled to 200 employees and more than $20 million in annual revenue, DePoly, whose plastics-recycling technology raised a $15 million seed round, and Corintis, which works on sustainable computing with global technology customers. Other names on its roster include Ethon AI, Archlet and Oxyle. Two early exits were Insightness, acquired by Sony, and Bring! Labs, acquired by Swiss Post. Beyond capital, founders get access to a community of investors drawn from the founders of Duolingo, Climeworks, Scandit, Delivery Hero and Proton.

Programs run

Wingman also created the Wingman Campus Fund, a student-run micro-investment programme for entrepreneurial teams at ETH Zurich, EPFL Lausanne and the University of St. Gallen. It planned to back 15 student teams per year, deploying CHF 300,000 per year, typically CHF 20,000 per team, with students running investment decisions as part of a one-year traineeship. No credits or perks programme is publicly disclosed by the firm.

How to apply for funding

Founders building a Swiss technology company at pre-seed stage should approach the firm through its website, now at founderful.com, with a clear account of the team, the problem, and why the company can become a global leader. Wingman positions itself as a lead investor in the first round, so founders should come prepared for a lead-investor conversation, not a small follow-on cheque, and be ready to show how early capital will help them convince larger international funds at the next round.