Participated · Series B · Sep 2024

Neo Medical combines advances in biomechanics with an intraoperative AI-driven augmented reality data platform (ADVISE) and proprietary force-control technologies to support thoracolumbar fusion procedures. Its Neo Universal portfolio is designed to treat any operable thoracolumbar condition in a single procedural platform and supports both MIS and open approaches. The company couples its technologies with a 'SmartService' distribution model to optimize perioperative processes and improve operational efficiency. Since commercial launch in 2016, Neo’s technologies have been used to treat around 36,000 patients, with studies showing implant-failure rates reduced by up to three-fold, infection risk cut by half, surgery time reduced by up to 29%, and revisionary surgery needs lowered by as much as 50%. Neo has a strong European presence and operating subsidiaries in the U.S., Spain, France, and Germany and is rapidly expanding in the U.S. and other markets. The company plans to deploy new complementary products, enhance ADVISE capabilities, and increase market share—with an immediate focus on expanding its U.S. business and outpatient center opportunities. Neo Medical, based in Lausanne, Switzerland, develops controlled-fixation solutions designed to enable a more Functional Fusion in spinal surgery. Its ADVISE™ augmented reality platform complements an existing optimized implants and instruments platform, creating a technology ecosystem of universal implants, smart instruments, and software. The company says this complete system supports enhanced outcomes across preoperative planning, intraoperative actions, and postoperative recovery. Neo Medical is led by CEO Vincent Lefauconnier. The company raised $20.6M in funding and intends to use the proceeds to accelerate commercial deployment of ADVISE™—with a particular focus on the U.S.—and to expand product development and its team. Neo Medical, based in canton Vaud, Switzerland, develops a new generation of spinal surgery products using only five multi-functional instruments to cover most spine indications. Its proprietary designs aim to ensure anatomically neutral, balanced, and stable spine load-bearing to achieve a Functional Fusion. The company emphasizes a value-based care approach that it says preserves environmental sustainability across the healthcare system. Neo Medical is deploying single-use, sterile-packed procedure instrumentation intended for acute care hospitals, outpatient hospitals, and ambulatory surgery centres. Planned work with its partner includes development of a cervical platform and broader deployment of sterile-packed instruments for cervical spine procedures. The solutions aim to increase operating-room efficiency, reduce procedural times and costs, improve patient outcomes, and lower infection rates. Neo Medical develops a surgical platform for spinal surgery that currently comprises five instruments and fourteen implants intended to cover most spine indications. Its Controlled-Fixation technology is designed to enable a post-operative anatomically neutral, balanced, and stable spine, aiming to reduce screw loosening, hardware failure, and re-operation risks while improving patient outcomes. The company has CE and FDA approvals for its pedicle screw system (Sept 2016 and Sept 2017) and for its cages (Dec 2019 and Jan 2020). Since its market launch in Q2 2017, Neo Medical products are used in 250 hospitals worldwide. The company focuses commercial efforts on five strategic markets: the USA, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, and France. Neo Medical says it will use the financing to finance global growth and expansion in targeted key markets.

Participated · Equity · Jul 2023

Nezasa provides a SaaS platform to enable the connected trip, automating the planning, booking and management of multi-stage tour itineraries. Its platform allows travel brands to sell itineraries faster, more efficiently and with greater flexibility than manual processes. Led by founder and CEO Manuel Hilty, Nezasa intends to stimulate innovations in its product offerings. The company plans to use the new funding for international expansion and to accelerate the path to profitability. Nezasa closed a $4.7M funding round and will direct proceeds toward growth and product development. Nezasa provides a Software-as-a-Service booking platform that enables fully automated, seamless planning and booking of personalized travel. The platform is used by about 12,000 travel agencies and tour operators, including major customers such as FTI and DER Touristik. Its automation reduces costs for travel sellers while increasing revenues through higher-value baskets. The company raised additional growth capital to scale operations and handle a high volume of incoming requests. Management says the funding will also let Nezasa pursue new business opportunities as the travel market recovers after COVID. Manuel Hilty, co-founder and CEO, commented that the company is now well positioned to capture additional market share and advance digitalization and personalization for travel providers. Nezasa offers a booking platform that enables tour operators and travel retailers to automate the offering, customization and booking of trips. The platform allows consumers and travel agents to plan, personalize and book trips within minutes while showing how changes affect the entire travel plan. Using Nezasa, tour operators can attract more clients and reduce their cost to serve. Today more than 12,000 travel agents have access to the Nezasa platform; clients include FTI Touristik, Viamonda, Fineway, Berge & Meer, vtours and Swiss Travel Centre. The company will use the CHF 2.5 million Series A to accelerate sales and marketing and to execute its product roadmap. Management also plans to expand marketing and sales capabilities to tap into international markets. Nezasa offers a one-stop platform to design and book personalised travel itineraries, combining the service of an offline travel agency with the immediacy and transparent pricing of an online site. Travellers tell Nezasa where they want to go and receive suggested routes from destination experts, then fine-tune duration, stops and activities. The platform consolidates bookings for hotels, transfers and activities, and customers are supported by a local tour operator upon arrival. Nezasa is currently targeting travellers from English-speaking countries but plans to roll out globally. Its offered destinations span seven Asian countries, with plans to expand to more of Asia, then Africa, and finally Latin America. The company has pursued airline partnerships (it recently joined forces with Austrian Airlines) to accelerate growth and has raised just over $1.1 million to date.

Led · Convertible Note · May 2023

LEDCity develops an intelligent lighting system that uses smart algorithms and sensors to reduce energy consumption by 50–70% compared with modern sensor-controlled LED lighting. The Zurich-based cleantech startup has built a portfolio of more than 380 customers and has been mainly bootstrapped to date. LEDCity has received recognition in industry programs (Venture Leaders Deeptech 2021) and was ranked in the TOP 100 Swiss Startup Awards in 2022. The company plans to use recent financing to further optimize its product, accelerate international expansion (targeting Spain and Germany) and prepare for a forthcoming Series A. CEO and founder Patrik Deuss said the debt capital will enable further investment in solutions and expansion efforts. LEDCity is also nominated in this year’s Green Business Award and aims to scale quickly to capture growth driven by the lighting market, the energy crisis and regulatory tailwinds. LEDCity builds an intelligent lighting solution that uses up to 50 times more sensors per area and AI-optimized algorithms to control light locally, decentralised and continuously. The system adapts lighting intensity automatically and unobtrusively to the environment, aiming to reduce global lighting electricity use by 80 percent. The startup plans continued product development and further algorithm work to drive energy savings and add features. The recent CHF 2 million financing will support international expansion, product development and team growth. LEDCity intends to grow its sales team in western Switzerland and establish its products in Germany. The company evolved from two founders working on the idea in early 2017 and had over 25 employees by 2021.

Participated · Series B · Mar 2023

BlocPower, founded in 2014 and led by CEO Donnel Baird, is an NYC-based climate technology company that develops software and financing to decarbonize buildings. Its core product is the proprietary BlocMaps SaaS analytics platform and associated software used for analysis, leasing, project management, and monitoring of clean energy projects. The company has completed energy projects in more than 5,000 apartments, homes, houses of worship and commercial buildings and reports 4,000% revenue growth since its 2020 Series A. BlocPower plans to use the new capital to further develop BlocMaps, expand financing and administrative capabilities, and broaden its Civilian Climate Corps green workforce initiative. The Civilian Climate Corps trains and hires at-risk individuals and has secured city contracts including a two-year, $108m NYC award and an earlier $37m contract; the company opened training facilities in Brooklyn and the Bronx. To date BlocPower has raised over $250m and is deploying its software to support city-scale decarbonization projects in multiple U.S. cities. BlocPower develops and deploys clean-energy retrofits for urban, small- and medium-sized buildings using proprietary software for analysis, leasing, project management and monitoring. Its machine-learning platform identifies high-impact retrofits and the company uses cloud and IoT to gather data and remotely monitor energy consumption. As a Public Benefit Corporation, BlocPower partners with utilities, government agencies and building owners to retrofit unhealthy, energy-wasting buildings. It created an innovative financing solution that enables building owners to implement energy-efficiency improvements with no out-of-pocket cost. BlocPower has completed retrofits in more than 1,000 buildings in New York City and has projects underway in 24 cities, including Philadelphia, Milwaukee and Oakland. The company plans to expand and scale its inner-city energy retrofit projects across the U.S., create jobs, and will soon offer Environmental Justice Impact Green Bonds to institutional investors to help finance future projects.

Led · Series B · Feb 2023

Taurus provides enterprise-grade infrastructure to issue, custody and trade digital assets — including cryptocurrencies with staking, tokenized assets and digital currencies — and operates a regulated marketplace for private assets and tokenized securities. The company serves the full spectrum of financial institutions, working with more than 25 financial institutions and corporate clients across eight countries and three continents, including banks such as Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Pictet and Arab Bank Switzerland. Taurus focuses on the banking segment and is entrusted by systemic banks, universal banks, online banks, crypto-banks, private banks, investment banks and broker-dealers. The company plans to use recent funding to hire engineering talent to further develop its platform and to expand its sales and customer-success organizations. Taurus intends to open new offices in Europe and the UAE, followed by the Americas and Southeast Asia, to get closer to clients. It also plans to maintain stringent security, risk and compliance requirements across product lines, processes and the organization.