Forestay Capital II: A New Player in European Venture Capital
Forestay, a venture capital firm based in Geneva, Switzerland, has recently closed its second fund, Forestay Capital II, at a hard cap of $220 million. While relatively unknown in Europe, Forestay gained recognition by leading rounds in enterprise startups, such as scanning software startup Scandit. With $273 million raised to date, Scandit has become a notable success story out of Zurich.
Investing primarily in Europe and Israel, Forestay Capital II aims to lead growth rounds of $10-15 million at the inflection point of a company. The firm has already backed 13 companies, including K2View, Nexthink, Scandit, and Wasabi. Three of these companies have reached unicorn status, while two have been successfully acquired. One of their recent investments is Neural Concept, a company spun out from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne. Neural Concept raised $27 million in a Series B round to enhance fast manufacturing design with AI.
One of Forestay’s notable investments was in Portugal’s ‘predictive maintenance’ startup Stratio. The firm led the A round for Stratio with a $12 million Series A back in 2021.
Forestay originated as a fund of B-FLEXION, the private investment vehicle established by the Bertarelli family. The Bertarelli family is renowned for transforming Serono into the third-largest biotech business globally before its merger with Merck KGaA. Forestay is currently led by Frederic Wohlwend, the former Global Chief Digital Officer of Merck KGaA and Serono.
Wohlwend explained Forestay’s focus on enterprise and enterprise AI, stating, “As Chief Digital Officer in large corporations, mainly in the biopharma clinical space, I had the chance to look at the entire value chain…So by knowing the enterprise inside out, that’s why we decided to focus on enterprise and enterprise AI.”
Forestay differentiates itself by specializing exclusively in enterprise AI and SaaS investments while excluding hardware ventures. The firm primarily operates in Series B, although it may consider investments in earlier or later stages. Forestay positions itself as a “nearly-growth” fund, targeting companies at the inflection point when they start generating revenue.
Forestay’s new fund has gained support from Anaïs Ventures, the investment vehicle for members of the Firmenich family, known for their perfume empire. Julien Firmenich praised Forestay’s investment strategy and operational expertise as being aligned with their vision.
Europe’s fragmented consumer markets, both in terms of geography and language, have created a thriving market for SaaS and enterprise. While growth capital is often more challenging to obtain in Europe compared to the US, the emergence of firms like Forestay provides more options for growth-stage startups.
In conclusion, Forestay Capital II’s successful fund closure demonstrates the growing interest in European venture capital. With a focused investment strategy on enterprise AI and SaaS and a team experienced in the corporate landscape, Forestay aims to support and propel the growth of innovative startups in Europe and Israel.
