We are founders and investors with more than three decades of experience in building companies from day one to exit.
We provide extensive experience and commit to a hands-on operational investor approach with deep partner involvement.
We maintain transparency, simplicity, and humility.
The passion to work with great people is what drives us.
Software and tech are fundamental drivers of change and growth. We bring decades of experience in B2B software and deep tech to the table. This is what we understand and where we can have a positive impact.
There is no such thing as too early. We often talk to founders before a product exists, not to mention revenue. Typically we invest between 500k - 1.5m in (pre)-seed rounds. In 75% of the cases we are in the lead.
We are absolutely convinced that people make the key difference. We seek future innovators which can demonstrate empathy, resilience and a growth mindset.
Martin has 30 years experience in information technology. He was the founder and CEO/CTO of a number of companies including Active-Net AG, a leading Swiss ISP sold to UUNET 1999; BCAP AG, a Venture capital fund; Celeris AG, an internet security company sold to Swisscom 2005; replica, an online music company. He also served as CIO (Chief Information Officer) in one of Australia's largest companys, CSR Ltd. between 2007 and 2009. Since 2010, he has helped a number of companies with seed funding and close mentorship in all aspects of building a successful business. Among them Bexio AG, a SaaS company serving the Swiss SME market, where he was the seed investor and Executive Chairman, prior to the company's sale to Mobiliar insurance in 2018. Martin currently serves as a board member of Baggenstos AG, Bexio AG and Saporo AG.
Philippe has been passionate about the Internet since the nineties. He spent the first part of his career in investment banking, angel investing into consumer and tech startups and co-founding a wealth management boutique. Philippe was a first check investor in On Running and its Chairman from 2013 to 2018. He was an angel investor in SaaS company Bexio, which was sold to Mobiliar, an angel investor in UK digital wealth management company Nutmeg, which was sold to J.P. Morgan and currently serves as board member of several European startups. Philippe is a graduate of the University of St. Gallen with an MBA in finance.
Jeremias brings 15 years of experience as a serial founder and CEO. His first company, a web development provider, was acquired by PWC. He then co-founded the market-leading SaaS accounting company bexio and led it to a successful exit. Today, Jeremias supports (SaaS) startups as a mentor, board member and investor. At session.vc he assists selected investments hands-on in company building, data-driven marketing and how to scale sales.
Vanessa has extensive experience in the technology industry, specializing in e-commerce and productivity software. She has a track record as an entrepreneur, having co-founded two companies incl. one exit. Vanessa has also worked as a technology consultant at Accenture and has held positions in business development, technology and marketing at emerging companies. Vanessa holds an MBA from HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, where she is an active mentor in the Venture Capital Club.
Stefan is a Co-Founder of Bexio. As Product Lead he was responsible for the multiple award-winning “Business Software from the Cloud”, which has over 30’000 SMB customers and was sold to the Swiss insurance company Mobiliar in summer 2018. Today Stefan is an investor and advisor for ICT start-ups and venture capital companies.
Sam is a member of On Running’s Executive Team and oversees its Direct to Consumer (DTC) division, including all of On’s ecommerce, own retail and customer experience. Prior to joining On in early 2017, Sam worked for six years at McKinsey & Company in Zurich, London and New York. Sam started out investing in fellow entrepreneurs early on and has co-invested alongside session.vc on several occasions. He helps session.venture to assess possible investment opportunities and acts as an advisor to existing portfolio companies, especially around digital and DTC topics.
For us the most important criteria is the team. That is really the single most important criteria. We work with founding teams that not only have the necessary skills and experience but are driven to solve relevant problems in large markets through technology. In addition, we only invest when we are convinced that we can deliver value. That is why our focus is primarily on B2B and deep tech startups in the DACH region.
We support founding teams in all aspects of building a successful company. Our complementary team has experience in Product, Technology, Financing, Strategy, Company Building and Go To Market. The support we provide is based on your needs. We can get very operational or enjoy watching your company thrive. When we are in the lead we usually have a board seat. That means we invest a lot of time to support and coach our founders in the best possible way. This usually goes much further than simply attending board meetings and reporting calls. But to be clear: You run the show!
Once we are in touch and we believe that your startup could be a good fit for us, we make a first call. Afterwards we discuss the case in the team. For most, the process ends here. If we go deeper, another partner will join the discussion and more calls will follow. This process can take 1-2 weeks. It is important for us to get to know each other well and also to understand if and how we can help you.
Please use this form to submit your pitch deck. We will look at all decks and get back to you if your startup might be a good fit for us. Please understand that we cannot give detailed feedback on every deck. Another effective way to get in touch with us is of course a warm introduction.