Geneva VC Forestay Capital secures USD 220 million towards Enterprise AI and SaaS

Forestay Capital, a Geneva-based venture capital firm specializing in growth-stage investments, has closed its second fund at USD 220 million, backed by major European and Swiss family offices.

Forestay Capital, one of the few Swiss venture capital firms focused on growth stage investments, has successfully closed its second fund, Forestay Capital II ILP (“Forestay II”), with USD 220 million in commitments. Founded as an enterprise technology fund by B-FLEXION, the private entrepreneurial investment firm founded by the Bertarelli family, Forestay is led by Frederic Wohlwend, former Global Chief Digital Officer of Serono and Merck KGaA.

The first fund, Forestay I, demonstrated the effectiveness of Forestay’s focused investment strategy by backing 13 companies, including Wasabi, Nexthink, Scandit and K2View, of which three achieved unicorn status and two were acquired. The fund achieved an impressive average gross IRR of over 50%. Swiss companies backed by Forestay I included Nexthink, Scandit, Bluebotics and Kandou.

Forestay II aims to continue this success by investing primarily in fast-growing Enterprise AI and Software as a Service (SaaS) technology companies. With a focused portfolio strategy, Forestay II will concentrate its investments in Europe and Israel. The fund targets an early growth investment sweet spot of $10-15 million, partnering with visionary teams at growth inflection points to catalyze accelerated growth. Forestay II’s first investments include Israeli cybersecurity solution Veriti and Swiss engineering intelligence company Neural Concept.

“The close of Forestay II is evidence of the success of our investment strategy,” commented Fred Wohlwend, Founding and Managing Partner of Forestay Capital. “Our strategic focus allowed us to cultivate a concentrated portfolio of future category leaders in Enterprise AI and SaaS, and we are well-positioned to continue to drive innovation and scale within the sector with Forestay II.”

Forestay II has received support from major family offices in Europe and Switzerland, including a partnership with Anaïs Ventures, the investment vehicle for certain members of the Firmenich family. Julien Firmenich, a limited partner in Forestay II, commented, “Forestay’s focused investment strategy and operational acumen, honed through years of industry experience, align perfectly with our vision. We are excited to be part of Forestay II and look forward to driving innovation alongside them.”