Assessing, evaluating and judging - what is it like to be a Venture Kick jury member?
16.10.2018
Venture Kick has been kicking Swiss startups for over 10 years. Many of our alumni have reached global status and have been become scaleup companies. Part of this success comes from the quality of the jury assessing the many projects presented each year. From evaluating trough supporting to investing, the Venture Kick jury counts 150+ pool of experts and investors, offering a concrete support to the Venture Kickers.
.png) Wissam Mansour, CEO and founder of Neventa Capital
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We often hear about the Venture Kick sessions from the startups perspective, but what is like from the other end of table? Meet Wissam Mansour, CEO and founder of Neventa Capital, who has been a jury member for the past four years. He shares with us his thoughts on the Venture Kick process and how it allows him, and his investment firm, to connect with startups with promising technologies.
Can you tell us a bit more about more about you and your background?
Originally from Jordan, I have been evolving in the Swiss investment, banking and innovation sector for more than 17 years and am the founder and CEO of Neventa Capital. Following a degree in finance and banking, and an MBA, I co-founded the MIG Bank in 2003. I occupied the position of CIO and was a member of the executive committee. MIG bank was amongst the leading online trading specialized banks worldwide with branches in Lausanne, Zurich, London and Hong Kong. When we started operations, we were only three and we grew the business to nearly 200 employees. We had clients from around 120 countries, with a trading volume between 80 to 85 billion on a monthly basis and 65 thousand transactions per day. The company later merged with the Swiss online bank Swissquote at the end of 2013. Since then, I have been really involved in the startup ecosystem and I became a Venture Kick jury member.
What led you to launch Neventa? What are the fund objectives?
The idea behind establishing Neventa Capital, is to invest in promising companies that have a high potential for growth. Based in Geneva, Neventa is a growth capital firm, investing in technological SMEs. We want to partner with great entrepreneurs and companies that have proven technologies and established products. Our investment strategy is to approach startups and SME’s when they are at a late stage investment. We would typically invest around or after a series B funding round. Sometimes, we might invest in earlier stage companies when they have started sales and have clients before reaching the B round.
For how long have you been a Venture Kick jury member, what did becoming a jury member bring you? What are your hopes for the future?
I have had a personal interest in startups for a long time and becoming a jury member allowed me to be more involved in this ecosystem, to know the startups from an early point. I really liked the idea to invest and develop companies, and this is why I founded Neventa.
I joined the jury in 2014 through my network. The whole idea of being a jury member, which is very important to me as well as to Neventa, is really the chance to know entrepreneurs early on, stay in touch with them, follow their evolution, try to coach them as much as possible to help make sure they reach their maximum potential with their revolutionary ideas. We are not looking into investing in them at this point since most of the startups in the Venture Kick process are early stage. However, we know Venture Kick kicks high-quality projects. Therefore, as a jury member, I can have a first contact with promising startups, identify interesting cases, and stay in touch for future rounds.
Speaking on behalf of the other jury members, I would say that every session is quite interesting. You get to be exposed to so many sectors from life science, engineering, ICT, AI and others. You see different visions and approaches to solve global issues. I hope to continue to be in the jury for a long time. It is a rich and fun experience.
As for Neventa, we want to make sure we invest in the right companies and that means spotting them early on. Switzerland has a unique worldwide position in terms of innovation. We have seen it in several reports, for example in the Global Innovation Index, where Switzerland holds the number one spot and has for several years now. Switzerland is a technology and innovation pioneer in different sectors which makes its startups very interesting for investors. The Swiss ecosystem has matured dramatically for the last 10 years, allowing high-quality technology to emerge from the Swiss market.
Can you tell us a bit more about more about you and your background?
Originally from Jordan, I have been evolving in the Swiss investment, banking and innovation sector for more than 17 years and am the founder and CEO of Neventa Capital. Following a degree in finance and banking, and an MBA, I co-founded the MIG Bank in 2003. I occupied the position of CIO and was a member of the executive committee. MIG bank was amongst the leading online trading specialized banks worldwide with branches in Lausanne, Zurich, London and Hong Kong. When we started operations, we were only three and we grew the business to nearly 200 employees. We had clients from around 120 countries, with a trading volume between 80 to 85 billion on a monthly basis and 65 thousand transactions per day. The company later merged with the Swiss online bank Swissquote at the end of 2013. Since then, I have been really involved in the startup ecosystem and I became a Venture Kick jury member.
What led you to launch Neventa? What are the fund objectives?
The idea behind establishing Neventa Capital, is to invest in promising companies that have a high potential for growth. Based in Geneva, Neventa is a growth capital firm, investing in technological SMEs. We want to partner with great entrepreneurs and companies that have proven technologies and established products. Our investment strategy is to approach startups and SME’s when they are at a late stage investment. We would typically invest around or after a series B funding round. Sometimes, we might invest in earlier stage companies when they have started sales and have clients before reaching the B round.
For how long have you been a Venture Kick jury member, what did becoming a jury member bring you? What are your hopes for the future?
I have had a personal interest in startups for a long time and becoming a jury member allowed me to be more involved in this ecosystem, to know the startups from an early point. I really liked the idea to invest and develop companies, and this is why I founded Neventa.
I joined the jury in 2014 through my network. The whole idea of being a jury member, which is very important to me as well as to Neventa, is really the chance to know entrepreneurs early on, stay in touch with them, follow their evolution, try to coach them as much as possible to help make sure they reach their maximum potential with their revolutionary ideas. We are not looking into investing in them at this point since most of the startups in the Venture Kick process are early stage. However, we know Venture Kick kicks high-quality projects. Therefore, as a jury member, I can have a first contact with promising startups, identify interesting cases, and stay in touch for future rounds.
Speaking on behalf of the other jury members, I would say that every session is quite interesting. You get to be exposed to so many sectors from life science, engineering, ICT, AI and others. You see different visions and approaches to solve global issues. I hope to continue to be in the jury for a long time. It is a rich and fun experience.
As for Neventa, we want to make sure we invest in the right companies and that means spotting them early on. Switzerland has a unique worldwide position in terms of innovation. We have seen it in several reports, for example in the Global Innovation Index, where Switzerland holds the number one spot and has for several years now. Switzerland is a technology and innovation pioneer in different sectors which makes its startups very interesting for investors. The Swiss ecosystem has matured dramatically for the last 10 years, allowing high-quality technology to emerge from the Swiss market.