Backbone Ventures has successfully completed the fundraising for its new 5502 Fund. The company intends to use the fund to invest in around 30 start-ups founded by migrants or other underrepresented groups such as women.
Investment company Backbone Ventures announces the final closing of its 5502 Fund at the original target size of EUR 20 million. The 5502 Fund, named after the postcode of the Chilean home village of one of the partners, is the first venture capital fund in continental Europe to invest specifically in migrant and other underrepresented founders.
Since the first closing at the end of 2022, the Backbone Ventures 5502 Fund has built a strong portfolio of 8 start-ups. Among them is the digital health startup Aepsy from Switzerland. In all investments, the majority of shares are held by women or founders with a migration background.
The fund supports the founders at the beginning of their entrepreneurial journey in the pre-seed phase and plans to make at least 20 further investments. Geographically, the fund will invest in approximately as many German as Swiss start-ups.
"Entrepreneurial courage, dedication, work ethic and resilience - all of these are needed for founders to be successful with their start-ups. We find these characteristics particularly often in those founders who are actually structurally disadvantaged, be it due to their migration history, their gender or their socio-economic background. We are now dedicating a separate venture capital fund to these founders. It is named after the place where my own migration story began," says Dr Jan Claudio Muñoz, General Partner at Backbone Ventures.
Backbone Ventures was founded in 2018 and has since invested in over 35 start-ups. The VC has offices in Frankfurt and Zurich with four people working out of Zurich.
(Press release / SK)
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