Founderful
Founderful is a Zürich-based pre-seed venture fund, formerly Wingman Ventures, that writes Swiss tech founders their first cheque across software, deep tech, and clean tech. It is a generalist, not a water fund; (don't) Waste Water tracks three of its water bets, Oxyle, CyanoGuard, and Nala Earth, across four deals.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
Founderful is the Zürich pre-seed fund that spent its first years as Wingman Ventures, founded in 2019 by three operators who had already built Swiss companies: Pascal Mathis of the travel unicorn GetYourGuide, Lukas Weder of the food-delivery business EAT.ch, and Alex Stöckl, who had been investing at Creathor Ventures. In November 2024 it closed an oversubscribed second fund of $140 million, on top of a $90 million first fund it had already deployed into roughly 40 startups.
Founderful writes a founder's first institutional cheque, the pre-seed round that comes before almost anyone else will commit, and it backs Swiss tech across software, robotics, deep tech and material science rather than any single sector. Water is not its theme, which is exactly why its water bets are worth a newcomer's notice. (don't) Waste Water tracks three of them across four deals, and all three are Swiss science spun out into a company.
The clearest is Oxyle, an ETH Zurich spin-off whose reactors destroy PFAS, the 'forever chemicals' that ordinary treatment plants only move around rather than break apart; Founderful was an early backer. The other two read water through a sensor and a dataset: CyanoGuard, whose electrochemical micro-sensors read water chemistry on the spot, and Nala Earth, whose software turns geospatial and scientific data into a picture of nature and water risk.
For a newcomer, Founderful is what water looks like from a generalist Swiss seed fund: not treatment plants and pipelines, but young founders turning a university lab result into a company, with water showing up wherever the science points. With a fresh $140 million to deploy, the question is how many more of those water spin-outs make the cut as Founderful writes its next wave of first cheques.
Water Commitment Score
Compiled from official filings, third-party records, and direct intelligence from investors and founders, in Leviathan · recomputed monthly · as of Jun 2026.
How they invest
Portfolio · 3 water companies
Invests alongside
Highlighted = profiled on (don't) Waste Water.
Frequently asked
- What does Founderful invest in?
- Founderful invests in Swiss tech startups at the pre-seed and seed stage, across software, deep tech, robotics, and material science rather than any single industry. Within that generalist portfolio, (don't) Waste Water tracks three water companies: Oxyle, which destroys PFAS in water, the sensor maker CyanoGuard, and the nature-data platform Nala Earth.
- Who runs Founderful?
- Founderful was co-founded in 2019 by Pascal Mathis, who co-founded the travel unicorn GetYourGuide, Lukas Weder, who built the food-delivery company EAT.ch, and Alex Stöckl, who previously invested at Creathor Ventures. The three founding partners run the fund from Zürich, alongside principal Edouard Treccani.
- Is Founderful the same as Wingman Ventures?
- Yes. Founderful is the new name of Wingman Ventures, the Zürich pre-seed fund that rebranded in 2024. The founders, team, and portfolio did not change; only the name did. Its LinkedIn company page still resolves under the former Wingman Ventures handle.
- What stage does Founderful invest at?
- Founderful invests at the earliest stage, writing a startup's first institutional cheque at pre-seed, then following into seed rounds. Its water bets fit that pattern: it backed the PFAS-destruction company Oxyle and the water-sensor firm CyanoGuard early, before larger investors arrived.
- Where is Founderful based?
- Founderful is based in Zürich, Switzerland, and invests almost entirely in Swiss tech founders, many of them spin-offs from universities such as ETH Zurich and EPFL. Founded in 2019, it has raised two funds, a $90 million Fund I and an oversubscribed $140 million Fund II.