NextGen Circle
[ Family Business Venturing Edition ]
Family businesses stay relevant by letting new talent and new ideas in. When it comes to venturing, most have the means, fewer have made the move. A morning on how to start.
Family businesses endure when they renew themselves: new talent from inside and outside the family, and real innovation brought into the core. Venturing is one of the most direct ways to do both, yet most family firms are more able than willing. The capital, the networks, and the patience are there. The playbook often isn't.
Together with FBN NxG Switzerland, we get concrete: how to take the first step, which venture vehicles exist - from direct investments to funds to venture building - and what each one demands of the family. Then we go into practice, with NextGens sharing their own venturing journeys and a Zürich-based VC bringing the investor's view: what worked, what didn't, and what they'd do differently.
An open, relaxed panel morning: NextGens from our circle and FBN NxG Switzerland who've made the move into venturing share what they've learned. In short: thirty guests, fresh coffee from the ViCAFE roastery, food for thought, and good conversations stretching into lunch.
Damian Felchlin NextGen, Max Felchlin AG, Entrepreneur & Venture Builder
Raised in the family behind Max Felchlin AG, the century-old Swiss couverture chocolate house, Damian went the founder route himself - co-founding plant-based food startup High Time Foods in Boston and launching Switzerland's first Venture Capital Academy together with UC Berkeley. He knows both sides: the heritage and the zero-to-one.
Cristina de Mendieta Founding Partner, GOTA Ventures, NextGen, S. de Mendieta S.A.
Cristina works at the intersection of food trade, innovation and venture investing - co-founder of GOTA Ventures, investing in early-stage food tech startups worldwide, and CEO of Mendicafé International, a subsidiary of her family's Swiss trading house with over 30 years in international food and agricultural business. The family-capital-meets-VC story in one person.
Leopold Schlenk Co-Founder, FamilienUnternehmerTUM, NextGen, SCHLENK SE
Leopold von Schlenk-Barnsdorf is a Supervisory Board member and fifth-generation shareholder of SCHLENK SE. He invests in early-stage B2B and deep tech startups as a Family Business Angel through his family investment holding. As NextGen of SCHLENK SE, he calls himself the family's "venture client" - he's lived the exact playbook this morning is about.
Noah Ghisleni Associate at Forlam Ventures, VP Operations & Growth
Noah brings the investor's view from Forlam Ventures, the Zürich firm that invests in and builds early-stage companies - among them ViCAFE, the specialty coffee roastery hosting us. From student-fund partner at S2S Ventures to investing alongside one of Zürich's entrepreneurial families, he knows what patient capital looks like when it's poured into a company for the long run - quite literally, in this case.
30 seats. First come, first served.
We love intimate settings, which is why your seat is confirmed upon commitment.
Questions? Your hosts Lisa (Dawn Ventures) lisa@dawnventures.ch and Nicolas (FBN NxG) n.staempfli@vinorama.ch are happy to help.