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About

The Venture Asset Management Initiative equips finance professionals with a better understanding of the venture capital market.

About

The Venture Asset Management Initiative equips finance professionals with a better understanding of the venture capital market.

The Venture Asset Management Initiative is dedicated to accelerating and deepening academic and investor practitioner understanding of, and competence in, venture asset management in Switzerland and Europe. Partnering with Swiss Ventures Group (SWVG), a privately funded group that has become one of the most active early-stage investors in Switzerland, the initiative has been established as an innovation hub to create valuable academic research.

The Venture Asset Management Initiative focuses on:

Research and thought leadership

Through our research, we aim to expand the general body of knowledge on venture investing and venture asset management.

Education and training

We train the next generation of investment professionals through our annual two-day program.

Community building

We convene academics, venture capital professionals, institutional investors, and entrepreneurs to drive engagement and improve understanding on venture capital asset management.

With this new collaboration, IMD can demonstrate its unique expertise in the startup area and offer interested parties the opportunity to broaden their knowledge around startups, understand their requirements, and anticipate their needs.

Karl Schmedders Professor of Finance at IMD

Entrepreneurs move society forward. Without them, it stagnates. We need entrepreneurs to do big, bold things that help solve the world’s problems – and the VCs who financially support them.

VCs’ access to capital typically comes from people and organizations that do not understand the world of venturing, or what drives entrepreneurs. Helping these organizations is the goal of this research project and the programs it spawns.

Jim Pulcrano Professor of Entrepreneurship and Management at IMD

This unique collaboration will accelerate the understanding, awareness, and expertise in venture asset management across Switzerland and Europe. With our unique professional network, we will support bridging the gap between the status quo and the dynamic potential of venture asset management. It is my belief that our initiative will play a fundamental role in developing and elevating this field.

Mike Baur Chief Executive Officer at Swiss Ventures Group

There is enough innovation and creativity in Switzerland and Europe to compete with other countries in terms of quality of startups. Where we lag behind is in the area of funding capabilities. European risk capital is scarce and there is less risk taking; through this project we hope to promote venture capital as a new asset class in Europe.

Michel Demaré Chairman of the Foundation and Supervisory Boards at IMD and Chair of the Board at AstraZeneca Plc

Karl Schmedders

Professor of Finance

Karl Schmedders is Professor of Finance. His research and teaching focuses on sustainability and the economics of climate change. He is therefore able to provide key insights on the transition risk arising from the shift to a greener economy and help companies face up to the challenges of potential asset degradation and increasing carbon prices. …

Our programs

The Venture Asset Management Program

In partnership with SWVG, IMD has created a dedicated annual executive education program for experienced investment professionals that want to deepen their understanding of the venture capital market.

The two-and-a-half-day in-person program, hosted at IMD’s Lausanne campus, is focused on building solid foundational knowledge on the risks and opportunities of investing in venture assets and developing a community and platform for peer exchange in Europe. Dedicated experts from the field provide insights into the latest research and participants on the course can expect to gain high-quality and actionable insights that will have a direct impact on their interactions with the Swiss and European startup environments.

Find out more