The newly established Kickfund joined existing investors in providing additional capital to support Antefil’s mission of establishing a new standard in the efficient production of lightweight and sustainable composite structures. The investment follows the fund’s unique strategy of supporting winners of the esteemed Venture Kick competition.
Antefil Composite Tech, the Swiss start-up redefining the fast and efficient production of lightweight and sustainable composite structures, is pleased to onboard the Kickfund as a new investor. Antefil’s founding team won all three stages of the Venture Kick competition in 2021, contributing greatly to the founding and success of the company. The win also meant that Antefil became eligible to apply for support from the InnoBooster initiative by Gebert Rüf Stiftung, which was granted soon after. Now, the community around the philanthropic initiative keeps kicking Antefil to greater heights through the additional commitment of Kickfund Ventures Fund I.
“We are excited to see the progress Antefil has made since its Venture Kick win in late 2021. The founders managed to build a strong team around them on all levels and they are well underway on their pathway to industrialization.”, says Wanja Humanes, CEO of Kickfund.
“The support of the Kickfund will help to accelerate key activities related to ramping up our production capacity and ultimately enable Antefil to build strong partnerships to serve high-volume markets.”, adds Christoph Schneeberger, executive lead and co-founder at Antefil.
About Kickfund
Kickfund Ventures Fund I SCSp aims to invest in Swiss pre-seed and seed stage technology startups that have won the Venture Kick competition – an established startup competition and accelerator that has been supporting Swiss early-stage companies for over 15 years. It is a closed-end fund domiciled in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
The partnership was initiated and established by a group of people who are strong supporters of the startup and innovation ecosystem in Switzerland.
Kickfund AG is a FINMA-licensed portfolio manager acting as investment manager of the fund.
About Venture Kick
The Venture Kick philanthropic initiative provides up to CHF 150,000 in seed funding to Swiss startups and offers a well-structured entrepreneurial path toward building a winning business. Startups pitch to expert juries at three stages to obtain funding and gain direct feedback and access to an international network of 200 successful entrepreneurs and investors. Winners of Venture Kick are eligible for an InnoBooster grant of CHF 150,000 and an additional CHF 850,000 investment from the Kickfund.
Since its launch in 2007, Venture Kick has supported 1,029 Swiss startup projects with CHF 80 million. Thanks to financial support, coaching and networking with investors, this initiative has led to the emergence of 783 thriving startups and the creation of 13,305 jobs. Venture Kick alumni companies have attracted investments of CHF 8 billion in total and represent 64 companies ranked in the TOP 100 Swiss Startups in 2023 (www.top100startup.swiss).
In 2024, Venture Kick will support idea-stage startup projects with CHF 6.6 million to bring Swiss science to global markets.
Venture Kick, an initiative of the Kick Foundation, is supported by Gebert Rüf Stiftung, Ernst Göhner Stiftung, Fondation ALCEA, Hauser-Stiftung, André Hoffmann, Hansjörg Wyss, Martin Haefner, Fondation ProTechno, ESA BIC Switzerland, and Swisscom.
Find more information on venturekick.ch, with all startup projects supported by Venture Kick, and follow the success stories of our startups on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn.
About Antefil
Antefil Composite Tech offers a more cost-efficient and cleaner way to produce lightweight components for applications in mobility, transport, energy and sports goods. Its patent-pending technology allows the production of glass fibres that are individually coated with a meltable, recyclable plastic. With these fibres, lightweight structures can be manufactured using a minimal amount of pressure and heat.
The Antefil technology stands for an efficient, circular production of composites – even at a large scale. Economic advantages include time and energy savings because of shorter cycle times compared to state-of-the-art production methods, aerospace-grade component quality, and the materials’ recyclability.
Founded in 2022, the Swiss startup has already won various awards, such as the Venture Kick initiative and the ETH Zurich Spark Award. For more information about Antefil and its unique technology, visit their website: antefil.com.
Press Contact
Christoph Schneeberger
Co-founder & executive lead
cschneeberger@antefil.com
