Alt Investments
Swiss Single-Family Office Targets "Venture Secondaries," "Late-Stage Primaries" Sectors
As VC assets have expanded rapidly, faster than the pace of IPOs and M&A activity, the unspent capital – "dry powder" – available for the market has expanded. Investors are looking at the secondaries market as a source of liquidity. This is an example of the market for private investments maturing and becoming more complex.
A Basel-based single-family office, Infinitas Capital,
has launched Opportuna, an investment entity that has rolled out
a strategy focused on direct “venture secondaries” and
“late-stage primaries.”
The SFO has been created by Switzerland’s Lauber
family.
(The venture capital secondary market allows investors to sell
shares of their portfolio companies before the company has had a
proper exit. A late primary allows an investor to commit to a
fund that is still in fundraising mode and has already invested
in assets.)
Opportuna, which is headquartered in Zurich, is targeting $30
million with its first strategy, exploiting rising demand for
liquidity in the world’s venture capital market.
“Venture secondaries, once underappreciated and often
misunderstood, are now poised for considerable growth over the
next decade,” Infinitas Capital said in a statement.
The investment vehicle is set to be fully deployed within five
months, with a first fundraising deadline set for December.
Infinitas Capital said the venture secondaries market is rising.
Over the last decade, the growth of venture assets has outpaced
exits via initial public offerings, mergers and acquisitions,
causing a backlog of $3 trillion of “unicorn value” across the US
and Europe. Investors are increasingly turning to venture
secondaries to access liquidity in an environment where
traditional exit opportunities are being blocked off.
Dissatisfied with what family offices have access to, Infinitas
Capital decided to incubate its own strategy –
Opportuna.
“Venture secondaries have consistently delivered better
risk-adjusted returns compared to primary venture capital
investments, due to factors such as mature asset exposure,
value-adding liquidity, and the ability to capitalise on
supply-demand mismatches in the market,” Robin Lauber (pictured),
CEO and co-founder of Infinitas Capital, said.
“Recent reports indicate that venture secondary pricing reached a
10-year low in 2022, and investor participation in this asset
class has almost doubled in the past four years. With market
volumes at historic highs in the first half of 2024, experts
predict a doubling in volumes over the next five years,” he
said.
Besides Robin Lauber, other figures at the family office include
partners Davide Ottolini, Christopher Chuffart, Michael
Vermueulen, and Lea C Henzgen, according to the organisation’s
website.
The Lauber family built its wealth in the property market. Robin
Lauber is a third-generation heir, and has already been involved
in a number of investment ventures.