# Seedstars

Seedstars is a Private Equity based in Geneva, Switzerland.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Private Equity
- **Headquarters:** Geneva, Switzerland
- **Region:** Europe
- **Address:** Geneva, Switzerland
- **Founded:** 2012
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** www.seedstars.com
- **LinkedIn:** https://ch.linkedin.com/company/seedstars

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

Our principal sectors of activity are: entrepreneurship capacity building, impact investment, community & events execution, market insights, program management, innovation advisory and talent development across all tech-enabled industries and emerging market geographies.

## Sectors

- Financial Services
- Education
- Technology

## Offices

- Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
- Cairo, Egypt
- Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
- Lagos, Nigeria
- Lima, Peru
- Mexico City, Mexico
- Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
- Yangon, Myanmar

## People

- Pierre-Alain Masson — CEO & Co-Founder
- Alisée de Tonnac — Co-CEO & Co-Founder
- Charlie Graham-Brown — General Partner
- Michael Weber — Co-Founder

## Questions

### Who runs investment decisions at Seedstars?

Charlie Graham-Brown is the General Partner overseeing Seedstars' investment activities. He built out the firm's fund platform, including Seedstars International Ventures and Seedstars Africa Ventures I, after joining from an investment-specialist background.

### How does Seedstars source proprietary deal flow?

Seedstars sources through its own competition — a multi-country, multi-round startup competition that runs local events in over 90 emerging and frontier markets. Winners and participants feed into the firm's pipeline, operating as a persistent, bottoms-up origination network rather than a convention-based referral funnel.

### Does Seedstars participate in fund commitments or only direct deals?

The firm primarily makes direct seed-stage equity investments through its own venture funds, such as Seedstars International Ventures and the Africa-focused vehicle. It also operates co-investment structures and manages third-party mandates like the SECO Startup Fund, but it does not market itself as a fund-of-funds allocator.

### What investment stages does Seedstars typically target?

Seedstars targets pre-seed and seed-stage companies across tech-enabled verticals. Its programs often work with very early-stage founders, while the venture funds focus on high-growth startups that have surfaced through the competition or community programs and are ready for initial institutional capital.

### Which sectors does Seedstars explicitly avoid?

Seedstars does not publish an explicit exclusion list, but its portfolio and described activities concentrate on tech-enabled businesses across financial services, digital education, and other impact-aligned verticals. It does not appear active in deep tech or hardware-heavy sectors that require large upfront R&D budgets or long science-risk timelines.

### How is Seedstars related to the SECO Startup Fund?

In January 2025, iGravity and Seedstars were jointly appointed to manage the SECO Startup Fund, a Swiss government vehicle that supports entrepreneurship in developing countries. Seedstars' role marks a notable expansion from proprietary fund management into a direct government-linked mandate, alongside a recognized impact-investment partner.

### What is Seedstars' known posture on co-investments alongside external GPs?

Seedstars will co-invest alongside development-finance institutions and impact-aligned investors, illustrated by the Africa Ventures I close that included the African Development Bank and EIB Global. The firm's model is more structured around its own competition-to-capital pipeline, but it does open syndicates with institutional co-investors on a deal-specific basis.

## Related profiles

- [SeedStake](https://altss.com/profile/seedstake)
- [Seedstars Africa Ventures](https://altss.com/profile/seedstars-africa-ventures)

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Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

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