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Zebra Impact Ventures
Zebra Impact Ventures was co-founded in Geneva by Fabio Sofia, a former chair of Sustainable Finance Geneva, and Lionel Artusio-Payot, whose background...
Zebra Impact Ventures
Zebra Impact Ventures was co-founded in Geneva by Fabio Sofia, a former chair of Sustainable Finance Geneva, and Lionel Artusio-Payot, whose background spans VC and a deep-rooted family farming heritage. The firm brands itself around the 'zebra' model: companies with both black-and-white goals — profit and societal improvement — rejecting the unicorn disruption-only ethos. The firm deploys capital from early to growth-stage across nature-tech, with a concentrated sector focus on agri-food systems transformation, decarbonization, water and ocean technologies, transport and mobility, and energy and grid modernization. It structures investments through a dedicated fund vehicle — the Regenerative Growth I fund — and via deal-by-deal strategies. Confirmed portfolio actions include leading the $37M Series B round for AgroSpheres and a €27M raise for Micropep, both agritech plays. Geographic coverage spans Swiss and European innovation hubs, with investments reaching into US agritech through its portfolio. Zebra Impact Ventures operates as a lean Swiss boutique. The investment team includes five professionals with additional advisory firepower from figures like Jérôme Penot, a 20-year food and beverage and M&A veteran, and Karen E. Wilson, an Oxford associate fellow and former Index Ventures and OECD advisor. In May 2024 the firm announced its B Corp certification, reinforcing its governance structure. A partnership with Mirabaud to publish specialized agritech research signals a collaborative approach to building deal flow in a still-niche market. As an activist shareholder, Zebra Impact Ventures embeds impact action plans and measurement systems into its portfolio companies. This structural commitment — pairing venture capital upside with enforceable environmental outcomes — separates the firm from generalist climate funds that treat impact as a reporting exercise rather than a board-level mandate.
General information
Firm type
Private Equity
Year founded
—
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
Europe
Country
Switzerland
City
Geneva
Corporate office
Geneva, Switzerland
Principals
Fabio Sofia
Co-Founder
Lionel Artusio-Payot
Co-Founder
Pierre Jouve
Investment Professional
Lola Wolf
Analyst
Jérôme Penot
Advisor
Karen E. Wilson
Senior Advisor
Dominique Goy
Board Member
Benoit Dumont
Board Member
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Zebra Impact Ventures?
Co-founders Fabio Sofia and Lionel Artusio-Payot lead the investment team. Both sit on the firm's core team alongside three other investment professionals. Board members Dominique Goy and Benoit Dumont — both ex-JPMorgan and Lombard Odier — provide governance oversight. Senior Advisor Karen E. Wilson, an associate fellow at Oxford's Saïd Business School, contributes to impact measurement and investment strategy.
What is the 'zebra' model Zebra Impact Ventures uses?
The zebra model refers to companies that pursue a double bottom line — profitability and social improvement — rather than chasing the purely disruptive unicorn model. The firm claims this philosophy as its investment thesis, requiring portfolio companies to implement impact action plans with measurable strategies. An activist shareholder approach enforces these standards at the board level.
Does Zebra Impact Ventures operate a fund or do direct deals?
Zebra Impact Ventures uses a hybrid model. It has launched the Regenerative Growth I fund for pooled commitments and also executes deal-by-deal investment strategies. This structure allows the firm to syndicate specific opportunities with co-investors outside the fund vehicle.
What investment stages does Zebra Impact Ventures target?
The firm invests from early-stage to growth-stage companies in the nature-tech space. Recent deployments include leading a $37M Series B in AgroSpheres and participating as a growth investor in Micropep's €27M round, demonstrating capacity to lead later-stage agritech rounds.
Which sectors does Zebra Impact Ventures explicitly focus on?
The firm concentrates on five nature-tech verticals: agri-food systems transformation, decarbonization, water and ocean technologies, transport and mobility, and energy and grid modernization. Its portfolio to date shows heavy weighting toward agritech, including AgroSpheres and Micropep, with broader climate-tech ambitions across these sectors.
How does Zebra Impact Ventures source deals in agritech?
Co-founder Lionel Artusio-Payot leverages deep farming heritage and a large existing agritech portfolio to access European agri founders. The firm also publishes joint research on agritech with Mirabaud, a Swiss banking group, and draws on advisor Jérôme Penot's 20-year network in the global food and beverage industry to identify emerging food-tech startups.
Is Zebra Impact Ventures a single family office or an independent asset manager?
Zebra Impact Ventures is an independent asset manager structured as a Swiss-based private equity boutique. It is not a family office, though one board member — Lionel Artusio-Payot — serves as Investment Committee Chair for a top-three European agricultural family office, creating an institutional co-investment bridge.
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