SVC Ltd. for Risk Capital for SMEs invests in Ava AG

Credit Suisse subsidiary SVC Ltd. for Risk Capital for SMEs, founded in 2010, provides Swiss SMEs and start-up companies with a total of CHF 130 million in venture capital. With the investment in Ava, SVC AG is now making a further commitment in the field of medical technology (MedTech). In addition to the convincing product, business model and management, the promising growth potential of the company was also decisive for the investment decision. 

As the leading bank for entrepreneurs, Credit Suisse is committed to strengthening and further promoting Switzerland as a business hub through various measures. This also includes the provision of venture capital to innovative SMEs with growth potential. SVC Ltd. for Risk Capital for SMEs, the investment vehicle created for this purpose eight years ago, has now made another MedTech investment as part of Ava’s current financing round. Together with robotics & automation and fintech, this area is one of SVC Ltd.’s three investment focuses. 

Ava is a Swiss-based start-up based in Zurich and San Francisco. The company has developed a bracelet of the same name with a mobile app that provides women with information about their menstrual cycle by recording various physiological parameters. It also provides users with reliable data on their fertile phases, the course of their pregnancy and their general state of health. 

For the independently acting Investment Committee of SVC Ltd., the sophisticated product, the management and the underlying business model were decisive for participating in the company’s “Series B” financing round, in which Ava was able to raise a total of 30 million US dollars. In addition, the Investment Committee considers MedTech to be one of the driving industries of the future, especially in Switzerland. 

Didier Denat, Chairman of the Board of Directors of SVC Ltd. and Head of Corporate Banking & Investment Banking at Credit Suisse (Switzerland) Ltd., comments: “The commitment to Ava demonstrates the great potential that we believe the company has for further growth. With this product, Ava has succeeded in combining a fundamental topic for women with technological innovation, big data and machine learning. Ava’s success to date shows that MedTech is also becoming increasingly relevant for personal use and thus a consumer good. At the same time, Ava is an excellent example of the innovative power of the Swiss start-up and SME landscape.” 

About “SVC Ltd. for Risk Capital for SMEs”

SVC Ltd. for Risk Capital for SMEs (SVC Ltd.) was founded in May 2010 in collaboration with the Swiss Venture Club as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Credit Suisse. Its stated aim is to create new jobs or secure existing ones and thus strengthen Switzerland’s position as a center for business and employment. SVC Ltd. provides small and medium-sized enterprises and young entrepreneurs with venture capital totaling around 130 million Swiss francs. To date, investments in 45 companies have been made. The beneficiaries are innovative companies in different stages of their life cycles from around the country. Helvetica Capital AG has been responsible for investment portfolio management on behalf of SVC AG since September 2015. The company is managed at strategic level by a broad-based Board of Directors with the support of an operations team. 

About Ava

Founded in Switzerland in 2014 by industry leaders in wearable technology, women’s health, and data science, Ava is a medical technology company dedicated to bringing innovation to women’s reproductive health. The Ava bracelet, which received The Bump “Best of Baby Tech CES 2017” award for fertility and pregnancy and the Women’s Health “Editors’ Choice” award, is the company’s first consumer-facing medical device. Ava uses sensor technology, clinical research, and data science to precisely monitor a woman’s menstrual cycle or pregnancy in real time. The company is also conducting clinical studies to adapt and expand its algorithms for use as a non-hormonal contraceptive device. Ava has operations in Zurich and San Francisco. 

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