Alexander Hübner, director of Moonshot.ch, and Axel Cavin, responsible for French-speaking Switzerland, offer to invest in private equity in the form of a subscription.
Investing in private markets by investing a certain amount each month like a subscription is the investment solution offered by Moonshot, a global network of investors based in Switzerland. What is the benefit for investors in opting for this form of investment? Interview with Alexander Hübner (AH), partner and co-founder of Moonshot Investor Network and Axel Cavin (AC), responsible for developing Moonshot.ch’s activities for French-speaking Switzerland and has nearly 10 years of experience in wealth management and in advice.
How was the idea born to create the Moonshot.ch platform which allows investors to have easier access to private investments such as private equity, venture capital (Venture Capital) or real estate with a technological dimension ( Tech-Enabled Real Estate) in particular?
Alexander Hübner: The development of Moonshot.ch was carried out gradually. As part of our activities in connection with Le Bijou, operator of apart-hotels in Swiss cities, we were regularly looking for capital and were often in contact with both private and institutional investors. We were doing a lot of fundraising work. Little by little, we realized that it was worth joining forces with other companies to raise funds. We also found that fundraising was a job in itself and we set up Moonshot for this purpose.
Furthermore, we have also noted that many private investments, whether private equity or venture capital, still remain difficult to access for investors, even when it comes to wealthy individuals. . Our idea was therefore to offer an entry point that was open to smaller “tickets”. Traditionally, many private equity funds only provided access to investments with starting amounts of several million dollars or francs. For our part, we want to make private placements accessible to a greater number of accredited investors through our platform.
“Many private investments, whether private equity or venture capital, still remain difficult to access for investors, even when it comes to wealthy individuals.”
What are the minimum amounts required to invest with Moonshot?
Axel Cavin: It depends on the investment offer that is chosen. If clients want to invest in specific companies, generally companies with a strong technology component, the minimum amount is $25,000. On the other hand, if they opt for a so-called portfolio strategy focused around a given theme such as artificial intelligence (AI), clean technologies (Cleantech) or real estate, it is possible to do so from a sum of 10,000 francs.
An amount to be paid in a single installment?
AC: No, and this is also one of Moonshot’s innovations. We offer the possibility of investing a regular amount each month in the form of a subscription, namely a monthly sum of 300 francs for a minimum period of three years. Of course, if an investor wants to invest more, he can subscribe to several offers, either by opting for different strategies – for example, Cleantech after having already invested in AI – or by staggering his investment over time. An investor can thus start paying a tranche of 300 francs per month in January, then continue with a second line of investment a few months later for example. In the future, we will certainly also offer investors the opportunity to invest exactly the amount they want per month.
If investors have no preference for a given strategy but still want exposure to private investments, do you also offer investments that mix these different strategies?
AC: Yes, we do this as part of our offering called “Infinity”. With this, investors have access to the investment solution which is by far the most diversified within the framework of our different offers.
“The interval between when start-ups begin operations and grow and when they choose to go public tends to get longer and longer.”
Apart from the themes that you have already mentioned, such as AI, Cleantech or real estate, will you expand your offer to other areas?
AH: It’s already the case. For example, we are developing an offer in the area called real assets or “Tangible Assets”. These include, for example, investments in rare watches, classic cars or old timers or even works of art. This is an asset class that has consistently outperformed most other asset classes. Here too, the idea is to facilitate access to these investments for more investors and to provide an additional element of diversification.
When it comes to investments in individual companies, what is their profile?
AH: The emphasis is placed on companies that have a strong technological component. These include, for example, well-known companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic or Space X to name just a few names. We supplement this list regularly with 2 to 3 “deals” per month. The idea is to provide investors with investment opportunities to which they would not have access by investing on listed markets.
In general, we observe that the interval between the phase when start-ups start their activities and develop and the moment when they choose to go public tends to constantly lengthen. We provide the opportunity to access investments in companies when they are still in the phase called the “sweet spot”, i.e. the moment when they are already growing rapidly but where they are not ready for an IPO ( IPO). And this is provided that they opt for an IPO – which is by far no longer necessarily always the case.
