Timestamps:

2:09 - From Lebanon to Brussels

5:41 - From the trading floor to the startup world 

23:40 - Why Georges prefers Switzerland to California 

36:55 - The efficiency and discipline of the Swiss ecosystem

48:40 - Is it difficult for VC funds to raise money nowadays? 

This episode was produced in collaboration with startup days, taking place this year on May 14th 2025. Click ⁠here⁠ to purchase your ticket.

About Georges Khneysser:

Georges Khneysser is the founder of QBIT Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm with headquarters in Zurich and an office in Los Angeles. Georges is originally from Lebanon, where he completed his education. He went on to work in Brussels as a trader and later as the head of a family office, before moving to Geneva to work in banking and wealth management. He started QBIT in Zurich in 2021.

QBIT specializes in investing exclusively in Switzerland and Swiss startups and currently has 8 portfolio companies: Demosquare, LogBook, Largo.ai, Helio, Duramon, Relio, Agrinorm, Everon. Georges credits three key pillars for the success of the fund:

• 6 of their LPs are entrepreneurs themselves, and are passionate about the Swiss ecosystem;
• QBIT offers their portfolio companies the services of their “pirates”, i.e. growth hackers, free of charge. Each company gets 800 hours per year of support with building their website, improving their pitch deck, developing their pricing and growth strategy, etc…
• QBIT has connections all over the world which help them make informed investment decisions and provide a network to their portfolio companies.

Georges is not a proponent of the “spray and pray” investment strategy (meaning investing in a diversified manner and hoping it works out for the best). At QBIT capital, he and his fellow VCs often spend several months getting to know founders better before making an investment decision.

The cover portrait was edited by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.smartportrait.io⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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