Philippe Bernet

Philippe Bernet is a Founding Partner of BackBone Ventures (Backbone Ventures AG), a Swiss–German early-stage venture firm he co-founded in 2018 to "empower the next generation of founders by providing them with funding, network and know-how." Born and raised in Switzerland and based mostly in Zurich, he sits among a founding partner group that includes Andreas Guggenbühl, Jan Claudio Muñoz, Janic Frölicher, Laszlo Meier and Marcel Kubli. Within the firm, Bernet personally leads a set of roughly six portfolio companies, concentrated in B2B SaaS, FoodTech and Climate Tech.

He was educated at the University of St. Gallen (HSG), where he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration (2009–2012) and pursued graduate studies (M.A. HSG, ~2014–2016). During his studies he completed exchange semesters at Maastricht University School of Business and Economics and at Mahidol University International College in Thailand, giving him an international grounding before entering the startup ecosystem.

Prior to and alongside BackBone, Bernet built experience across the Swiss startup and venture scene, with roles and involvement connected to Venture Kick, Evoralis, Meloon GmbH and Proofcheck. Since September 2022, BackBone has invested almost exclusively out of its "Backbone Ventures 5502 Fund," a pre-seed vehicle with a strong geographic focus on Germany and Switzerland. He is personally passionate about business models with environmental or social impact and, in particular, the future of food.

• Invests at pre-seed and seed, typically writing checks in the ~$1M–$5M range (sweet spot ~$2.5M), primarily in Switzerland and Germany.
• Sector concentration in B2B SaaS, FoodTech/"future of food," DeepTech and ClimateTech — he describes himself as "extremely passionate about great business models that have an environmental or social impact."
• BackBone's stated purpose is to back founders with "funding, network and know-how," signaling a hands-on, founder-first approach rather than passive capital.
• Firm-level track record cited as ~28 investments with three exits, investing mainly from its dedicated pre-seed 5502 Fund since 2022 — indicating disciplined, thesis-driven early-stage deployment.