Jennifer McCloskey: From Sustainability to Resilience

She grew up in the Cotswolds, one of England’s most quintessential and quietly beautiful regions. At the University of Oxford, she studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics, driven by a long-standing curiosity about how political and economic systems could work better. Alongside her core studies, she explored development economics and environmental economics, searching for ways to align economic policy with social and environmental progress. Her professional career began at Deloitte, where she advised large organisations such as the BBC, which at the time was undergoing continuous transformation.

A later sabbatical took her to Uganda, where she worked on consulting projects for the Grameen Foundation. The experience proved decisive – not because it defined where she wanted to work, but because it clarified how. While her desire to create impact remained strong, she realised that her path would not lie within NGOs, but in improving how the private sector operates. During this period, she discovered the concept of impact investing, which ultimately shaped her transition from consulting into venture capital. Today, this combination of economic rigour and purpose-driven thinking defines her work as a venture capitalist at Swisscom Ventures.

Ladies Drive: You joined LGT in 2014 to help build what would later become Lightrock, now a global impact investor manag­­ing substantial capital. So you were part of a group that, in a way, “invented” a new investment class.

Jennifer McCloskey: When I joined LGT, the first fund, Impact Ventures UK, had just been raised. We were a small, anomalous group within LGT, almost adventuring into a completely new area: a developing asset class called impact venture capital, which at the time was absolutely tiny. Only about 1% of deal flow was impact-driven back then. Today, if you look at the venture capital ecosystem, roughly 20% of deal flow qualifies as impact. So the transition has been remarkable, and the amount of capital flowing into impact VC over the years has been substantial.

How did it feel to help “create” a new asset class?

In the early days, it felt bold and challenging. Many were sceptical of the ability of the asset class to drive returns. Early on in the fund’s deployment cycle, we were focused on deploying the capital – it was a USD 50 million fund. Later, we began developing the strategy for Lightrock as a European venture fund with a strong sustainability focus.

When you moved to Switzerland in 2019, you completed an Executive MBA at EPFL and then joined Swisscom Ventures in 2021. What is different about Swisscom Ventures compared to LGT and your previous work?

First of all, Swisscom Ventures is not an impact fund; our primary objective is financial returns. Of course, we aim to invest responsibly, but we are not an impact fund. We have a B2B AI and deeptech focus and a priority to invest at least 50% in Switzerland, and the remainder across the US, Israel and Europe. Our outlook is therefore more international. That said, I do still find a lot of purpose in what we do today: finding and backing brilliant Swiss talent, enabling local innovation and scaling a productive and economically valuable venture-backed ecosystem here in Switzerland.

Despite the name, Swisscom Ventures is not a strategic investment vehicle for Swisscom alone. Swisscom acts as our cornerstone investor, however 75% of our capital comes from external investors, primarily Swiss pension funds. Our responsibility is to deliver strong financial returns to those pension funds.

Can you share more about the sustainability and energy invest­­­ments Swisscom Ventures is making?

One of our investments in the sustainability space was Ecorobotix. The company develops precision spraying technology for agriculture, primarily for pesticides but also applicable to fertilisers. This reduces the amount of pesticide applied to fields and, as a result, lowers the carbon footprint. It was one of our early sustainability investments, and I mention it because enough time has passed for us to see that Ecorobotix is a real success story. The company announced a CHF 83 million funding round in 2025 and is scaling strongly across Europe and the US. The first sustainability investment in our current fund was xFarm, an operating system for farmers. It helps them manage their farms more effectively and report to food producers on inputs such as water, fertilisers and pesticides. This enables a form of ESG reporting, particularly around regenerative agriculture practices. xFarm is also a Swiss company and another strong scale-up story.

Another investment is Pexapark, a Swiss company in which we participated in a CHF 20 million Series C round in 2023. Pexapark provides pricing intelligence for the clean energy industry. Essentially, it delivers the data insights that allow the renewable energy ecosystem to make informed investment decisions around power markets. It has been a very exciting journey, and we have successfully entered the US market since investing.

Most recently, we invested in RTDT, again a Swiss company. It has developed a novel sensor technology for wind turbines, enabling manufacturers to improve turbine performance as well as the productivity of entire wind power plants.

It’s fascinating, because these are start-ups you rarely see in the media.

Yes, absolutely. What’s interesting is that while the headlines may suggest otherwise, the real economy often tells a different story. We currently see a lot of anti-sustainability and anti-ESG narratives in the media. And yet, our sustainability-focused companies raised significant amounts of capital last year. Swisscom itself, for example, continues to pursue its net-zero strategy for 2035. So despite the noise, the real economy continues to push forward.

That’s incredibly interesting.

Ultimately, our job is to identify businesses that can deliver resilient returns for their customers and investors. That focus should not shift with changing headlines. Ecorobotix is a great example: the company has a clear sustainability impact, but it also improves yields and reduces costs for farmers. That combination makes the business resilient. With Pexapark, whilst the renewable energy industry does have challenges, utilities and traders will always need accurate market pricing information.

Those businesses that provide resilient returns on investment will continue to succeed.

Absolutely. And those are exactly the businesses we look for. The sustainability boom, or wave, that we experienced acted as a tailwind for many com­­panies. That tailwind has now subsided, but our goal has always been to back resilient businesses – businesses that remain relevant even when the headlines fade. It is about identifying macro trends, but also about finding robust, resilient business models within those trends.

I would add that there has certainly been a shift in priorities. As we speak, the World Economic Forum is taking place. Mark Car­­ney’s statement that we are experiencing a rupture rather than a transition is particularly strik­­ing. Look­ing back at my own career, which has unfolded across several major shifts – from the digital wave to the sus­tainability wave – I strongly feel that what we are entering now is an AI and resilience wave. This is especially evident in energy. Energy independence and energy sovereignty will become increasingly important. At the same time, if we think about artificial intelligence, it is clear that AI requires enormous amounts of energy. One of the core challenges we face today is how to enable the AI transition we want, while doing so in a sustainable way. Resolving this tension is, without question, one of the defining challenges of our time.

We were just talking about the World Economic Forum. Looking at the global political landscape right now, does that worry you?

I am probably more optimistic than many, largely because I sit within the venture ecosystem. Every day, I see remarkable companies being built in areas such as resilience and defence. I see how much capital they are raising and the level of capabilities being developed. Of course, the situation is worrying on one level. But on another, it is clear that a response is already underway. Funding is being mobilised, companies are being supported, and there is tangible progress beyond the status quo. One silver lining is my aspiration for a more independent Europe – a Europe that can stand on its own two feet and operate confidently on the global stage. This could lead to an economic boost and, ultimately, to the emergence of strong, globally relevant companies.

Many economists are talking about the rise of Asian economies. How do you view this development?

I believe a decoupling is currently underway between the US and the rest of the world, particularly between the US and Europe. My perception is that this intensified in early 2025, when asset managers started to feel less confident about being overweight in US assets and began shifting towards more balanced allocations across the US, Europe and Asia. I expect this trend to continue, and potentially to strengthen further given the current ruptures. What I see is a long-term shift. You cannot put the genie back in the bottle. Once trust between partners is lost, it is very difficult to rebuild. And once the machinery and investment required to build a more self-sufficient Europe are put in place, there is no return to the old model. It has taken almost a century to reach today’s level of interdependence. What we are witnessing now is the beginning of a new process towards greater European independence.

What role can or should Switzerland play as a small country at the centre of Europe?

Yes, I believe Switzerland will certainly play an important role within this landscape …

… why do you think that?

We are not necessarily a big fish at that table. But Switzerland is certainly being observed for what it does and has a unique, central and trustworthy positioning. Our technological capabilities matter, and it would not surprise me if something emerging from Switzerland were to influence the resilience debate more broadly. The real opportunity for Switzerland to stay ahead in the innovation race lies in investing more – and, crucially, in scaling its own innovations more effectively. This is where the UK has done an excellent job. With the creation of the British Business Bank, it established a fund-of-funds structure that enabled other limited partners to invest with reduced risk. This catalysed the UK’s venture ecosystem in a way that is comparable to the role the European Investment Fund plays across Europe.

Switzerland, however, does not yet have an equivalent mechanism. One important initiative currently underway is the Deep Tech Nation initiative. One of its key objectives is to channel more pension fund capital into the innovation ecosystem. This makes a great deal of sense: venture capital has proven to generate attractive returns for pension fund holders, while simultaneously creating positive impact within the local economy.

Another question is how to foster stronger capital markets in the EU and in Switzerland, for example by enabling more Swiss tech companies to feel confident about listing domestically.

But ultimately, for Switzerland, the central issue remains clear: significantly more capital needs to flow into the innovation ecosystem. The opportunity here is substantial.

The overarching theme of the magazine is vulnerability and leadership. In your ecosystem and industry, is vulnerability something to avoid – or something that can be shared?

I believe it is something that can be shown. Of course, it depends on the fund you work with, the team you are part of and the modus operandi within that team. I can certainly imagine venture capital environments where vulnerability is not encouraged or visible.

That said, I think humility and vulnerability about what you do and do not know are actually critical when making investment decisions. In our team, we are open about where we have answers and where we do not. Ultimately, when investing, you can never know for sure. I also believe vulnerability matters in relationships with founders. To build strong, honest relationships, founders need to feel able to share their points of uncertainty. For me, vulnerability is a gateway to truthful relationships and trust.

This is a vast topic. The founders who build trust are often those who are honest about what they know and what they do not. It is really compelling when founders say: we are confident here, but this part remains unknown and will need to be tested. In this context, vulnerability creates the trust that business relationships often require.