A Matter of Scale

Bigger Cakes and Smaller Slices

With a name like redalpine, a powerful symbol of a rising sun amidst the impressive peaks of the Swiss alps, you would think that the kind of patriotism running through Michael Sidler’s veins would make him want to keep Swiss businesses in Switzerland. But when asked about the preservation of Switzerland as an anchor location, Sidler shakes his head. “It’s the holy duty of an entrepreneur to do what’s best for the company,” he says. “If your biggest market is in the U.S., then that’s where you go. If your development team works better in Serbia or Vietnam, then build it there.” For him, scale is not geography. It’s logic.

He rejects the notion that Switzerland “loses” a startup when it expands abroad. “People complain when jobs go elsewhere- that’s short-sighted,” he argues. “A global company that keeps its R&D or leadership roots in Switzerland still creates enormous value here. You don’t win by taking larger slices of a smaller cake; you win by helping them bake bigger cakes.”  A company that begins in Zurich and expands to San Francisco or Singapore still carries Swiss identity; it brings back know-how, networks, and credibility. “It’s about creating international champions with Swiss roots,” he says.

Luckily, Swiss companies have a certain sense of internationality engrained in their DNA since their inception: “Because Switzerland is a small home market, founders are forced to think internationally from day one,” he says. “It’s not a disadvantage-it’s an advantage.” This mindset allows Swiss startups to scale early, avoiding the complacency that often traps companies in larger home markets. 

The Blue Banana: Where Europe Actually Happens

Sidler draws a curved line on a map to explain his view of the continent. It stretches from Manchester and London through Benelux and western Germany, over Zurich and Munich: The dense economic corridor that geographers call the Blue Banana. “That’s where innovation and capital circulate fastest,” he says. “Switzerland is right in the middle of it.”

To him, the Blue Banana isn’t a metaphor; it’s an operating environment. It links the finance center of London, the industrial cluster of Munich, the tech hotspots of Paris and Berlin, and the research powerhouses of Zurich and Lausanne. “Startups don’t scale inside borders,” Sidler explains. “They scale inside networks. And our network is European.”

This is why redalpine builds bridges rather than walls. From Zurich, the firm can co-invest with London funds, recruit engineers from Germany, and reach customers in northern Italy – all within a day’s train ride. “That geography is strategic,” Sidler says. “It means we can connect science from Switzerland with capital from the UK and markets from Germany without ever crossing an ocean.”

Across the Atlantic

When crossing the ocean does become the best option for the company, redalpine provides the expertise locally, right in the heart of Silicon Valley: With Daniel Graf, ex-Google, ex-Uber GP at redalpine, the VC firm possesses a point of entry that knows how to scale. 

Graf’s presence in California is more than symbolic- it’s operational. “He’s there to make sure our founders land softly,” Sidler explains. “Setting up a U.S. entity, hiring first employees, finding early customers: These are the steps that can make or break expansion. We make sure they’re done right.” Having one foot in Silicon Valley and the other in Zurich allows redalpine to synchronize two vastly different startup cultures: the Swiss instinct for precision and the American appetite for speed.

The belief that Swiss champions succeed the most when you let them grow wings instead of cutting them has shaped redalpine’s evolution from a Zurich seed fund into a pan-European platform with global reach. Its most recent fund, RAC VII, closed at $200 million, drawing limited partners from Europe, North America, and Asia. The mandate is simple: identify the best European science and help it scale wherever the world demands it.

With redalpine’s unique multi-stage, evergreen Summit Fund, the VC moved beyond its early-stage roots to invest in the entire startup lifecycle – backing companies from pre-seed to pre-IPO.  Sticking to the same investment strategy, investing in European  companies with a particular focus on those at the connection of software and science,  redalpine is helping to ease the growth funding gap in Europe, showing that a commitment to Europe is a commitment to scale. 

Right Partners, Right Entry

Scaling is a matter of teamwork. redalpine rarely scales alone; instead, it syndicates with leading international venture funds to combine capital and domain expertise. In recent years, the firm has co-invested alongside Balderton, Atomico,  Khosla Ventures  among many others. These collaborations extend far beyond the boardroom. “When we bring an international investor into a round,” Sidler says, “it’s not just about money- it’s about knowledge transfer. We want our founders to learn how big-market investors think.”

He often draws a comparison between the U.S. and Europe. “American investors are used to speed and clarity,” he explains. “European investors, especially in the DACH region, tend to overanalyze. The sweet spot lies in the middle: Rigorous preparation, but fast execution.” redalpine’s partnerships are designed to bridge that gap: European diligence with American pace.

The Duty to Scale

At the end of our conversation, Sidler returns to his central idea. “Our job isn’t to build big Swiss companies,” he says. “It’s to build global companies that started in Switzerland.” For him, doing what’s best for the company – even if it means crossing oceans – is the ultimate expression of responsibility.

In a world where innovation moves along corridors rather than borders, that belief may be Switzerland’s most valuable export: a quiet confidence that scaling, done right, is never betrayal. It’s duty fulfilled.