Originally published on Kainjoo Ventures.
TLDR: A ‘no’ from a wrong-mandate fund is information about fit, not a verdict on the company — the ONWARD Medical story is a case study in matching capital to a deep-tech profile rather than to geography.
Mismatch, not merit
ONWARD Medical, an EPFL spinout developing neurostimulation therapies for spinal cord injury, did not match the Swiss funds of its time and had to address large European venture capital (VC) funds specialised in medtech. Co-founder Vincent Delattre’s principle — a rejection from one investor, country or ecosystem does not mean the company is not investable — is the inverse of the fundamental attribution error.
What investors should read into it
For allocators, the lesson is to interrogate fit before merit: a fund mandated for a different stage or sector passing on a deal says little about the company. Regulated medtech rewards backers who can hold an ambitious vision and a narrow, FDA-defined intended use at once — the profile that carried ONWARD to a 2021 Euronext listing and an April 2026 capital increase of an indicative EUR 40 million.
References
- Venturelab / Venture Leaders. When Local Funding Is Not the Right Fit. https://www.venture-leaders.ch/When-Local-Funding-Is-Not-the-Right-Fit-How-Venture-Leaders-Took-the-University-Spinout-ONWARD-Medical-Global
