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What is ND Capital?
ND Capital is a venture capital firm, founded in 2002 and formerly known as NanoDimension, that invests in disruptive technologies across the life, physical and data sciences. Its stated thesis is that scientific disciplines will keep converging, and that some of the largest breakthroughs will come from that convergence. It invests in the United States and Europe, with teams in Silicon Valley, Switzerland and the Cayman Islands, and describes its role as helping portfolio companies bridge the Atlantic for capital, talent and business partners. The firm reports more than $800M in assets under management across multiple funds and invests across sectors, stages and technologies.
Who it is relevant for
- Deep-tech founders in life sciences, physical sciences or data sciences who want an investor comfortable with science-heavy risk and long development cycles.
- European teams with US ambitions, or US teams expanding into Europe, since cross-Atlantic support is an explicit part of the pitch.
- Founders at various stages, because the firm says it invests across stages rather than concentrating on one point in a company's life.
How it presents itself
ND Capital describes itself as operating as one team when sourcing, evaluating and supporting companies, and as thinking "like company owners." Its founder, Aymeric Sallin, came to the firm from strategy consulting at Bain & Company and from research between physics and chemistry at EPFL, which explains the science-first framing. The site lists a portfolio with a large alumni section, indicating companies that have moved on through exits or other outcomes.
A practical next step
If you are evaluating ND Capital as a potential investor, check whether your company sits at the intersection of disciplines rather than in a single well-defined category, and whether a US–Europe footprint would genuinely help you. Then look at the portfolio and team pages to see whether companies resembling yours appear there, and approach the partner whose background matches your science. Founders purely seeking late-stage growth capital with no cross-border angle may find the fit weaker than a specialist fund focused on their stage.
How does ND Capital's focus on converging sciences shape which startups it invests in?
ND Capital's stated thesis—that scientific disciplines will keep converging and that the biggest breakthroughs will come from that convergence—means it looks for companies whose value depends on combining expertise that usually sits in separate fields. In practice, that points to startups working where the life, physical and data sciences meet: for example, a team using computational methods to design biological or material systems, or a hardware company whose advantage rests on both novel physics and sophisticated data handling. The test is less about which sector label a startup fits and more about whether its core problem genuinely requires several disciplines to solve.
What this implies for founders
- Cross-disciplinary teams matter more than single-domain depth. A founding group that can credibly cover the science and the data/engineering side is a better fit than one that outsources half the problem.
- The breakthrough should be scientific, not just commercial. The firm frames itself around disruptive technologies, so an incremental business-model innovation is a weaker match than a technical step-change.
- Stage and sector are treated broadly. The firm says it invests across sectors, stages and technologies, so convergence is the filter rather than a narrow stage or industry checklist.
- Transatlantic ambition helps. With teams in Silicon Valley, Switzerland and the Cayman Islands, ND Capital positions itself to help portfolio companies bridge the US and Europe for capital, talent and partners—useful for founders who want to expand across those markets.
How to judge fit
Ask whether your company's defensibility would collapse if one discipline were removed. If the answer is yes, the convergence thesis describes you well. If your advantage is mainly execution in a single established field, a specialist investor in that field is likely a more natural lead.
For comparison, founders can look at other deep-tech investors with explicit convergence or science-heavy theses, such as Lux Capital and DCVC, to see how their stated emphases differ before deciding whom to approach first.
What stage and check size does ND Capital typically invest at, and how should a founder approach them?
ND Capital does not state a typical check size on its website, and its stage focus is broad rather than a single point: the firm describes itself as investing "across sectors, stages and technologies" in disruptive technologies across the life, physical and data sciences. So the honest answer is that the site confirms stage flexibility but gives no published check range—founders should treat check size as something to clarify directly rather than assume.
What the page does establish
- Focus: science-driven companies where disciplines converge (life, physical and data sciences), with a stated belief that major breakthroughs come from that convergence.
- Geography: investments across the United States and Europe, with teams in Silicon Valley, Switzerland and the Cayman Islands, positioned to help companies "bridge the Atlantic."
- Scale: more than $800M in assets under management across multiple funds—useful context for judging capacity, though not a promise of any particular ticket size.
- Process: the firm says it operates as one team to identify and evaluate opportunities, and thinks "like company owners."
How a founder should approach them
Because stage is open but the thesis is specific, lead with the science and why the convergence matters—not a generic pitch. A practical sequence:
- Map your fit to the thesis. If your company sits at the intersection of, say, materials and biology, say so explicitly and explain what becomes possible that wasn't before.
- Address the transatlantic angle. If you are European and targeting US capital, talent or partners (or the reverse), that is directly relevant to their stated role.
- Be clear about your stage and round. Since they don't publish check sizes, state what you are raising and what the capital achieves; let them map that to their funds.
- Reach the team through a relevant route. The site lists team members with contact details and portfolio companies; a warm introduction via a founder they have backed, or a concise note to the person covering your domain, is more effective than a cold mass email.
A concrete reader scenario
A Zurich-based founder building an instrument that combines photonics and machine learning for drug discovery is a closer match than a consumer app with a science theme: the sector fits, the convergence thesis fits, and the Swiss–US bridge fits. The same founder should still expect questions on stage and round size to be resolved in conversation, since the website offers no number to plan around.
For comparison when building a target list, established deep-tech investors such as Lux Capital publish clearer thesis statements, while Index Ventures and Atomico cover broader stages and sectors; reviewing their stated stages alongside ND Capital's helps you sequence outreach realistically.
How does ND Capital help European portfolio companies expand into the US market?
ND Capital supports European portfolio companies’ US expansion mainly by acting as a transatlantic bridge: its teams sit in Silicon Valley, Switzerland and the Cayman Islands, and the firm says it helps portfolio companies “bridge the Atlantic to attract capital, talent, and business partners.” In practical terms, that means introductions to US investors and corporate partners, help recruiting US-based talent, and guidance from people who evaluate both European and American opportunities.
What that support looks like in use
- Capital access: The firm invests across the US and Europe and positions itself as a route to US capital sources for European companies. A founder preparing a US round would typically use those connections to line up investor meetings and refine the story for American backers.
- Talent and partners: Beyond money, the stated focus is on recruiting and partnering—useful for a European deep-tech company that needs US-based commercial leadership or a stateside pilot customer.
- Operating as one team: ND Capital describes itself as investing across sectors, stages and technologies with a single team, which suggests a European company gets access to the whole firm’s US network rather than one local partner’s contacts.
Who benefits most
The fit is strongest for science-heavy companies in the life, physical and data sciences, where the firm’s stated thesis is that breakthroughs come from convergence between disciplines. A Swiss or wider European nanotech or biotech startup weighing a US subsidiary would be a natural candidate.
Decision criteria
Ask three things before relying on this: whether the firm’s partners have relevant US sector contacts for your specific market, whether support extends past introductions into recruiting and business development, and whether the firm’s stage focus matches your round. For comparison, you can look at other transatlantic investors such as Index Ventures or Atomico, and at US-based deep-tech funds, to see how hands-on their expansion help is.
Who leads ND Capital and what is their scientific and investment background?
Aymeric Sallin is the founder and CEO of ND Capital. He founded the firm in 2002 (originally as NanoDimension) after encountering nanotechnology research as a researcher working between the physics and chemistry departments at EPFL in the 1990s. That experience shaped the firm's premise: that meaningful breakthroughs would come from the nanoscale, and that distinguishing real science from speculation would require deep technical expertise. Before founding ND Capital he worked as a strategy consultant at Bain & Company. He sits on the boards of Crocus Technology, H55, Natron Energy, Tarveda Therapeutics and Selecta Biosciences, and has been recognized as a member of the World Economic Forum's Young Global Leaders (2013 class) and the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (2016).
What this background implies for founders
His profile combines scientific grounding in the physical sciences with strategy consulting and a long record of board-level work across both life and physical sciences. For a founder raising a deep-tech round, that mix matters most in two places: translating a technical claim into an investable thesis, and building transatlantic relationships. ND Capital describes itself as one team evaluating opportunities across sectors and stages, with staff in Silicon Valley, Switzerland and the Cayman Islands, which fits a firm whose founder has commuted between Switzerland and the US since 2007.
How to use this when evaluating the firm
- Technical fit: if your work sits at the convergence of disciplines (materials, energy storage, biotech platforms), the founder's stated thesis aligns more directly than for pure software.
- Stage and geography: the firm says it invests across sectors, stages and technologies in the US and Europe; confirm current fund focus before pitching.
- Governance expectations: a founder who has served on many boards will likely probe board composition and milestone discipline early.
If you want to benchmark against similar deep-tech investors, Lux Capital and DCVC publish team and thesis pages that are useful comparisons; read them alongside ND Capital's own team page at ND Capital to judge which partner's background best matches your science.
Which companies are in ND Capital's portfolio across life, physical, and data sciences?
The page does not list the portfolio by sector. Its "Portfolio" section shows only a grid of company logos, each labelled "Alumni," and the visible text names no portfolio companies beyond those in the founder's board list. So ND Capital's own site cannot currently support a breakdown of holdings across life, physical, and data sciences.
What the page does support
- ND Capital describes itself as a venture capital firm founded in 2002, investing in disruptive technologies across the life, physical, and data sciences, with a thesis that these disciplines converge.
- It invests across the United States and Europe, with teams in Silicon Valley, Switzerland and the Cayman Islands, and states more than $800M in assets under management across multiple funds.
- The only companies named on the page appear in founder Aymeric Sallin's biography as board memberships: Crocus Technology, H55, Natron Energy, Tarveda Therapeutics and Selecta Biosciences. These are individual directorships, not a stated portfolio classification, and the "Alumni" labels suggest the logo grid mixes current and former holdings.
Practical reading of the labels
The "Alumni" tag is the main clue. It implies the grid includes companies ND Capital has exited or that are no longer active holdings, which matters if you are trying to judge current exposure by sector. For a reader weighing the firm as a co-investor or a founder seeking a fit, the honest takeaway is that the site signals breadth ("across sectors, stages and technologies") without enumerating it.
Next step
For a sector-by-sector list, treat the site as a starting point and cross-check each named company against its own site to confirm what it does — Crocus Technology, Natron Energy and H55 sit in physical and energy-related hardware, while Tarveda Therapeutics and Selecta Biosciences are life-science ventures. That gives a partial, evidence-based map rather than a complete one. For fuller coverage, compare against databases that track venture portfolios, such as Crunchbase, and confirm any company's status on its official site before relying on it.
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