EP #496 - Evelyne Pflugi: How to Quantify and Invest in Innovation

May 21, 2025

Evelyne Pflugi, co-founder and CEO of The Singularity Group, dives into quantifying innovation for investment. She shares her transition from food science to finance, driven by the allure of the U.S. market. The discussion challenges traditional metrics, emphasizing profitability over R&D spending. Evelyne also highlights the importance of building trust with investors and reflects on the advantages of smaller investment firms. Gender dynamics within her team add another layer to her insights on leadership and innovation strategies.

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INSIGHT

Applied Innovation Focus

Evelyne Pflugi emphasizes measuring innovation not by expenditure but by the revenue generated from applied innovation.
This approach focuses on feasibility and profitability rather than R&D expenses or patents.

ANECDOTE

Founders' Origin Story

Evelyne met Tobias Reichmuth at SUSI Partners events and social circles discussing investing in innovation.
Their shared frustration with tech funds collapsing led to founding the Singularity Group.

ADVICE

Avoid Hype Theme Funds

Avoid theme funds that lack a solid value chain and profitability.
Instead, focus on broader innovation portfolios with companies generating sustainable earnings.

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Timestamps:

6:10 - Quantifying innovation for investment purposes

10:53 - How Evelyne met Tobias Reichmuth

20:43 - Can innovation outperform ETFs?

34:18 - How to build trust with potential investors

38:34 - Why Evelyne’s team is mostly women

This episode was sponsored by Relai. Get started with Bitcoin by downloading the Relai app today, and profit from 10% less fees by entering code SWISSPRENEUR at checkout.

(Disclaimer: Relai services are exclusively recommended for Swiss and Italian residents.)

About Evelyne Pflugi:

Evelyne Pflugi is the co-founder and CEO of The Singularity Group, a company quantifying applied innovation in listed equities. She holds a MSc in Food Science and Technology from ETH and worked at Capital Group and GAM Investment Management (Switzerland) Ltd before founding The Singularity Group in 2017.

At The Singularity Group, Evelyne and her team are redefining how innovation gets quantified. Instead of measuring it by R&D expenses, patents, capex in tech or M&A in tech, Evelyne prefers to focus solely on feasibility and profitability. She co-founded the group with Tobias Reichmuth, a serial founder and investor. The Singularity Group is the initiator of the Singularity Index™ (Bloomberg ticker: NQ2045), a global, all-sector benchmark and gold standard for Applied Innovation. The Singularity Strategies include The Singularity Fund (UCITS Lux), Singularity US Innovation Leaders (AMC), Singularity US Equity (LUKB AMC), Singularity Small&Mid (UBS AMC), and the partner product LUKB Smart Farming (AMC).

The cover portrait was edited by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.smartportrait.io⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

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