Startup SPECIAL EDITION 2016 A magazine from

INTERNATIONAL Swiss high-tech startups abroad

INTELLIGENT Christoph Strecha on drones with 3D sight

INSPIRED How to make a success of your startup

Top The 100 Startups in

THE WINNERS: L.E.S.S. The lights designed by Yann Tissot (left) and Simon Rivier offer sharper vision. PHOTO: PETER LINDBERGH PETER PHOTO:

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“Switzerland as a startup paradise – not everywhere.” “The vision of Swiss Valley …”

Beat Schillig Stefan Mair Founder of the IFJ Institut für Jungunternehmen Handelszeitung

o fewer than 39 of the 100 most promising he startup scene in Switzerland is startups (established less than five years developing at a rapid pace. New ago) found their start in the Canton of startup associations and initiatives are N Zurich. They want to emulate the success T springing up everywhere. Discussion of their predecessors in the TOP 100, collect millions in about the scene is more lively and more controversial funding from venture capital investors, conquer inter- than it has been for a long time. And the key national markets and create jobs in their canton. questions are: What basic conditions do startups However, they have failed to reckon with the inge- such as those presented in this magazine need to nuity of the Zurich tax authorities, which have intro- ensure that Switzerland remains a hub for innovation duced a new tax practice: the more money startups re- in the future? How can entrepreneurs be convinced ceive from investors, the closer the founders are to ruin to stay here rather than relocating to other startup in their private lives. The reason for this is capital taxes, landscapes such as Berlin? What cooperation options which are calculated according to the share value as of will there be with London as a result of Brexit? Do the last round of financing. startups need to record working hours? How can This is also why many business angels are no longer in- access to foreign talent be ensured? What form do vesting in Zurich-based startups. taxation practices take? Many of these questions have Previous TOP 100 winners, such as InSphero, Staff not yet been adequately answered. Founders need Finder and Climeworks, are currently looking to relocate reliable basic conditions, an environment which is to another canton or even abroad. more open to innovation (including in a political The Zurich cantonal government urgently needs to sense) and a greater readiness from investors to take develop some foresight here. Treasurer Ernst Stocker at risks. The potential for innovation is there, as shown least gave cause for hope when he said in the Neue by the ranking list of the 100 best startups in Zürcher Zeitung that “Zurich offers startup founders Switzerland. Many basic conditions need to be set in fiscal conditions which are at least as good as in other stone so that the dream of Swiss Valley does not cantons.” remain an illusion. Success is celebrated by those who achieve their objectives – and we will help you to achieve yours!

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sme-ins-startup-top100-210x280-5mm-dfie.indd 3 29.08.16 15:28 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Flying high Patrick Thévoz (left) and Adrien Briod ascend to fourth place with Flyability. The TOP 100 Startups

10 Rank 1: L.E.S.S. 19 Rank 5: Sophia Genetics 23 Rank 9: Gamaya Billion-dollar market: Big data meets genetics: Fewer chemicals, a greater harvest: the lights designed by L.E.S.S. the company headed by Jurgi even Nestlé chairman Peter Brabeck are revolutionising industrial Camblong currently employs 100 has invested in Gamaya. quality control. members of staff. 23 Rank 10: Lunaphore 14 Rank 2: Bcomp 21 Rank 6: Ava Paving the way for personalised Lightweight construction with Medtech for the wrist: medicine: the platform by natural fibres: the startup is the wristband by Ava informs Lunaphore analyses tumour tissue. positioning itself as an automotive women of their fertile days. supplier. 24 Rank 11–100 21 Rank 7: Bexio 90 companies over ten pages, plus 17 Rank 3: Knip Ideal for small businesses: the results for the various special Tenacious: Dennis Just is working the business software from categories. to instigate a digital transformation Rapperswil functions in the cloud. in the insurance sector. 50 The jury 23 Rank 8: Amal Therapeutics Who the 100 experts 18 Rank 4: Flyability Vaccine against various types of on the jury are and 03 Editorial Series production: the ETH spin-off’s cancer: native Madiha where they come from. By Beat Schillig globular drone has been on the Derouazi has big plans. and Stefan Mair market since May. 11 Background How 100 experts

COVER PHOTO AND CONTENT: TINA STURZENEGGER AND CONTENT: PHOTO COVER rate 100 startups TABLE OF CONTENTS

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IMPRINT The “Startup.ch” magazine is a supplement to the “Handelszeitung”

TOP 100 Startups Concept IFJ Institut für Jungunternehmen AG Kesslerstrasse 9, 9000 St. Gallen Phone: 071 242 98 98 [email protected]; www.ifj.ch Implementation IFJ Institut für Jungunternehmen, St. Gallen; Journalistenbüro Niedermann GmbH, Lucerne. Editorial staff Jost Dubacher, Stefan Kyora, Claus Niedermann Cooperation: Kaspar Meuli, Pirmin Schilliger.

Handelszeitung editing Chief editor Stefan Barmettler Editing Stefan Mair Design concept and production Studio Peter Wittwer Photographer Tina Sturzenegger Proofreading Rita Baschung Lithography Laurent Guye, Steven Leach, Silvia Mahrer Editorial office address Handelszeitung, Förrlibuckstrasse 70, 8021 Zurich Phone 043 444 59 00 Fax 043 444 59 30 [email protected], Combating cancer www.handelszeitung.ch Biotechnologist Madiha Derouazi Head of Business Media takes eighth place with Amal Uli Rubner Therapeutics. Head of User Market Markus Will [email protected] Reader marketing Scene Phone 043 444 58 95 [email protected] 36 Startup management Publisher address From business plans to the Lean Handelszeitung approach: what researchers know about Ringier Axel Springer Schweiz AG, managing new companies. Förrlibuckstrasse 70, 8021 Zurich Phone: 043 444 59 00 40 Spirit of optimism [email protected] This autumn, 10 Swiss startups will once again be flying to Beijing, Shanghai, Marketing Hong Kong and Shenzhen for 10 days. Admeira AG. Sales service ads, Phone 058 909 99 62 [email protected] 42 Christoph Strecha Ad prices and general terms: admeira.ch He declined an offer from Google. Instead, he has turned Pix4D Customer service portal into a global market leader. handelszeitung.ch/kundenservice Phone 043 444 58 93 Retail price CHF 8.00 ISBN 978-3-9524325-3-2

Printing Swissprinters AG, Zofingen “The Swiss Publisher ecosystem is Ringier Axel Springer Schweiz AG ideal for us.” Enclosed with Handelszeitung no. 37 / 2016 — PIX4D FOUNDER CHRISTOPH STRECHA Disclosure of significant shareholdings within the meaning of article 322 of the Swiss Penal Code: Le Temps SA What's the easiestto get Way started

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PF_Inserate_en_06_2016_SZ_Jungunternehmer_210x280mm.indd 1 24.06.2016 09:03:26 2014 BACKGROUND 23 2012 21 TOP 100 STARTUPS 2016 2013 The concept 100 experts have selected the 100 2011 2015 startups with the greatest potential. 18 These experts are true insiders of the startup scene. Many of them are business 17 17 angels or venture capital investors or have practical experience working with startups on a daily basis. Each expert had the chance to nominate their Hit parade of own top ten startups and award points accordingly, with first place receiving Swiss startups ten points and tenth place 2016 receiving one point. The SWARM INTELLIGENCE 100 experts choose the companies with the most 100 best startups in Switzerland for the sixth time. 4 points made it into the TEXT: CLAUS NIEDERMANN 2016 ranking list for the TOP 100 Swiss startups. ill a startup that is well- more established company that has The ranking list was positioned and may already already won over investors or attracted created in 2011 by be making a healthy turn­ customers? As each jury member could Beat Schillig (photo, top) W and (photo, bottom) at over today continue to be only highlight ten Swiss startups in the Jordi Montserrat successful in the future? This is the TOP 100 as their favourites and give a IFJ Institut für Jungunternehmen. They question that startup investors have to specific number of points to each, this have been responsible for developing the ask themselves each day. It depends on made their task all the more difficult. national training programme venturelab developments in the market, the capacity From the TOP 100, the majority of the and the international programme venture of the founders to manage the company’s jurors therefore selected the best leaders since 2004. The two men have growth and adapt technologies to enterprises from each year, which is why managed the Venture Kick initiative since customer requirements and – last but not the list contains around 20 companies 2007. Venture Kick has secured CHF 18 least – luck. The top 100 startups that from each year between 2012 and 2015. million in starting capital from private made it into this year’s TOP 100 ranking This is a classic case of swarm intelligence. institutes for more than 450 spin-offs list are no doubt on the right path. At the same time, the TOP 100 ranking from Swiss universities. A co-initiator and They were selected from all over is a snapshot of the scene as it currently is. implementation partner of the ranking Switzerland by 100 men and women who It is certainly worth keeping an eye on the list is Lucerne-based journalist agency regularly analyse startups in their 100 startups selected – www.startup.ch is Niedermann. Conceptual and financial capacity as investors. This year, as in a good resource for this. The creators support for the project is provided by other years, they faced a dilemma: was it have set themselves the aim of profiling Gebert Rüf Stiftung and the Swiss Private best to opt for a very new startup that has all innovative and promising new Equity & Corporate Finance Association not yet achieved much but has great companies in Switzerland on this (SECA). Handelszeitung is the media potential, or should they have chosen a platform. partner for Western Switzerland, PME Magazine for and www.startup.ch for the English issue.

ALUMNI Former startups on WWW.STARTUPTICKER.CH the fast track to success Highlights – every day The Swiss startup scene is founders and draws attention Companies that are more than five Advanced Osteotomy Tools AOT one of variety, growth and to trends, events and training years old are excluded. Twelve (rank 55). Noteworthy success. The news portal courses. The multi-language companies from last year’s ranking developments: Five alumni have startupticker.ch is putting platform (German, English, list are here again this year, recently completed another round this scene in the spotlight. French, Italian) covers the including Abionic (rank 2), of financing: Trekksoft and Each day, startupticker.ch whole of Switzerland and all Trekksoft (rank 7), QualySense ProteoMediX (CHF 1 million each), reports on progress and sectors. The newsletter (rank 8), ProteoMediX (rank 12), On QualySense (CHF 2.1 million), AOT breakthroughs by startups. It compiles the news of the (rank 23), Hyt (rank 36), Starmind (CHF 8 million CHF) and watch also lists support week in a compact, well- International (rank 49) and manufacturer Hyt (CHF 23 million). programmes for company informed issue every Friday. THE TOP 100 STARTUPS

Bright minds Yann Tissot (left) and Simon Rivier pave new ground in industrial quality control.

RANG 1

L.E.S.S. The startup from has carved out a strong niche market Helping the with its innovative lighting technology. The next step promises to world see be tougher: taking the automotive industry by storm. TEXT: KASPAR MEULI the light PHOTO: TINA STURZENEGGER hen Yann Tissot describes the benefits of the WL.E.S.S. light to his visitors, he pulls out a coin and lays it on a mi- croscope stage. The one-franc coin is illuminated in a recess by a ring-shaped light source – it is completely even and has no shadows whatsoever. And a look through the microscope reveals a razor-sharp Confoederatio Hel- vetica too. Just like the two sides of a coin, oped by L.E.S.S. is the result of the Light and as a key issue. Tissot explains that the company founded by Tissot dissertations written by the two homogeneous­ he totally underestimated the with Simon Rivier in 2012 has two founders on photonics and non- The L.E.S.S. light, made amount of stress that comes from aspects to it. The first is that linear optics. The key innovation from a unique nano­ the constant ups and downs in L.E.S.S. (Light Efficient SystemS) is a fibre optic cable based on a structured glass fibre. production development and with has made inroads into a niche single nanostructured glass fibre. customers, and the challenges that market on the basis of well-estab- The nanofibres that pass through arise time and again when it lished products. The second is that the laser light can be compared to comes to financing and hiring new the company is working inten- neon tube lighting, with the differ- staff. This is in addition to the fact sively to make its technology suit- ence that they are thinner than a that he has to conceal this emo- able for the mass market through human hair and provide bright, tional roller coaster from his team. other applications. “We managed homogeneous light. “You have to help people pro- to sell our products while we were The concept has been thor- gress,” states Tissot, “and you are still building up our production oughly trialled and the first batch always alone when faced with the capacity,” states Tissot. “This is of products have been successfully big decisions.” Still, he says he what differentiates us from a con- sold. L.E.S.S. is a true model com- does not want to complain: “This ventional startup.” pany, and 2016 marks the second is how it is to be an entrepreneur.” year in a row in which it has taken Located in the EPFL Innovation the top spot in the TOP 100 But back to the two sides of the Park in Ecublens, the company Startups. However, Tissot states L.E.S.S. coin: heads is for quality considers its light sources to be in that the company’s dual obligation control, which is essential for direct competition with LED towards the niche market and the watchmakers and medical im- lights, which use too much space, mass market is an “extremely plants. Whether through natural are less efficient and provide a stressful dynamic”, with the CEO sight or using a camera, it is crit- much less even amount of going on to highlight “the emo- ical to be able to see and measure lighting. The alternative devel- tional dimensions of the project” the elements under evaluation as THE TOP 100 STARTUPS

“We are working to change an entire industry.” — YANN TISSOT

effectively as possible. And this is The team is expected to at least YANN TISSOT L.E.S.S. in its quest for growth. why there is currently no better double by the middle of next year. “L.E.S.S. is an industrial project. BEST IDEAS: tool to use than a L.E.S.S. light. To This is also around the time when During sleepless hours. We are not developing new algo- demonstrate the superiority of its Tissot wants to achieve break-even. rithms,” stressed the CEO. “We are products, the company recently GREATEST SOURCE working to change the face of an OF IRRITATION / laid down a challenge for visitors Tails on the L.E.S.S. coin is for the WORRY: entire industry.” And this requires at a trade fair for the watchmaking mass market or, more specifically, Not having enough time. a huge pot of money. Of the CHF 3 industry: “Bring your own compo- the deployment of the new tech- It goes much too quickly. million generated by L.E.S.S. nents with you and rediscover nology in cars and all manner of SOCIAL MEDIA: during its first round of financing, them under the L.E.S.S. light, screens. This is what Tissot stated Very little. If I have to, I use half of it was used in the develop- which offers unparalleled even- a year ago – and there is not much LinkedIn and Twitter, ment and construction of custom- because this is where our ness and convergence.” Another more he can reveal today. Devel- customers are. ised machines. To make an impact sales argument which may be opment cycles in the automotive in the mass market, Tissot believes even better is that the Laus- industry are long, and as long as BEST FORM OF the company will need an invest- RELAXATION: anne-based company is able to the use of L.E.S.S. components has Playing with ment of CHF 20 million over the prove that its product can increase not yet been rubber-stamped, our baby. next five years. productivity by more than 25 per- everything continues to be strictly cent. Why? Employees no longer confidential: “There is only so An amount this large can make have to turn the element under much I can say – our partnership Swiss financial backers feel un- evaluation in all different direc- with an automotive manufacturer comfortable. “It is extremely diffi- tions in order to check it. One has reached the stage where our cult to get our strategy across to glance is all that is required with products will be integrated into local investors,” states the entre- L.E.S.S., thereby saving time. the brand’s models over the next preneur. Tissot believes that Swit- Although the visual and auto- five years.” zerland is the best country in the mated quality control business is a The startup is not just attracted world in which to found a startup, niche market, it is a huge one, to the automotive industry be- but it is not ideal for companies states Tissot. The sale of light cause of its capacity to produce a that wish to grow quickly. And this sources in this market generates large number of units – Tissot re- is the aim that Tissot and Rivier, revenue of CHF 1 billion per year. veals that the company’s partner is Head of Research and Develop- After getting off to a successful prepared to co-finance the devel- ment at L.E.S.S., are pursuing. “If start in the watchmaking industry, opment of new technologies until we were to cease our efforts today, L.E.S.S. now supplies products to they are ready for the market. And we would have created a stable around 50 customers in various this is the next hurdle faced by SME,” says the CEO in closing. branches – from glass production “But we want to become a large and the diamond industry to elec- company. Although that may not tronics and aerospace. seem exceptionally ambitious, Thanks to this “initial market”, “We are building up our capacity for there are risks associated with it.” as Tissot refers to it, the new com- industrial production using the money FOUNDED: 2012; EMPLOYEES: 12 pany now has twelve employees. from the angels.”— YANN TISSOT WWW.LESS-SA.COM THE TOP 100 STARTUPS

It’s super easy RANG and no- nonsense. 2 BCOMP Five years after the company was founded, the startup based in Fribourg has made a strong commercial breakthrough with its natural fibre-reinforced materials. TEXT: PIRMIN SCHILLIGER PHOTO: TINA STURZENEGGER

reeriders, boarders and CYRILLE BOINAY is now being used in ski cores, to and travel items and furniture are surfers have been be produced via a partner in Ec- also interested in the material. placing their faith in BEST IDEAS: uador. Over 35 ski manufacturers In addition to these efforts, Usually when I’m focusing natural fibre-reinforced on something else, like – from Blizzard and K2 to Nordica Bcomp is working on further ex- boards and skis for a when it’s my turn to look and Stöckli – are now using the panding its range of raw materials while now. Invented by after the kids or while material. The ultralight composite for natural fibre-composite mate- doing sport. FBcomp, the high-tech material can also be found in kiteboards, rials, such as flax, jute and bio- makes sports equipment excep- GREATEST SOURCE skateboards, surfboards and based plastics. “We are looking for tionally light and lends it excellent OF IRRITATION / wakeboards, and is used in the a recyclable solution,” states Bo- WORRY: shock-absorbing properties. A lack of time, which is production of hockey and field inay. He sounds grounded, almost Founded in 2011 by Christian Fis- why inefficient processes hockey sticks. “In effect, it is ideal modest, despite the large-scale cher (38), Cyrille Boinay (43), Ju- are quick to annoy me. for all applications where the plans that the co-CEO reveals lien Rion (35) and Andreas Brül- SOCIAL MEDIA: weight of the equipment is crit- next. The startup has been hart (35), the startup has made In my private life, I prefer ical,” explains Boinay. working on projects with the auto- good progress. “We made a profit to use Facebook. For Although Bcomp has made a motive industry for 1.5 years. To business purposes, I use for the first time in 2015,” states Twitter and LinkedIn. I good entry into the market via the be able to meet EU emission regu- Boinay, who heads the company have also had a go at sports equipment industry, there lations by 2020, it is essential for as co-CEO together with founding Snapchat. is still a huge range of applications cars to lose weight. After all, lower partner Christian Fischer. All BEST FORM OF to explore where the natural fibre weight equals lower fuel con- kinds of certificates adorn the RELAXATION: technology could be used. In the sumption. walls of Boinay’s office, as do Doing sport outdoors. At Blue Factory on the site of the The new materials developed by the moment, I cycle to awards presented to Bcomp, such work from to former Cardinal Brewery in Fri- Bcomp have come along at just as the Venture Leaders and Swiss Fribourg once a week. bourg, a team of seven engineers the right time. They are half as Economic Award in the category In winter, I like to go skiing. is tinkering with new applications heavy as carbon fibres and can be “high-tech and biotech” from June in laboratories and on screens. produced at a lower cost. Bcomp of this year. Boinay offers an example, namely could therefore provide ultralight the prototype of a watch case components to reinforce the car Bcomp has arranged for the nat- which is being designed for a body and for the interior fittings: ural composite material, which is luxury brand. He then goes on to door and driver’s area covers, made of flax and balsa wood and reveal that producers of design seats, roof liners, etc. THE TOP 100 STARTUPS

ment, sales and supplier support ital financing. Thus far, the com- Ready to grow In actual fact, a material devel- will continue to take place at the pany has been successful with just Christian Fischer (left) oped by Bcomp will be used in an company headquarters in Fri- a single round of financing. and Cyrille Boinay are initial vehicle model, an electric bourg. working in car, which is set to enter into series Expanding its business as an au- At present, it is almost impos- collaboration with the production. And this is just the tomotive supplier would quad- sible to predict the next chapter in automotive start. Major well-known car ruple Bcomp’s turnover in no time the Bcomp story. For example, the industry. brands have already come at all, while the current team of startup is looking to establish firm knocking in Fribourg and sat eleven employees would at least ties with the aerospace industry. A down to negotiate with the double in size. One strategic issue project is currently being imple- startup. Boinay states that the is whether the company should mented with the European Space company is ready to make the leap deal with this expected growth or- Agency. “The main topic we are from a sports industry supplier to ganically or seek new venture cap- discussing is vibration damping in an automotive supplier: “We have satellites,” states Boinay. It could already made the necessary modi- well be, then, that the natural fi- fications to key processes.” Bcomp bre-reinforced composite mate- is outsourcing production to “We made a profit for rials from Switzerland will soon be partner companies, while admin- the first time in 2015.” in use in outer space. istration, research and develop- — CYRILLE BOINAY A safe place for what matters most UBS Safe: the digital safe deposit box

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Swiss fintech pioneer Knip founder Dennis Just

RANG Cutting through the confusion of land in particular, well-known in- surance providers such as the policies health insurance company Hel- sana have blocked the digital up- 3 KNIP A digital insurance broker for everyone. start and are refusing to cooperate. TEXT: JOST DUBACHER PHOTO: TINA STURZENEGGER “This is something we’ll see for another few years yet,” Just esti- mates. t the end of March this DENNIS JUST app. The platform is based on soft- year, 28-year-old Knip ware that analyses the policies and But he is not afraid. The digital founder Dennis Just col- BEST IDEAS: identifies gaps in the person’s in- transformation, Just believes, will If I need to find a lected the Swiss Fintech solution to a complex surance coverage. not be stopped by the insurance AAward at the Dolder Grand Hotel challenge, I go running sector. To reach the self-imposed in Zurich. The decision did not and do CrossFit. In the beginning, Knip focused goal of one million downloads by come as a big surprise – Knip is GREATEST SOURCE on property insurance – today the the end of the year, Knip has been one of the first and most OF IRRITATION / company covers the entire range offering the app under a ‘free- ­successful startups to straddle the WORRY: of policies, from health and life to mium’ model since June. Cus- When I have made a IT industry and the finance sector. mistake, it is difficult for travel and liability to motor and tomers have the opportunity to fa- Not only that, but in December me to let it go. legal expenses insurance. The miliarise themselves with the 2014 the company completed the number of downloads is rising system free of charge. If they feel SOCIAL MEDIA: largest round of financing for a I keep in contact with steadily, jumping from 400,000 at inclined to do so, they can con- ­fintech firm in Switzerland at that friends over Facebook. the start of the year to 700,000 in clude a broker contract to obtain time, bringing in CHF 15 million. LinkedIn and Xing are autumn. “That makes us number access to features such as a policy for business partners, The money was used for the and I use Twitter to keep one in Switzerland and Germany,” comparison tool and chat advice ­development of a platform that up to date with things. states Dennis Just. function. And it seems to work: enables private individuals to Born in Germany and living in “The conversion rate is good,” BEST FORM OF ­conclude a broker agreement with RELAXATION: Switzerland for five years, success states Just. Knip and to manage current insur- A sauna and a hotpot in has brought the 28-year-old both FOUNDED: 2013; EMPLOYEES: 105 ance policies via a smartphone a chalet in Simmental. friends and enemies. In Switzer- WWW.KNIP.CH THE TOP 100 STARTUPS

Expanding from six to 30 employees in a year Flyability founders Adrien Briod (left) and Patrick Thévoz

Inspecting the land RANG with flying robots FLYABILITY has designed an industrial application for the production of Elios, a drone. These drones inspect facilities and infrastructure from the air. TEXT: KASPAR MEULI PHOTO: TINA STURZENEGGER 4

lyability has left the garage PATRICK THÉVOZ posite materials, which encases stage far behind. Just a year the flying machine and protects it ago, the drones developed BEST IDEAS: against collisions with obstacles. selection of suppliers in particular When I’m enjoying a beer with by the company (founded in friends. Combined with a high-resolution proved to be a tough nut to crack. F2014) were still being assembled video camera, these flight charac- As Thévos states, “Launching Elios in a windowless back room in the GREATEST SOURCE teristics allow for previously un- on the market was an emotional OF IRRITATION / historic centre of Lausanne. WORRY: dreamed-of applications for use, time for us and drained our energy Today, the EPFL spin-off is housed Trying to recruit employees such as inspecting the interior of a reserves.” in a modern commercial building who have more experience and power plant boiler, a factory or an Financially speaking, the com- a different kind of expertise to with splendid façades clad in cor- me. oil platform. This aligns with the pany is looking healthy, with a rugated sheeting. “Growing from company’s claim to provide “safe major investment fund on board five people to a team of 30 within SOCIAL MEDIA: drones for inaccessible places”. as an investor. Thus far, Flyability LinkedIn is an extremely useful 12 months involves a great deal of resource for finding staff, for Flyability’s well-engineered has secured CHF 5 million in work. It can also cause worries to sales and for maintaining product has been available on the funding from investors. The com- surface,” states Patrick Thévoz, contact with our partners. market since May of this year. pany has also channelled more one of the two founders. “But BEST FORM OF Forty Elios drones are produced than CHF 1.5 million in prize that’s part of the adventure. And it RELAXATION: per month in the startup’s produc- money into its ongoing develop- is a pleasure to witness the growth Taking my sailing boat out on tion facility, which is nestled in ment. But now the company has to if the weather is of our company.” good. Lausanne’s up-and-coming rely on turnover. And the future Sévelin district. CEO Patrick looks bright: “Elios sales are taking Flyability was founded on the Thévoz considers the develop- off,” states the CEO, “just a few promise that it would develop ment of industrial production ca- months after its release on the drones with all-new flight charac- pacity to have been the greatest market.” teristics. The drone consists of a challenge faced by the startup in FOUNDED: 2014; EMPLOYEES: 30 spherical structure made of com- the past year. The search for and WWW.FLYABILITY.COM THE TOP 100 STARTUPS RANG

Precise analysis thanks to 5 artificial intelligence The analytical tools for genetic patient data developed by SOPHIA GENETICS are world class. Now the Lausanne-based startup’s aim is to consolidate its position within the market of the future. TEXT: KASPAR MEULI PHOTO: TINA STURZENEGGER

e is a born communicator, ratory at Campus Biotech in Ge- cancer, 98 percent of which corre- has new ideas and is neva – the third research and de- spond to those made by specialist good-looking: it comes as velopment centre after the ones in physicians. no surprise that Jurgi Lausanne and Cambridge (UK). In HCamblong is making more and July, the co-founder of the com- The business model of the com- more appearances in the media. pany – which specialises in ge- pany founded at the EPFL Inno- Above all, however, the CEO of So- nome analysis – presented a vation Park in 2011 is as follows: phia Genetics is an entrepreneur breakthrough in the use of artifi- the company performs standard- who is a regular bearer of good cial intelligence in data-driven ised analyses of genetic patient news. medicine. With the help of a new, data for hospitals and identifies In January this year, for ex- self-learning software suite, So- characteristic mutations for ge- ample, he announced that his phia Genetics is able to make fore- netic disorders. The data analysis company was opening a new labo- casts about the risk of breast is entirely automatic and the algo- rithms are refined on an ongoing JURGI CAMBLONG basis – the broader the growing data pool is, the more precise the BEST IDEAS: results will be. Data-driven medi- My best ideas come during various cine makes diagnoses quicker and meetings and when more accurate. “Data-driven med- exchanging views icine,” states Jurgi Camblong, “is with other people. an essential step forward in the GREATEST SOURCE move towards personalised medi- OF IRRITATION / cine.” WORRY: Anything that Sophia Genetics has experi- represents an enced a significant degree of suc- obstacle to the cess through its strategy of democratisation of data-driven building a community of data sup- medicine. pliers that benefit from an ex- panding network. In 2015, growth SOCIAL MEDIA: I mainly use stood at over 400 percent. The net- LinkedIn, though I work currently has more than 170 do sometimes log members in over 30 countries, on to Twitter, where I share more with 10 new members joining personal moments each month. The number of anal- from my life. yses being performed by the 100 BEST FORM OF employees at the firm is increasing RELAXATION: rapidly, with over 6,000 carried out I recently went to in July this year. This was some- Crete with my family and was able to thing that impressed the jury of switch off entirely. the TOP 100. With a ranking of fifth, Sophia Genetics is therefore the best biotech company in the Automated diagnosis list. Jurgi Camblong, co- FOUNDED: 2011; EMPLOYEES: 100 founder and CEO of WWW.SOPHIAGENETICS.COM Sophia Genetics. Enthusiasm? «Innovative ideas supported and backed by .»

Laurent Decrue | CEO Movu Switzerland

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RANG

Productive collaboration Peter Stein (left), Lea von Bidder and Pascal Koenig. 7 The SME accountants BEXIO 6,000 companies are already using the accounting software from the company in Rapperswil. The startup is now positioning itself to conquer the market in German-speaking Switzerland. TEXT: CLAUS NIEDERMANN

he turbulent period is over for co-founders Jeremias Meier and TStefan Brunner from Bexio. Just under three years ago, the two men founded the company easySYS in order to develop and distribute a business software suite for small companies, startups and self- employed persons. Bexio now employs 40 members of staff and has over 6,000 customers throughout Switzerland. The software designed RANG by Bexio is able to take care of Help with accounting, invoicing, payment transactions and customer and family planning project management all from a single 6 source. Users do not need their own AVA A bracelet shows the wearer’s fertile days. server. TEXT: JOST DUBACHER PHOTO: TINA STURZENEGGER The services can be used directly via the web browser. Receipts and easonably reliable figures are then be drawn from this data other paper-based documents are only available for the USA: at any regarding fluctuations in the scanned with a smartphone, Rone time, around two million hormones which play a key role in transmitted to the cloud and couples in the country want to have natural conception. A woman has six automatically processed. children. For one-third of these fertile days in her monthly cycle. The Bexio has been active in the market in couples, the conception process Ava bracelet enables the wearer to Western Switzerland since spring. requires more time. Of this group, half accurately calculate 5.3 of those days, However, the potential in Switzerland will make use of medical care. These equating to a success rate of 89 is by no means exhausted. For figures do not include the countless percent. “Scientific studies show that example, the company’s partnership men and women who rely on all a woman can double her chance of with the trustee association manner of alternative practices when becoming pregnant with good Treuhand Suisse looks to be rather it comes to family planning. “We are timing,” states Koenig. promising. Other irons in the fire offering a simple, high-quality The ovulation tracking bracelet has include the company’s cooperative alternative,” explains Ava co-founder already gone on sale in the USA (see partnerships with UBS, PostFinance and CEO Pascal Koenig. page 40). It is expected to be released and Zurich Cantonal Bank, where it He and his team have developed a on the Swiss market in 2017. At the has been tasked to connect and bracelet that the woman wears at moment, the bracelet costs USD automate the accounting software for night. The bracelet then measures her 199.00. e-banking purposes. vital functions, from blood circulation FOUNDED: 2014; EMPLOYEES: 17 FOUNDED: 2013; EMPLOYEES: 40 to quality of sleep. Conclusions can WWW.AVAWOMEN.COM WWW.BEXIO.CH Explore the business potential of your technology: CHF 130. 000 TO KICK YOUR STARTUP

A PHILANTHROPIC INITIATIVE OF A PRIVATE CONSORTIUM ©Tina Sturzenegger – ySense André Hoffmann Hansjörg Wyss eam of Qual The t Get your kick: venturekick.ch THE TOP 100 STARTUPS

RANG mune system, namely T cells. Cancer vaccines on the horizon There are multiple types of T cells. Cytotoxic (or ‘killer’) T cells di- AMAL THERAPEUTICS The biotech startup already rectly destroy unhealthy cells. T 8 has two vaccines against cancer in the pipeline. helper cells, meanwhile, raise the TEXT: STEFAN KYORA PHOTO: TINA STURZENEGGER alarm using soluble messenger substances and trigger additional our years ago, Amal was have the chance to speak to the immune cells. However, T cells are founded based on nothing entire team. The team is working only active for a certain type of un- Fmore than an idea and sup- on a technology platform for vac- healthy cell, namely one that port from Venture Kick. Now, ini- En route to clinical trials cines against cancer based on an matches it like a key in a lock. tial promising results from clinical Madiha Derouazi element found in the natural im- The technology platform devel- trials have been published. “We oped by Amal enables T cells to be are now planning to carry out our taught to activate themselves in first tests on people for an initial the event of the presence of cancer agent against intestinal cancer,” cells. “One key strength of our states Amal founder and CEO Ma- platform is that we can create diha Derouazi. killer cells and helper cells at the The speed at which the com- same time as antagonists of cer- pany has managed this is all down tain cancer cells,” states Derouazi. to the team, says Derouazi em- This means that various types of phatically. “I have a dream team cancer can be tackled. In addition full of top specialists,” she states. to the vaccine against intestinal The fact that they work together cancer, a drug intended to combat well is not a coincidence. During brain tumours is in the pipeline. job interviews, for example, the FOUNDED: 2012; EMPLOYEES: 5 CEO makes sure that applicants WWW.AMALTHERAPEUTICS.COM

RANG High-tech in the RANG The revolution 9 agricultural sector 10 according to plan GAMAYA Farms can make huge savings thanks to the LUNAPHORE The diagnostics startup image sensors and analysis software from Gamaya. has achieved all of its objectives so far. TEXT: STEFAN KYORA TEXT: STEFAN KYORA

The investors who were nutrient deficiencies and Things are running smoothly at Lunaphore has developed a financially involved at the weeds to be pinpointed. The Lunaphore. The startup has piece of technology for Swisscom Startup Challenge information helps farmers to already produced nine analysing tumour tissue. finals in May were all well- quickly identify plant diseases prototypes. Tests will now be The technology is extremely known individuals. Peter and weeds. They can then performed with the prototypes quick, allowing the effects of Brabeck, CEO of Nestlé, was counteract them in a targeted in hospitals, research institutes certain drugs on patients to be one of them. These investors manner and apply the right and service laboratories. At the analysed. This constitutes a key are backing a startup whose amount of chemicals at the same time, Lunaphore has step in the journey towards aim is to make farming more right time. Gamaya’s goal is to been able to generate CHF 1 personalised medicine. The efficient, more lucrative and reduce loss of crops caused by million in funding through plan is for Lunaphore’s device more sustainable. Gamaya disease and weeds by 50 cooperation projects with to enter into series production combines patented image percent. The startup is academic partners. “We have next year. sensors, installed on drones to currently providing solutions certainly reached the goal that It would come as no surprise scan large-scale cultivated for soybean and sugar cane we set ourselves to achieve by if the startup keeps to its areas, with artificial plantations in Brazil. the first half of 2016,” states co- schedule. intelligence for evaluating data. founder and COO Deborah FOUNDED: 2015; EMPLOYEES: 14 FOUNDED: 2014; EMPLOYEES: 14 This enables plant diseases, WWW.GAMAYA.COM Heintze. WWW.LUNAPHORE.CH POSITIONS 11 TO 100

The seven sectors in the ranking list Cleantech Biotech Internet/ Micro/ Medtech Electronics/ Software mobile nanotechnology mechanics

11. VIU Ventures Zurich  13. BestMile Lausanne  15. Archilogic Zurich  Although spectacles have long been a fashion Countless technology and automotive firms The four founders of Archilogic have a vision: accessory, this aspect is not yet being utilised are currently looking into the concept of auton- to digitalise the world of interior spaces – in 3D. in their production and sale, with one excep- omous driving. That said, the product offered Their software is able to turn floor plans of tion: VIU, which sells handmade designer by BestMile is unique. The startup’s software properties into 3D models in just a few hours. spectacles over the internet and in flagship manages fleets of autonomous vehicles in real As well as helping interior designers plan how stores in Italy. Everything is going according to time and is compatible for use with buses and to use spaces, it enables occupants to envisage plan. In the past few months, VIU has even cars produced by a wide range of manufactur- the layout of their office or residence. Even at been able to make a breakthrough in the ers. The fact that the system can be used in this stage, the majority of the company’s cus- price-sensitive German market. The aim now conjunction with various vehicle types is a tomers are located abroad. is to make an impact in other countries as well. clear advantage for fleet operators. www.archilogic.com www.shopviu.com www.bestmile.com 16. G-Therapeutics Lausanne  12. MOVU Zurich  14. PIQUR Therapeutics  The ETH Lausanne spin-off is taking a novel MOVU is a platform for removals and move- PIQUR is working on the development of novel approach to healing spinal cord injuries. One out/in cleaning services in Switzerland. Since cancer drugs. The company is focusing on two day, it may be possible for paraplegic patients 2014, customers have been able to create a re- processes that play a key role in the onset of to learn to walk again. The approach consists of quest on MOVU.ch, on the basis of which they cancer. With its highly experienced team and an implant, a new form of physical therapy and receive five quotes with fixed prices from se- support from renowned investors, PIQUR is the use of a robotic exoskeleton. The implant lected partner firms. The services are booked currently testing the effectiveness of an initial stimulates special areas of the spinal cord with directly via the platform. From a quote search drug as part of clinical trials. specific impulses. function to bookings and more, MOVU pro- www.piqur.com www.gtherapeutics.com vides a range of services to make moving house easier. 17. RealLook Zurich  www.movu.ch In 2013, RealLook launched its Selfnation brand, offering tailored jeans for women that can be ordered online using an intelligent soft-

STARTUPS BY SECTOR Switzerland is not typically seen as cause they account for nearly one a country of software develop- quarter of the ranking list. The Ambitious software ments. Although there are a few Swiss founders are now no longer globally successful companies, they afraid to get on board with major are generally active in small B2B trends and the markets of the fu- founders markets and therefore lack publici- ture. The list includes companies ty. The 23 software startups in the from numerous sectors, encom- top 100 are now raising hopes that passing big data, fintech, the inter- this will change, and not just be- net of things, sustainable mobility and the digitalisation of the corpo- rate world. These startups have 23 major potential. Software 18 18 Internet/ mobile Biotech 14 Medtech 13 Electronics/ 10 mechanics Cleantech 4 Micro/ nanotechnology THE TOP 100 STARTUPS

ware suite. A period of evolution followed, dur- tem attacks the cells in their nervous system. ing which a line of men’s jeans was launched. Polyneuron received financial support this Today, the startup generates 50 percent of its year from both investors and the Venture Kick turnover from this line. And this figure could be initiative. set to increase in the future – a line of men’s www.polyneuron.com Bermuda shorts and chinos has recently gone TOP 5 on sale at Selfnation. 23. Farmy.ch Zurich  www.selfnation.com Farmy.ch positions itself as an online farm shop that connects regional producers with THE BEST 18. MindMaze Lausanne  consumers. Since June, its attempts to achieve Like many startups in the medical technology this goal have received a major boost. Bakery NEWCOMERS sector, MindMaze pools expertise from various cooperative Pistor acquired a stake in the areas. Based in German-speaking Switzerland, startup. The aim now is for the partnered com- the startup has developed a rehabilitation de- panies to develop a national network of Farmy Pregnolia 1 vice that combines three disciplines into one: collection points in bakeries. Zurich, rank 24 EEG (brain) scans, motion detection and aug- www.farmy.ch Advanon 2 mented reality, i.e. a real-world environment Zurich, rank 25 supplemented by virtual elements. The device 24. Pregnolia Zurich  is intended for treatment and rehabilitation Approximately one in ten babies are born pre- ecoRobotix 3 Yverdon-les-Bains, rank 28 purposes among stroke patients. maturely. Up to now, these premature births www.mindmaze.ch could only be predicted with an accuracy of 40 Beekeeper 4 percent. Pregnolia wants to change this by Zurich, rank 31 19. OrbiWise Geneva  means of a device that measures the stiffness of Wingtra 5 For the internet of things to become a reality the cervix. If the current study yields positive , rank 35 and all manner of everyday objects to commu- results, gynaecologists may soon be able to de- nicate with one another, we need low-power tect premature births with a much greater de- networks that enable small data packets to be gree of accuracy than they can at the moment A rapid start transferred sporadically. The right software for during routine examinations. After winning the this has been designed by Geneva-based Venture Kick final, the startup will now con- paired with startup OrbiWise. One major corporation al- duct a round of financing. ready relying on the solutions from OrbiWise is www.pregnolia.ch effective Tata, which is using the software for its Indian 25. Advanon Zurich  low-power network. The startup from the booming fintech sector preparation www.orbiwise.com has reinvented factoring. Advanon’s online The best newcomers – these 20. Glycemicon Brugg  platform enables SMEs to have their customer Around half a million people in Switzerland invoices pre-financed by investors. This ena- are the startups that achieved alone suffer from diabetes. The costs for treat- bles SMEs to quickly achieve liquidity, while the highest positions after ing the various manifestations of the disease investors benefit from an interesting new asset making it onto the top 100 list amount to approximately five percent of the to- class. To continue its development, the startup for the first time. Head of the tal health care costs in this country. And diabe- is entering into partnerships with various pack in this category is Pregnolia tes is on the rise. Glycemicon is seeking to stop banks. (rank 24). It was not just the this development in its tracks with a substance www.advanon.com potential of the medtech startup that restores the impaired capacity of the fat that led to it achieving such a high cells in a diabetic patient’s body to respond to 26. Teralytics Zurich  insulin. Teralytics’ speciality is to analyse large, an- ranking – the current development www.glycemicon.com onymised amounts of mobile phone data. The status of the project was also analyses, which are performed on behalf of decisive. Pregnolia is a typical ETH 21. Uepaa Zurich  companies and government bodies, may, for spin-off founded on the basis of Following the development of the Uepaa app example, be able to shed light on the travel many years of research. While for end consumers and business customers, routes taken by the population. The ETH Zu- writing her dissertation, Sabrina Uepaa is now making its technology available rich spin-off currently employs 50 members of Badir (photo) – later to become the as software as a service. This provides a simple staff and has offices in New York and Singa- founder of Pregnolia – developed a way for developers to integrate proximity ser- pore. new device that enables doctors to vices between smartphones into their apps. www.teralytics.net Uepaa’s technology makes it possible to detect measure the stiffness of the cervix. and connect people in the same vicinity with- 27. Leman Micro Devices Lausanne  Initial results from a clinical trial and out the use of an internet connection or GPS Leman Micro Devices brings together all vital from the literature showed that positioning data. There had already been ma- parameters, such as blood pressure, body tem- measuring a patient’s cervical jor interest in Uepaa’s new service prior to the perature and pulse frequency, onto a person’s stiffness may enable possible launch. smartphone. This is possible thanks to a rea- premature births to be detected www.uepaa.ch sonably priced miniaturised sensor module more easily in future. 22. Polyneuron developed by the startup which is integrated Badir decided to found a startup at Pharmaceuticals Basel  into conventional smartphones, tablets and The technology platform developed by the bi- other mobile devices. the beginning of 2016. The focus otech startup enables new drugs to be devel- www.leman-micro.com now is on improving the prototype oped that are able to treat autoimmune disor- to make it commercially viable. “One HERZOG ALAIN PHOTO: ders. The most advanced project is focusing on of our aims is to develop a device a disease where the patient’s own immune sys- that can be produced efficiently,” states Badir. THE TOP 100 STARTUPS

28. ecoRobotix Yverdon-les-Bains  33. FEMTOprint Muzzano  The robots developed by the startup in TOP 5 The startup produces 3D microsystems made fight weed growth by spraying them with her- of glass or other transparent materials. The bicide or mechanically destroying them. The production of such microsystems has either product is undergoing extensive testing this THE been impossible or extremely complex up to year – in spring, it was tested in inclement now. There are numerous areas of application, weather conditions. A pre-series will be CLIMBERS from watchmaking to medical technology to launched on the market at the start of 2017. telecommunications. The startup has an expe- The aim is to release the definitive product at rienced entrepreneur in charge in the form of the end of 2017. The robot is especially attrac- Ava +92 Nicoletta Casanova. tive to organic farmers, whose ranks are boom- Zurich, rank 6 (last year: 98) www.femtoprint.ch ing around the world. G-Therapeutics +77 www.ecorobotix.com Lausanne, rank 16 (last year: 93) 34. Memo Therapeutics Basel  Archilogic +64 In humans and animals, antibodies fight 29. SWISSto12 Lausanne  Zurich, rank 15 (last year: 79) against pathogens. Memo Therapeutics has For telecommunications satellites to achieve a developed a new platform that enables anti- high data transfer speed, they need antennas Swissto12 +53 bodies to be characterised and propagated in Lausanne, rank 29 (last year: 82) and other elements. This is exactly what order to ultimately be able to develop new Swiss­to12 specialises in. The company is pro- Memo Therapeutics +53 drugs. An initial project with a customer was ducing these elements as part of a new process Basel, rank 34 (last year: 87) launched in June. The project uses antibodies that includes the use of 3D printing, thereby from hares as its basis. cutting production costs, increasing design A new hope www.memomab.com flexibility and dramatically reducing the weight In 2012, ETH Lausanne published a of the product. 35. Zug  video showing a rat that was able to Wingtra www.swissto12.com There are many different drones on the market. use its rear legs again after suffering That said, the product offered by Wingtra is 30. Nanolive Lausanne  a spinal cord injury and severe unique. It takes off vertically like a drone with The microscope developed by Nanolive ena- paralysis. At the end of the video, multiple rotors and then flies like a mini aero- bles living cells to be investigated in 3D for the the rat was even able to climb a set POSITIONS: IMPROVED plane thanks to a folding mechanism. The first time without the cells being damaged. of stairs by itself. The video and the drone’s purpose is to collect data, e.g. for use in Market reception for the device, which is called research behind the story at the the agricultural sector. This year, the startup the 3D Cell Explorer, has been extremely posi- university in Lausanne led to new will conduct tests and construct a beta version. tive. It comes as little surprise that the ETH hope being kindled for paraplegic Market entry is scheduled to take place next Lausanne spin-off is being honoured with one year. patients. As a result, the video award after the next. It was part of Venture www.wingtra.com Leaders China, won the Vigier Award and was received widespread global one of the winners of the Swisscom Startup coverage and the publication of the 36. Versantis Zurich  Challenge. accompanying research article in Versantis is working on nanoparticles that are www.nanolive.ch the renowned journal Science. able to remove toxic substances from the body. The next major step was made During its brief existence so far, the startup 31. Beekeeper Zurich  a few months ago. Founded has already gained support from a range of There are those Swiss IT startups whose prod- by Vincent Delattre (photo) sources, including the Venture Kick initia- ucts are used all over the world. Beekeeper is tive. This year, approval to fast-track the and EPFL professor one of them. The company has developed a authorisation procedure for a product de- platform that facilitates communication be- Grégoire Courtine, the veloped by the company (used in conjunc- tween companies and employees without ac- company G-Therapeutics tion with liver failure) was given by the com- cess to emails. The startup’s platform is in use (rank 16) received approximately petent authority. in over 100 countries. A round of financing in CHF 40 million to adapt the www.versantis.ch spring 2016 will now provide the company with technology for use in humans. Even fresh impetus. in the medtech sector, which often 37. rqmicro Zurich  www.beekeeper.io sees major financial packages being Legionella is a specific type of bacteria that can cause severe pneumonia. The illness is typi- awarded to companies, this is a 32. Codecheck Zurich  cally transferred via tap water. Previously, it considerable sum of money. “Codecheck does what the EU can’t do!” This is took more than 10 days to test water for the how the Codecheck app was presented by Ger- G-Therapeutics is now well presence of Legionella. Now, however, a new man TV station ARD in an article about nano- positioned to continue to develop device developed by rqmicro has cut the time particles in July 2016. The app enables con- the revolutionary technology down to less than an hour. In spring, the sumers to find out for themselves whether a platform. startup completed a round of financing. It can particular product contains nanoparticles, The company combines a special now increase its efforts to tap into new mar- controversial ingredients or substances that form of physical therapy with an kets. trigger allergies. The app also shows alterna- implant that stimulates specific www.rqmicro.ch tives to the product in question. areas of the spinal cord. www.codecheck.info THE TOP 100 STARTUPS

38. Battere Zurich  Battere charges batteries using solar energy on TOP 5 behalf of corporate customers like Microsoft, THE BEST INTERNET/MOBILE STARTUPS Zurich and SwissRe and other target groups such as festivalgoers and commuters. At nine train stations in Zurich, for example, users can A Swiss level borrow fully charged batteries, connect them of customer service to their phones and bring them back after use. The startup works in cooperation with SBB to A great amount of pressure is being services on the platform. This provide this service. imposed on the Swiss market by ensures that every provider is www.battere.ch foreign internet portals. More and reliable and above board (i.e. no 39. DistalMotion Lausanne  more foreign startups are undeclared labour). Make an effort to gain investors and potential setting up branches in MOVU has been highly successful partners or stay under the radar and avoid un- Switzerland with the aim of with this approach so far. “At wanted attention from the competition – this is the issue faced by high-tech startups. Michael funnelling some of the present, we are experiencing growth Friedrich, serial entrepreneur and head of Dis- wealth in the country into of 10 percent per month,” states CEO talMotion, opted for the latter. At present, all their own coffers. If Swiss Laurent Decrue (photo). The startup that is known about this startup is that the de- companies want to stand up to has completed several rounds of vice being developed combines robotics with this development, they have to be financing and employs over 25 minimally invasive surgical procedures. able to offer something special. And members of staff. The company’s www.distalmotion.ch this is exactly what MOVU is doing potential remains huge: in (rank 12). The relocation and Switzerland alone, over 400,000 40. Nomoko Zurich  removals platform is not adopting households move to a different Nomoko is developing a camera and software with which to create 3D models. The images the same approach as other foreign address each year. Decrue is also taken by the Nomoko camera have a resolution startups, which provide customers considering expanding the of 1,000 megapixels and contain 50 times more seeking to move premises with a company’s operations abroad in the information on average. Market entry is single, extremely cheap quote. For future. planned for 2017 and will include an all-round each order, MOVU provides its service whereby the startup uses both the cam- customers with five different quotes Knip era and the software to deliver data to custom- and offers comprehensive assistance 1 Zurich, rank 3 ers in the desired format. during their move. This starts with www.nomoko.camera VIU Ventures ensuring that every customer 2 Zurich, rank 11 41. CombaGroup Molondin VD  moving to a new address has a Movu In Molondin, the greenhouse developed by personal customer adviser. 3 Zurich, rank 12 CombaGroup demonstrates what lettuce culti- Furthermore, MOVU makes sure to RealLook (Selfnation) vation may look like in the future. Thanks to in- evaluate all removal firms and 4 Zurich, rank 17 novations such as a mobile spraying robot, cleaning companies that offer their Uepaa! which sprays a fine mist consisting of water 5 Zurich, rank 21 and nutrients directly on the plant roots, and the recovery of waste heat to heat the green- house, the cultivation of the lettuce crop re- quires 90 percent less space and 99 percent less ple, the marketplace shows the final price for a 45. DEPsys Yverdons-les-Bains  water. product, which includes logistics and customs Solar energy and wind energy are inconsistent. www.combagroup.com clearance costs. The startup’s investors include DEPsys has developed its GridEye solution to b-to-v and Venture Incubator. balance out the fluctuations encountered. 42. Fastree3D Ecublens  www.equippo.com GridEye is a real-time control platform consist- This startup develops 3D cameras intended to ing of intelligent sensors and actuators for enable vehicles and machines to detect 44. Intento Ecublens  managing the low-voltage network. The startup fast-moving objects in three dimensions in real Each year, one-third of people who have a has found a major customer in German-speak- time. The basis for the camera is a unique light stroke suffer from severe paralysis afterwards. ing Switzerland and is now looking to tap into sensor platform that allows for cost-efficient The therapy system developed by Intento, the market in Western Europe. production and a high level of precision. The which consists of an electronic muscle stimu- www.depsys.ch technology could, for example, be used in con- lator and easy-to-use control software, could junction with autonomous vehicles or robots. offer hope to these people. In an initial clinical 46. Proton Technologies Geneva  www.fastree3d.com trial, 80 percent of patients demonstrated a From 2014 to spring 2016, the encrypted email meaningful degree of improvement after two service ProtonMail was available for use by in- 43. Equippo Zug  weeks. Intento was well received during the vitation only. Despite this, over one million us- Equippo offers used construction equipment trip with Venture Leaders in Boston, winning ers were registered during beta stage testing. such as diggers, loaders, asphalt pavers and the Global Pitchfest. ProtonMail has been available to everyone work platforms for purchase in its international www.intento.ch since March. With end-to-end encryption, it is marketplace. The platform is intended to make virtually impossible to be cracked. The service international transactions as simple as possi- is financed via a freemium model. ble for buyers and purchasers alike. For exam- www.protonmail.com THE TOP 100 STARTUPS

47. Contovista Schlieren  Contovista specialises in the evaluation and TOP 5 visualisation of financial data. The fintech THE BEST MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY STARTUPS startup opens up a wealth of possibilities to the finance industry in the fields of personal fi- Startups are causing a stir nance management and business intelligence. In the past few months, several namely a non-listed startup worth Various banks, including Zurich Cantonal Bank and Schwyzer Kantonalbank, use the ser- medtech startups in the top 5 have over a billion dollars. vice. In March, the Aduno Group invested in attracted widespread attention The team can invest the money in Contovista. around the world with their products marketing its therapy device, which www.contovista.com and huge success in financing is called MindMotionPro. The rounds. MindMaze is one example product was approved for the 48. Inositec Zurich  (rank 18). In February 2016, the European market shortly before the Zurich-based Inositec has designed a technol- startup – headed by neuroscientist round of financing. The rehabilitation ogy platform based on molecules which are and computer scientist Tej Tadi device creates new possibilities for abundant in nature. This platform facilitates the development of drugs against a range of (photo) – completed a round of treating patients who have suffered diseases. The main product counteracts intes- financing to the tune of no less a stroke. tinal infection. It is the most common severe than USD 100 million. The infection in affluent countries, affecting around Indian Hinduja Group is one Ava one million people per year in Europe and the of the investors. Just as eye- 1 Zurich, rank 6 USA. catching as this sum was the Lunaphore Technologies www.inositec.com positive valuation that the 2 Lausanne, rank 10 company received from investors. 49. Securosys Zurich  G-Therapeutics 3 Lausanne, rank 16 Hardware security modules, which effectively The price they were prepared to pay function as a digital safe, lie at the core of IT se- for shares in MindMaze was so high MindMaze curity architecture. They generate and manage that the overall value of the 4 Lausanne, rank 18 cryptographic key material and use it to en- company rose to over USD 1 billion. Pregnolia crypt and authenticate financial transactions. This makes MindMaze a ‘unicorn’, 5 Zurich, rank 24 Securosys has encountered great success in providing modules of this kind. The startup’s first major customer was SIX Interbank Clear- ing, which operates the SIC interbank payment system. 52. DomoSafety Lausanne  move or damage it – with the ability to charge www.securosys.com The technology designed by DomoSafety helps the device quickly and easily. This year, the elderly people wanting to continue living in startup gained its first European country as a 50. xorlab Zurich  their own homes for longer. The solutions ena- customer in the form of Lithuania. xorlab provides an innovative solution against ble emergency situations – such as a fall – to be http://geo-satis.com sophisticated cyber attacks. Rather than look- identified. The system also provides nursing ing for known issues or errors, it makes a com- staff and family members with preventative in- 55. Gondola Medical prehensive evaluation of normal application formation, thereby enabling them to intervene Technologies Lugano  behaviour, on the basis of which it can then before the person in question suffers any ma- The device designed by Gondola is simply as- identify divergent behaviour (even if it is new). jor detrimental effects to their health. Do- tonishing in the effect it has on patients suffer- The solution is both quick and accurate, which moSafety is currently making inroads into for- ing from Parkinson’s disease – it stimulates cer- is why it has attracted a great deal of interest. eign markets with its solution for outpatient tain areas of the foot via a form of pressure After winning the Venture Kick final, the care. massage. Stimulation of the foot reduces block- startup will now begin to install the system for www.domo-safety.com ages in the veins, reduces slowness of move- its customers. ment (bradykinesia) and improves balance. www.xorlab.ch 53. NEEO Solothurn  Even more amazing is the fact that these effects NEEO is a remote control for multimedia de- are achieved after using the device for just a 51. PharmaBiome Zurich  vices and building services. It automatically few minutes. The ETH spin-off PharmaBiome is taking a identifies the user and can be used to control www.gondola-parkinson.com new approach to fighting dangerous intestinal virtually any end device. For less conventional infections. At present, the stool of a healthy do- devices, customers can submit a request to the 56. TwentyGreen Root (LU)  nor is transferred to the intestines of a patient NEEO team to make the remote control com- The market for probiotic feed supplements is suffering from an infection of this kind. The fu- patible. Now that a round of financing has been worth CHF 4 billion and is growing rapidly. ture treatment developed by PharmaBiome is completed, the plan is still for the remote con- TwentyGreen is seeking to secure a slice of this an efficient alternative that could significantly trol to be brought onto the market this year. market for itself. The company’s feed supple- reduce the amount of complications involved. www.neeo.com ment can prevent the occurrence of animal PharmaBiome joined the Venture Leaders diseases without the use of antibiotics. Fur- Swiss National Startup Team in Boston in order 54. Geosatis Le Noirmont (JU)  thermore, animal growth rates would speed up to make its first foray into the US market. This innovative electronic ankle restraint by despite the reduction in organic nutrition. In www.pharmabiome.com Geosatis combines remarkable features – such addition to the ecological benefits, this results as a GPS connection and an automatic alarm in a significant cost advantage. that is triggered if an attempt is made to re- www.twentygreen.com Get your start-up on track Practical advice for SMEs

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Themeninserat_Gruenden_en_Top100_SchweizerStartups_210x280.indd 1 10.08.16 09:08 THE TOP 100 STARTUPS

57. Peripal Zurich  The risk of infection and complexity of the pro- TOP 5 cess are currently preventing more patients BEST BIOTECH STARTUPS from performing dialysis at home despite the fact that this would increase their quality of life A new tool in the and reduce costs. This is why Peripal is devel- oping a device that virtually eliminates the risk fight against diabetes of infection, with the tubes required for dialy- sis being connected to the system. Biotechnology does not always tested in humans. At the same www.peripal.com involve the development of drugs, time, the team is working on as evidenced by Sophia Genetics, scaling up production to industrial 58. Zurich  Topadur Pharma a startup that combines scale. CEO Nadja Mrosek (image) Each year, ulcers on the feet of diabetics and biotechnological expertise with is feeling confident about the chronic wounds result in treatment costs amounting to tens of billions of francs. The proficiency in IT, as well as company’s progress: “Due to the same applies to scars, around which fibrous Glycemicon (rank 20). The excellent safety and effectiveness tissue can form. Topadur is developing new company is developing a ‘medical data relating to THBA, we drugs for both areas of application. In the first food’ for which the approval continue to believe that the half of 2016, the startup was able to secure sup- conditions are more relaxed than development of THBA as a dietary port from investors and the F&E funding pro- for new drugs. This is possible food supplement is the right gramme. because THBA – the substance strategy for tackling chronic www.topadur.com that Glycemicon is using – is diseases such as diabetes.” present in the human body 59. Insightness Zurich  Human vision involves limiting itself purely to and in food. THBA restores the quantity of data which is relevant. For ex- the ability of fat cells to Sophia Genetics ample, it would focus on an oncoming vehicle respond to insulin. This 1 Lausanne, rank 5 alone, not on the surrounding area. The cam- ability is damaged in people era chip designed by Insightness works accord- Amal Therapeutics who suffer from diabetes. 2 Geneva, rank 8 ing to the same principle. This principle saves In the last few months, electrical energy and data processing time. In PIQUR Therapeutics AG Glycemicon achieved a number of 3 Basel, rank 14 future, the silicon eye sensor could, for exam- important milestones, including ple, enable drones to be manoeuvred more Glycemicon quickly and safely. obtaining ethical approval to 4 Brugg, rank 20 www.insightness.com conduct a clinical study in Polyneuron Pharmaceuticals Germany in which THBA will be 5 Basel, rank 22 60. Nezasa Zurich  Although Nezasa started life as a B2C com- pany, the team is now marketing its IT platform as a white label solution. The platform enables ode technology developed by ActLights is tar- 65. Calciscon Bern  tour operators and travel agencies to quickly geted specifically at this market. The diodes are Approximately five percent of the population and easily create individual travel programmes cost-efficient, consume less electricity and suffers from renal disorders. Vascular calcifica- and offer them to both B2B and B2C customers have a high sensitivity to light. tion is the number one cause of death among on their website. The service also includes con- www.act-light.com these patients. The Bern-based company Cal- necting suppliers from all over the world via ciscon is developing and commercialising a the platform. 63. UrbanFarmers Zurich  new laboratory test which is the only one of its www.nezasa.com The roof farms developed by UrbanFarmers kind in the world. The test measures the incli- are designed to produce fish and vegetables in nation towards calcification in the blood, 61. Medyria Winterthur  an environmentally friendly manner in cities. thereby enabling patients at risk of vascular Minimally invasive operations with a catheter These systems have a closed water cycle and calcification to be identified in good time and are performed every day in hospitals and clin- work without the use of pesticides or herbi- treated accordingly. ics. The position of a catheter is controlled with cides. After winning the Venture Kick final, the www.calciscon.com the help of a contrast agent and X-rays. The startup is now active in several European coun- Catheter Positioning System developed by Me- tries and is working to conquer the US market. 66. Akselos Lausanne  dyria works without the need for a contrast www.urbanfarmers.com In comparison to conventional comput- agent or X-ray, which reduces the amount of er-aided engineering software, the products side effects. This is thanks to a new sensor tech- 64. Prodibi Geneva  developed by Akselos increase simulation nology for measuring blood flow, as well as in- The exceptional quality of photos taken using speed by a factor of more than 1,000. Hundreds telligent software. several dozen megapixels is often lost when of engineers from the fields of mining, power www.medyria.com posted on the internet. Prodibi wants to change generation, and oil and gas use the software this with a platform that enables high-resolu- suite designed by Akselos to simulate large- 62. ActLight Lausanne  tion photos to be shown and shared quickly scale structures such as oil rigs, hoists and port Light sensors are currently used in smart- and easily both on stationary PCs and on mo- facilities. phones and in portable medical devices in or- bile devices. In July 2016, Prodibi completed a www.akselos.com der to measure parameters such as a patient’s seed financing round to facilitate the ongoing pulse rate and to enable the device to be con- development of the company. trolled by physical gestures. The new photodi- www.prodibi.com THE TOP 100 STARTUPS

67. Aerotainment Labs Zurich  quickly and easily using a capsule-based ma- Skye, the product developed by Aerotainment, chine – this is flatev’s aim. The technology is al- is a mix between a helium-filled balloon and a most ready for market launch and is already be- drone. Skye is exceptionally safe, which is why ing well received by consumers. The basis for it can be used to fly over crowds of people and expansion in the USA was provided following TOP 5 indoors without any issues. Skye’s languid, the company’s inclusion in the Venture Leaders floating movements are eye-catching as well. It trip to Boston. Furthermore, the startup’s target is already being used – fitted with a camera – of USD 50,000 was achieved in just three hours THE NEWEST for the live reporting of events and to display during a crowdfunding campaign where cus- advertisements. tomers could pre-order a flatev machine. COMPANIES www.aerotain.com www.flatev.com

68. INOFEA Basel  73. ZuriMED Technologies Zurich  Wingtra 1 Enzymes are biocatalysts that can, for example, Tearing the anterior cruciate ligament is the Zug, rank 35 (3 June 2016) be used to trigger chemical reactions in the hu- most frequent clinically relevant knee injury. Intento 2 man body. INOFEA has produced a nanotech- In Switzerland alone, 6,000 people suffer a cru- Lausanne, rank 44 (1 March 2016) nological platform technology that protects ciate ligament rupture each year. The recovery strong.codes 3 enzymes and enables them to be enhanced phase takes six months. And the therapies and Yverdon-les-Bains, rank 81 (18 August 2016) with new properties. These improved agents treatments on offer have various shortcomings. can be used in the pharmaceutical and health ZuriMED wants to solve this problem through Pregnolia 4 care sector and to refine and streamline indus- a combination of biomaterials that accelerate Zurich, rank 24 (13 January 2016) trial processes. the healing process for the transplant, facilitate Inositec 5 www.inofea.com more effective integration into the ligament Zurich, rank 48 (21 December 2016) and reduce rehabilitation time. 69. ScanTrust Lausanne  www.zurimed.com The technology by ScanTrust allows consum- Shining the ers to find out for themselves whether a prod- 74. Cellestia Biotech Basel  spotlight on uct is genuine (rather than counterfeit). All a Cellestia is the result of 15 years of research. shopper has to do is use an app to scan the The team consists of experienced industry in- marketing tamper-proof ScanTrust QR code on the prod- siders. CEO Michael Bauer has around 18 years uct. The codes can be printed directly on exist- of experience in the business and spent time “Drones with multiple rotors – or ing packaging, labels or documents, making working for Novartis. The startup is seeking to the solution easily scalable and cost-efficient. multicopters – are agile, but have a develop drugs that can be used to combat var- ScanTrust is currently receiving support from ious forms of cancer. limited range. Drones that look like teams and investors in Switzerland and China, www.cellestiabiotech.com small aeroplanes are able to fly fur- runs a branch in Shanghai (see page 40) and is ther, but are not as easy to control on course for global expansion. 75. imperix Sion  and need more space for take-off www.scantrust.com Electricity from renewable energies and the lo- and landing. Wingtra (rank 35) calisation of energy production and energy combines the benefits of both de- 70. I believe in you Bern  storage represent major technical challenges signs in a drone that takes off and The crowdfunding platform ibelieveinyou.ch for the electricity industry. imperix is lending a lands like a multicopter and flies like occupies a promising niche: it is the most suc- helping hand to the sector by overcoming cessful platform in the world for sports-related these challenges thanks to its laboratory de- an aeroplane. initiatives, having successfully financed over vices for developments in the fields of smart This technology has been undergo- 500 projects, collected more than CHF 3 mil- grids and power electronics. The company has ing research at ETH Zurich for sev- lion and recorded a success rate of around 83 been in the market – with a significant degree eral years. Now, just a few months percent. The startup is now expanding its op- of success – since 2015. The products are being after the company was erations following a round of financing in used in both Europe and Asia. founded, test flights are April. In June, it opened a branch in Norway. www.imperix.ch being held for potential www.ibelieveinyou.ch customers. “For us, mar- 76. Faveeo Geneva  71. Geneva  The tool by Faveeo is designed to retrieve infor- keting was a priority from Goodwall The internet platform developed by Goodwall mation from large data volumes. It facilitates the start,” states co-found- can be used by students and pupils to talk these searches by automatically identifying key er Elias Kleimann (photo). about their skills and achievements outside of terms, sources and people associated with a This focus is thanks in no small part school and university. This brings them into specific topic, helps users to select and analyse to co-founder Basil Weibel, who contact with like-minded individuals, and al- information and enables content to be shared studied at the University of St. Gal- lows employees and universities to attract their easily across social media and in working len before completing a degree at attention. Goodwall has more than half a mil- groups. Groups such as Procter & Gamble and ETH. Wingtra is also on a firm finan- lion users in 150 countries. At the start of the organisations such as UNO are using the tool. cial footing. The company complet- year, the startup secured funding of over CHF www.faveeo.com 2 million from notable business angels. ed a round of financing to the tune www.goodwall.org 77. N-Dream (AirConsole) Zurich  of CHF 3 million and is benefiting The international attention received by the Zu- from support from Wyss Transla- 72. flatev Zurich  rich-based startup in the past twelve months is tional Center Zurich. Preparing fresh tortillas and other flatbreads rather astounding. Newspapers and magazines THE TOP 100 STARTUPS

such as Der Spiegel, COMPUTER BILD and TechCrunch have all reported on AirConsole. TOP 5 The web service enables computer games to be played collectively on a large screen – without THE BEST SOFTWARE STARTUPS the use of a console. The AirConsole by N-Dream turns smartphones into a fully Worldwide attention fledged joypad. Since summer 2016, people have had tant, as Switzerland is not exactly www.airconsole.com the chance to try out technology of known as a nation of car manufactur- the future in Sion. Two small electric ers, and we are looking for partner- 78. Basel  Therapeutics buses operated by PostBus ships and investors,” explains BestMile CRISPR is a new biochemical method for cut- ting DNA into exact segments and changing it. Switzerland are driving CEO Raphael Gindrat (photo). The CRISPR Therapeutics is using this technology around the capital of the plan has succeeded so far: BestMile to develop innovative therapies, some in con- Canton of – what is in- has concluded partnerships with sev- junction with notable partners such as Bayer. teresting is that the vehicles eral US automotive manufacturers Based in Basel, the company has already re- are being coordinated by soft- and found an investor in Silicon Valley ceived well over CHF 100 million in funding ware developed by BestMile (rank during its last round of financing. from investors. 13). On the one hand, the EPFL spin- www.crisprtx.com off is a typical Swiss software startup: Bexio it employs 25 highly qualified experts, 1 Rapperswil-Jona, rank 7 79. MiniNaviDent Basel  The 3D navigation system designed by Min- among which 15 R&D engineers and BestMile iNaviDent makes it easier and safer to insert three mathematicians are tasked with 2 Lausanne, rank 13 dental implants. Based on a 3D X-ray, the im- working on the software. On the other Archilogic plant is planned on a tablet computer using a hand, BestMile is not typical at all – it 3 Zurich, rank 15 graphic representation. During the implanta- is using the interest in the topic of au- Orbiwise tion phase, an extremely small camera system tonomous cars to attract attention 4 Geneva, rank 19 is placed on the dentist’s drill, which facilitates from around the globe. “This is impor- the exact identification of the desired implant Teralytics 5 Zurich, rank 24 position. www.mininavident.com SO 1

FR 1 LU 1 STARTUPS BY CANTON Consolidation of locations

JU 1 GR 1 Despite the presence of 39 new companies on the list, distribution of the startups by canton remains stable. ZH 39 Zurich and Vaud lead the way, with Basel-Stadt and Geneva much further back in third and fourth place. Some developments could be observed within the can- tons themselves. In Vaud, for example, the area in and AG 1 SG 2 around Yverdon-les-Bains is on the list this year thanks VD 29 to the presence of four startups. Thus, in addition to the nerve centre in Lausanne, the canton now has an- other compact startup hub in the north. BS 8 GE 6 BE 2 TI 2 ZG 2 VS 4 THE TOP 100 STARTUPS

80. CashSentinel Lausanne  Paying large amounts of money in real time – until recently, it was only possible to do so in TOP 5 cash. But who wants to carry around a suitcase full of money if they want to buy a car? BEST ELECTRONICS/MECHANICS STARTUPS CashSentinel has an alternative. The system designed by the startup enables larger amounts A startup with experience of money to be paid quickly and without delay. The startups in the electronics and for over 20 years. The extensive And CashSentinel is expanding. The startup re- mechanics category work on experience of the employees also cently entered into a partnership with Société complex products consisting of plays a major role. Co-founder Général to tackle the French market. many different types of Steve Tanner, who was responsible www.cashsentinel.com technology, such as the weeding for designing the technology, has 81. strong.codes Yverdon-les-Bains  robot developed by ecoRobotix around 15 years of experience in strong.codes wants to make software piracy (rank 28). It consists of a cart electronics and signal processing. more difficult. The product developed by the powered by solar energy. An And the father of Co-CEO Aurélien startup is designed to prevent software from image sensor and an on-board Demaurex, who is also offering being reverse engineered, which is where the computer detect weeds in strong support for the project, specific elements in a software suite are ana- the vicinity. A delta robot introduced the first delta robots lysed to be copied on a 1:1 scale. The company fights the weeds by into the market through his own sells its products all around the world. In June, strong.codes announced a strategic partner- spraying them with company. ship with the listed Japanese IT security firm herbicide or mechanically Intelligent Software. destroying them. www.strong.codes There are two reasons why the Flyability startup was able to develop such a 1 Lausanne, rank 4  82. recapp IT complex piece of equipment: “The ecoRobotix recapp IT was brought to national attention majority of technologies that we 2 Yverdon-les-Bains, rank 28 this spring when it was revealed that the soft- are using are not new at all,” states ware designed by the startup is being used for Wingtra Co-CEO 3 Zug, rank 35 the remote control of Swisscom’s new TV box. Aurélien Demaurex Thanks to the software, the remote control un- (image). The solar panels can be Nomoko derstands commands in dia- purchased off the shelf and delta 4 Zurich, rank 40 lects. But recapp’s solution can do even more robots have been on the market CombaGroup than that. The Valais Cantonal Council is using 5 Molondin, rank 41 one of the startup’s solutions to automatically record the minutes of the parliamentary de- bates, which are held in two languages. www.recapp.ch

83. noonee Rüti (ZH)  using micro-apps. Based in Basel, the com- 88. ES Concept (DigitArena) Martigny  The system designed by noonee is strapped to pany is aiming to expand its operations in Eu- DigitArena is a solution that is able to exchange the hips, knees and ankles and allows produc- rope. The financial resources for this were ob- perimeter advertising boards in real time dur- tion employees to walk and sit at will, thereby tained during a round of financing, which the ing football matches broadcast on TV. During providing them with a ‘wearable chair’ that company concluded in May after raising over World Cup or Euro matches, for example, the they can use when moving through the pro- CHF 2 million. audience in a particular country can view pe- duction hall. This reduces the amount of strain www.qipp.com rimeter ads that are tailored to the nation in placed on the knees and ankles and improves question. posture. The exoskeleton is being tested by re- 86. Agilentia (Sherpany) Zurich  www.digitarena.ch nowned companies such as Audi and Volkswa- Sherpany is a platform that digitalises commu- gen. nication between companies, management 89. ShoeSize.Me St. Gallen  www.noonee.com boards and investors. The company has been The plug-in by ShoeSize.Me recommends the well received in the market thus far. Fifty major right shoe size for consumers in online stores. 84. Fashwell Zurich  companies are already using Sherpany, with a The startup has a number of notable custom- Fashwell is putting high-tech solutions at the total of 50,000 stakeholders having created a ers, such as Vögele Shoes and Timberland and service of fashion lovers. An algorithm for im- Sherpany user account. The company now em- is now experiencing strong growth abroad. In age analysis based on machine learning, the ploys over 30 members of staff. future, the company wants to analyse the data Fashwell app identifies blouses, shirts and www.sherpany.com acquired via the plug-in as a means of helping trousers in images, e.g. on Instagram, and in- producers and suppliers refine their range of forms the user where they can buy the items. If 87. Younergy Solar Lausanne  products and services. they are then purchased through a partner Younergy offers solar contracting for private in- www.shoesize.me store, Fashwell earns money as well. dividuals. The Younergy team is responsible www.fashwell.com for planning and installing photovoltaic sys- 90. Scope Media (Newscron) Zurich  tems completely free of charge. In return, cus- Scope is a news platform curated by experts. 85. qipp (Allthings) Basel  tomers pay a price per kilowatt hour for the so- More than 60 curators take charge of their ar- The software platform Allthings enables sim- lar power produced. Excess solar power is fed eas of specialisation and compile the best links ple digital communication between home- into the electricity grid and the customer re- each day. Scope developed out of the former owners, rental companies and tenants. Cus- ceives compensation. Newscron, whose software continues to be tomers can activate a range of digital services www.younergy.ch used to run things in the background at Scope. THE TOP 100 STARTUPS

Key milestones had already been reached 96. Karmagenes Monthey  when Newscron became Scope, such as com- Karmagenes has developed a DNA personality pleting a round of financing and gaining nu- test that provides information about a person’s merous corporate customers. character traits for various aspects of human www.thescope.com behaviour. In doing so, the startup is showing that human behaviour is influenced by the sur- 91. ParkU Zurich  roundings. The startup brings together both The parking space app ParkU enables drivers aspects – genetic disposition and psychology – to rent parking spaces from commercial park- in an online game. ing operators, companies, businesses and ho- www.karmagenes.co tels, and even from private individuals who do not need them. Based in Western Switzerland, 97. RAW Labs Lausanne  the startup is active in several European coun- The ETH Lausanne spin-off is active in the tries and provides parking spaces at over 45 air- booming big data sector. A portfolio of prod- ports and cruise terminals around Europe. ucts is being developed that enables raw data www.parku.ch to be processed and analysed directly from the original files, thereby avoiding changes from 92. eSMART Technologies Écublens  having to be made to the existing data environ- eSMART is a successful service provider in the ment. The products can also be escalated – smart home segment. This system is designed they are suitable for laptops and mainframe for users to easily control heating and lighting computers alike. via a wall-mounted touch screen system or via www.raw-labs.com an app. It can also control other devices in the home. The product developed by eSMART also 98. TestingTime Zurich  allows users to regulate their energy consump- TestingTime recruits test customers for all tion. It is used in apartments and houses all kinds of companies. Thanks to an automated over Switzerland as well as in the offices rented software solution and a growing pool of more by the Swiss Business Council in Dubai. than 20,000 test persons, the user experience of www.myesmart.com a product (for example) can be tested at a lower cost than if one were to recruit testers inde- 93. AKENES (Exoscale) Lausanne  pendently. The startup counts the founders of Cloud hosting provider Exoscale is expanding Doodle and Wuala among its investors. its business. For example, it acquired the Ger- www.testingtime.com man enterprise cloudControl in April. Swiss- com Ventures is providing financial support for 99. PB&B Lausanne  the startup’s growth. The risk capital arm of the The technology developed by PB&B is able to Swiss company Telco invested in Exoscale in make facial wrinkles disappear. A biodegrada- February. ble material is injected into the site, which www.exoscale.ch leads to a build-up of fat. In spring, the startup was able to secure CHF 2 million from a strate- 94. Kandou Bus Lausanne  gic investor following its triumph in the final of The technology developed by Kandou is able to Venture Kick. Clinical trials are planned in improve communication between chips inside 2017 and the first products are expected to be electronic systems, thereby facilitating faster launched onto the market in 2018. data transfers and lower energy consumption. www.pbbtech.ch The innovation is suitable for all electronic sys- tems, from smartphones to supercomputers. 100. Designergy San Vittore GR  Kandou received USD 15 million in funding The novel roof element developed by Design- from a well-known US venture capital company ergy combines three key functions: insulation, in July to continue developing the technology. impermeability to water and the generation of www.kandou.com energy through photovoltaic cells. All of these functions are integrated and prefabricated 95. CellSpring Zurich  within a single component. Based in the Misox The ambitious aim of this Zurich-based startup valley, the company founded by Daniel Lepori is to become a leading international company received the national “Watt d’Or” prize in the in the field of 3D cell cultures. These cell cul- renewable energies category for its worldwide tures permit more informative drug tests to be innovation. In the meantime, the product is al- performed, thereby making their development ready being used as a roof. quicker and cheaper. In addition to having a www.designergy.ch novel product in the pharmaceutical industry, a startup such as CellSpring needs a high de- gree of credibility. Thankfully, the enterprise was able to make a major step forward this year as far as plausibility is concerned – in May, CellSpring entered into a partnership with Te- can, a major Swiss producer of technology for laboratories. www.cellspring.co SCENE

Is there an ideal management model for startups? Experts believe that a certain lack of professionalism is the key to success for many startups.

TEXT: JAN VOLLMER AND STEFAN MAIR The ILLUSTRATION: BRIGITTA GARCIA LOPEZ Startup Manager rofessionalism is part of rent in San Francisco. Ahead of a design con- form more effectively than homogeneous the environment. The ference, they built a website offering accom- teams. As a startup grows, its structures grad- amateur is part of the an- modation for three guests on air mattresses ually take on a more hierarchical form.” Nev- ti-environment,” wrote in their living rooms, along with breakfast. ertheless, the routines maintained by former the Canadian media the- According to reports, an overnight stay on startups often become standard practices for P orist Marshall McLuhan. their air mattresses and breakfast at the time the industry as a whole to follow. “Google When we read McLuhan today, it almost cost USD 80 per person. The company that and Spotify, for example, follow the principle sounds as though he foresaw the rise of start- arose from this idea, Airbnb (the name of OKR, or ‹objective and key results›, set up culture: “The amateur can afford to lose. comes from those original air mattresses), is ‹monthly targets›, and publish weekly ‹re- (…) The expert is the man who stays put.” now the largest travel operator in the world. ports› – many companies in the digital sector If today somebody were to ask which The strategy pursued by the two entrepre- adopt these practices.” management methods startups use to sub- neurs has become a kind of standard for According to Professor Grichnik, found- vert, or disrupt, the established economy, startups. It is referred to as MVP, or minimal ers and managers may be so far apart from they may be surprised by the answer: they do viable product, whereby a test version for a one another in their approaches that the not use any at all. And this is exactly where product is implemented which is as simple founders may end up having no interest in the secret of their success would appear to and cheap as possible. managing their own company: “There are lie. Successful startups do not become some successful founders who find it ex- bogged down by managing; their initial pri- Few studies conducted into tremely difficult to deal with the manage- ority is simply to work towards their goal. management at startups ment of hierarchies and the growth of their The basic idea of the founders of Uber, for During the phase in which good ideas ap- startup,” states Professor Grichnik. “Take example, was to share the costs for a car, a pear on paper and are tried out for the first John Osher, the man who brought the first driver and a garage. That was it. The first ver- time, there is usually not much to actually low-cost electric toothbrush, the SpinBrush, sion of Uber that they tested consisted of manage, as people generally work in very into the market – as soon as a company starts three cars that the founders arranged to be small teams. “Relatively few studies have to grow, he sells it. He looks for one opportu- driven around New York and a handful of been conducted into management at start- nity after the other. After designing the Spin- people who could contact the cars. From ups that have yielded quality empirical evi- Pop, the first battery-powered lollipop, this these auspicious beginnings, Uber has since dence,” explains Dietmar Grichnik, Profes- led him to develop the SpinBrush, which en- flourished to become the largest taxi service sor for Entrepreneurship at the University of ables the user to thoroughly clean maltreated in the world. Many successful startups have St. Gallen. “However, we have extensive teeth. Both are multi-million dollar busi- similarly modest stories about how they were knowledge about functions performed by nesses developed by the same team of nine founded, and they are proud of them: teams – and teams are what startups gener- employees.” 27-year-old founders Brian Chesky and Joe ally are in the beginning. For example, there In the Harvard Business Review, Steve Gebbia were finding it difficult to pay their is evidence that heterogeneous teams per- Blank, professor at Stanford University, en-

MANAGEMENT TRENDS FOR INNOVATIVE COMPANIES

The spiral Dual leadership: Democratic and Agile teams: Virtual management: management model: Distributing management tasks transparent: In some In startups, the composition of a The developers are in Romania, the This model can best be compared among several people eases the startups, the staff determine who team can change very quickly due core team is in Zurich and the with the concept of short-term or pressure on the individual. will lead the team based on regular to the fact that the demands graphic designers are in Berlin. The interim management. An Combining a visionary with an elections. Many teams that adopt placed on the company and the individuals working for a startup employee takes charge for a effective practical mind may prove this approach insist on 100% project are in a state of constant may sometimes be distributed certain amount of time, after which to be the key to success. transparency. By way of example, flux. across multiple sites. In this case, they return to the team. Furthermore, shared management this means that each member The management has to be able to the management team’s task is to Alternating between perspectives positions enable company knows how much their colleagues reconfigure the team depending use technical equipment and is intended to help the individual founders with families to strike a earn and how many products have on the task at hand. Above all, they communication platforms develop their leadership qualities balance between their career and been sold in a given month. have to empower the team effectively so that all individuals and ascend to a management their children. members to do this themselves. are on the same page even if they position again later on. are not in the same office. THREE QUESTIONS FOR ALEXANDER NICOLAI trepreneur and one of the most influential in- tellectuals on the subject of entrepreneur- “Build, assess,­ ship (Lean approach), warns against mistak- ing startups for a small business: “Startups do not follow a master plan. Those that learn” achieve success quickly jump from mistake to mistake, adapt accordingly, refine their Mr Nicolai, is there such a thing as a original idea and learn from their customers management guide that all all the time.” Conventional business plans, startups should follow? Alexander Nicolai states Blank, “rarely survive an enterprise’s As of yet, a distinctive management focuses on the subject of initial contact with its customers.” style has not yet come to the fore entrepreneurship as part of his Adrian Bührer, himself a founder and among startups. As you know, research and is the research partner of several startups, acts as a liaison startups usually arrive as the result director of the consulting institute between both worlds, connecting the inquis- of a team effort, which is why there EFNW GmbH. itive minds at startups who want to test out is less focus on leadership and more their product with the planners at major cor- on the team during the early stages: porations. “Corporate enterprises often composition, team-building, spend too much time on planning and spend allocation of roles, communication What are the most significant too much money on development,” he ex- and so on. The management differences to management plains. “I used to advise a major company requirements for the team vary structures in established which had funnelled around 20 million into depending on the stage that the companies? the development of a new IT product. Some startup is at, i.e. before it is founded, There is a major gulf between the of my initial questions were: Have you tested after it is founded and during the experimental Lean approach and a it in the market? Are customers able to use it? growth phase. conventional business plan. The Their response was: ‘We didn’t plan for that.’” business-plan approach is based on However, working at a startup giving structure and transparency to A hands-on mentality differs from working at a large the future based on extensive For a large company to learn from a small company. analysis. However, the business-plan one is a challenge. Manuel Gerres is attempt- What we have seen being used are approach fell apart spectacularly ing to solve this issue for SBB by pursuing management principles typical to a during the new economy bubble. cooperative partnerships with startups. startup, such as the Lean strategy. What followed was a move away “Usually,” states Gerres, the founders with This approach was developed in from this approach in favour of the whom he works “first ask, ‘What do we need Silicon Valley. In effect, Lean is a principles that would later become from the customer’s perspective?’. This is fol- method that startups use to develop known as the Lean strategy. lowed by ‘How can we make money from their business model and introduce Experimentation, iteration and this?’. These are people who only think about their products to the market. The acceptance of uncertainty became regulatory complications later on, thereby core of the approach is the cycle of the norm instead of planning. A enabling them to create something new. At “Build, assess, learn”. Instead of specific form of management has present, corporations are facing a major ob- comprehensive preliminary developed in conjunction with the stacle in this field,” states Gerres. assessments, a product with minimal Lean approach, namely the In its partnership with the startup Park.it, requirements is brought into contact acceptance of errors, the ability to SBB took advantage of the principle of trying with customers at an early stage. revise decisions and the manner in the product out. According to Gerres, the pri- The product then continues to be which responsibility is distributed mary issue was a case of “What problem can developed on the basis of feedback among individuals. Design thinking the partnership resolve for SBB’s customers” from the customers. The focus is on is another major influence. As with a rather than simply thinking about how to performing as many learning cycles design concept, the idea behind this make money from it. In addition to being as possible in a short time window. is to consider the product from the able to find parking spaces, one long-term This enables a startup to go through perspective of the customer and to aim of the app is to enable users to book ad- the uncertainties presented by new stimulate early-stage customer ditional services such as car cleaning as well, markets again and again. interaction. thereby providing SBB with another oppor- tunity to generate sales. «Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.» Albert Einstein

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INSP HERO BOS TON One in two francs invested in pharmaceutical research worldwide finds its way to the USA. This is why, as a producer of microorganisms for drug development, our decision to set up an American branch was a strategic one following the trip we took as part of the venture leaders programme. Being home to numerous private and academic research institutions, the greater Boston area on the East Coast was an attractive location, as it is a veritable hotspot for the global life sciences industry. A round of financing concluded in mid-2015 gave us the financial means for this expansion, yielding over CHF 20 million. Up to now, everything has Global gone to plan. Our team of eleven people is presence

High-tech startups have to address global markets. Those who make it into the Swiss National Startup Team gain access to contacts in distant foreign markets. TEXT: JOST DUBACHER

ascal Marmier’s schedule is full these days. He is currently preparing a visit to China for ten Swiss high-tech startups that have qual- P ified for the “Venture Leaders” programme. “We open doors for those who want it: we put startup en- trepreneurs in contact with representatives in the Chi- nese economy and investors,” explains the Swiss Vice Consul in Shanghai and Head of swissnex China. One of the companies expected to take part in the visit is the Zurich-based Peripal, whose representative is CEO Sandra Neumann. As an executive at the US medical technology group Baxter, she commissioned a study into renal dialysis. She wanted to find out how to make it eas- ier for kidney patients to undergo the blood filtering pro- cess at home. Her curiosity led her to write a Master’s de- gree at ETH Zurich in which she sketched out a product SCENE

INSP HERO BOS TON acquiring new customers on an SCANTRUST ongoing basis and is strengthening our existing business relationships. However, Brunswick, Maine, is more than SHANGHAI just a marketing stronghold. We have also China is the world’s into the Chinese market was a built a cell biology laboratory here. The workbench. According to logical step for us, which we customs procedures for organic material means data from the UNO, just under 14 took in our first year of business. that exporting such material from Switzerland percent of global exports comes from Today, we employ 12 members of would have become too laborious sooner or the People’s Republic. At the same staff in the Far East, the majority of later. In June, we delivered the first liver tissue time, though it is not the only country whom are marketing specialists and from Brunswick. I am personally on site every six guilty of the practice, China is by far project managers. This growth will be weeks for a couple of days. the largest source of counterfeit further stimulated with our next round of This management supervision is essential brand products in the world. In financing. Shanghai is a perfect location considering the fact that the US market is more addition to affecting innocent for us. It is a futuristic global city with 23 than just a way for us to generate sales. If we consumers, this problem harms million inhabitants. succeed in establishing our technology as domestic and foreign companies that An unbelievable pioneering spirit can be more or less the standard in the country for produce their goods in China and their felt there, primarily due to the wealth of testing new substances without the use of local partners. As a provider of a digital ambitious, talented young people who animal testing, we will be in a brand protection solution, the move come from both China and other good position to then set our corners of the world in order to sights on the rest of the world. create and develop Jan Lichtenberg something. CEO Insphero www.insphero.com Justin Picard CEO ScanTrust www.scantrust.com STAFF FINDER LONDON We are considered to be a This is for two reasons: first, it job placement platform, has a liberal job market, and which is appropriate enough second, every one in 20 Britons given that we connect 100,000 today earns their wage based on a workers with 6,000 corporate short-term employment agreement. customers. However, an aspect that In March, we opened our first office in people often overlook is our IT expertise. the City. We now employ 15 members of Our processes – such as matching staff at this site. I take care of companies and employees – are fully negotiations with major potential automated. This is why our business customers. This was part of the reason model is suitable to be replicated in that led to me being honoured as the various markets. The United Kingdom 2014 Entrepreneur of the Year. is the first country in which we are Receiving this level of recognition in a introducing our just-in-time global entrepreneur competition personnel management concept. opens many doors.

Viktor Calabrò, Owner and Chair of www.staff-finder.jobs Born Globals from Switzerland

Become a member of the Swiss national startup team. Grow your business and pitch Venture Capital in New York, Boston, Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen and Hong Kong with the business development programs of venturelab #vleaders

www.venture-leaders.ch SCENE

idea. “A simple development, but an ex- New York. These companies use the swiss- this ecosystem thus far: internationally tremely prudent one,” states Neumann. She nex premises as a temporary office during linked universities and professional venture left Baxter and worked with various special- their stay in the USA. As many enterprises capital investors. That said, the economic ists from her circle of acquaintances to set up before them have already done, they then metropolis that is Shanghai is effectively a Peripal just over a year ago. “And now,” she start seeking advice and contacts. One exam- gateway to the world’s current second-larg- says, “we want to see what kind of reception ple company is the Lausanne-based IT firm est national economy. “The Chinese are our idea receives in China.” Nexthink, which received CHF 40 million in catching up quickly in many areas,” states venture capital in Boston this year and is now Pascal Marmier, “which is why they are inter- Illustrious sponsors experiencing strong growth in the USA. ested in all forms of technology that could The Swiss delegation is being led by Jordi “In terms of internationalisation when it specifically help them to resolve social is- Montserrat, the head of the “Venture Lead- comes to startups, Switzerland has imple- sues.” This is exactly what Peripal founder ers” programme. The internationalisation mented a pioneering project with the Ven- Sandra Neumann is gambling on. Her device platform is being supported by various spon- ture Leaders programme,” states Felix makes peritoneal dialysis easier and may en- sors, including the two Federal Institutes of Moesner with conviction. He also believes able more kidney patients to perform dialy- Technology (Zurich and Lausanne), the con- that this programme has since become an ef- sis in their own homes. This is around 20 sulting firm Ernst & Young and private indi- fective example for other countries to follow. percent cheaper than undergoing the same viduals and programme alumni such as In- German, British, Finnish, South Korean and process in a hospital. Sphero (see box). Japanese representatives have all spent time This medical technology innovation will “We are supporting the startups primarily at the swissnex premises. be available in Switzerland by 2018 at the lat- through fundraising and facilitating contact est. Its launch on the Chinese market is still with foreign investors,” states Montserrat. Gateway to the Chinese market pending. “First things first,” says Sandra Neu- The Shanghai trip (along with the accommo- Boston’s innovation ecosystem is one of the mann. “Our priority at the moment is to find dation) was publicly advertised, and around most creative in the world. Shanghai, by con- a Chinese sales and distribution partner.” 60 fledgling companies applied to take part. trast, still has a long way to go. A panel of judges assessed the entries and Two things have been formed a “national startup team” consisting missing from of the top ten enterprises. Since the start of the Venture Leaders pro- gramme in 2001, over 300 Swiss startups have been flown to innovation hotspots, with AVA 30 going to China and the rest taking a trip to the USA, the land of unlimited opportu- SAN FRANCISCO nity. The hotspots include the greater Boston area and – together with Swiss- Our bracelet measures the a company which focuses com – San Francisco and Silicon Valley. wearer’s various vital purely on medical technology. In Boston, the host for the Swiss functions and determines the six We straddle the line between startup national team is Felix fertile days of a woman’s monthly health, lifestyle and high-tech Moesner, the economic consul and cycle. In May, we received the green products, so California was the obvious head of the local swissnex branch. light for market entry from the Food and choice. Since the start of the year, I have His swissnex team is housed in a Drug Administration (FDA). On 26 July, found an apartment and received a work two-storey building on Broadway, we launched the ovulation tracking permit. My team consists of four young, Cambridge, directly on the route bracelet. We are currently shipping out the highly talented colleagues. We perform between the campuses of Harvard pre-orders. Our office is located in the extensive online marketing, such as University and the Massachusetts heart of San Francisco, not far from Union through various social media channels. Institute of Technology (MIT). Square. It would, of course, have been an Although we have received good Moesner becomes highly ani- option to open our US branch on the feedback so far, the path to achieving mated when he talks about Boston East Coast instead. However, we are not our goal is long: every US couple that and the opportunities it offers for wants to conceive should have startups. “We can reach 300 universi- us in mind.” ties, colleges and research institutes in just 90 minutes by car.” The area also includes the branches of countless ven- Lea von Bidder ture capital investors and major corpora- Ava AG tions, particularly those from the life www.avawomen.com sciences sector – these companies are al- ways looking for ideas and worthwhile part- nerships. At present, one or two Swiss com- panies per week are connecting with Moesner and his 20 employees in Boston and SCENE

CHRISTOPH STRECHA The founder and CEO of the Lausanne-based Pix4D on bids, corporate doubts and the global market potential of airborne 3D cartography. INTERVIEW: JOST DUBACHER — PHOTO: TINA STURZENEGGER

t was not long after you founded Pix4D that you re- ceived a takeover bid from I Google. What was the story there? It was actually rather unspectacular. I knew the people there due to my research work. They called me and said they wanted to bring us to the USA.

But? I declined. We wanted to see what it would be like to develop a startup. Aside from that, neither I nor my family wanted to move to “Our sales California.

Why was Google so interested in Pix4D? They wanted our expertise in image process- are doubling ing. To understand why, you have to be aware that computer vision is a relatively new discipline. There were only four re- search groups in the world working in this each year” field at the dawn of the new millennium. I was part of the University of Leuven at the time. PERSONAL INFO A native of Dresden, Christoph Strecha (46) studied physics in What were you doing there? Leipzig, after which he worked as a researcher at various European I wrote algorithms that would enable images universities before finally settling in Lausanne. After spending three to be examined for similarities. This is some- years doing post-doctoral research at EPFL’s Computer Vision thing that is required for facial recognition, Laboratory, he founded Pix4D together with Olivier Küng. but I had a different aim in mind: I wanted to use my software to mimic our eyes. Using the software, two images taken at the same time can be used to create a three-dimensional I met with Jean-Christophe Zufferey, who is owners could send us their aerial photo- reality; this is something we do with images now the CEO of Sensefly, and we discussed graphs from which we created 3D images recorded with a time delay. some things. The upshot of it was that we up- that were true to scale. We only founded loaded my software to his drones. And it Pix4D when a few grateful users wanted to In 2008, you left Leuven as a post-doctoral worked. We produced razor-sharp 3D imag- reward us for our work and we needed an ac- researcher and joined EPFL Lausanne’s es of the EPFL campus. counting entity for these payments. Computer Vision Laboratory. That’s correct. And this is when I thought for After which you founded Pix4D? Who were the first users? the first time about being able to create a car- Not yet. I still had my position at EPFL. I ini- Primarily companies who make money with tographic product from my code. By chance, tially developed a free cloud service. Drone land surveying. Consumers

That doesn’t sound especially impressive. That’s not true. Geodetic engineering is a SOUGHT-AFTER DRONES huge market, encompassing the construc- tion sector, raw material mining and the ag- Consumers Military Companies ricultural industry. Large-scale areas and volumes have to be regularly measured everywhere. Military Companies At present, a licence for your software costs CHF 8,000. How do you turn users into paying customers? 2013 2019

The business case of our customers is clear. 3,65 billion US $ 3,65 billion US $ ABI RESEARCH SOURCE: Allow me to offer an example. To produce ce- ment, you need chalk and clay. Both are mined in Switzerland, and the state orders the cement mills to document their impact One year after Google issued its takeover GPS. The user enters the destination coordi- on the landscape on a regular basis. This is bid, you sold 30 percent of the shares in nates and the drone starts heading in that traditionally done using complicated devic- Pix4D for CHF 2.4 million to the French direction. Now we want the machines to start es on the ground. By contrast, using a drone publicly listed drone manufacturer piloting themselves: recognising objects, re- and our software cuts down the amount of Parrot. Why? sponding spontaneously, that sort of thing. work involved from 25 days to just a few Money offers security. We were about to take However, the prerequisite for this is that the hours. The investment pays for itself if this on new employees. As an entrepreneur, image processing takes place on board and task is performed twice. there is the constant worry about being able in real time. This is what we are working on to manage a larger wage bill that comes from now. To what extent is Pix4D benefiting from expanding one’s workforce. Of course, hind- the fact that drones are becoming increas- sight is a wonderful thing. We didn’t need the But will Pix4D continue to survive in Swit- ingly cheaper? additional funds in the end. zerland? The fall in prices for the hardware is truly as- Definitely. We are staying in Lausanne. If we tounding. Just a few years ago, a reliable Despite that, you and co-founder Olivier want to achieve our goals, we are reliant on drone cost between CHF 20,000 and CHF Küng will transfer your remaining shares close cooperation with representatives in the 100,000. Today, high-quality models are to Parrot with effect from 1 January 2017. field of science. For us, these are EPFL and available for just CHF 1,000. Our pool of po- What is the idea behind this move? ETH Zurich. The Swiss innovation ecosys- tential customers is therefore growing all the We reached an agreement with Parrot to take tem is ideal for us. This is something which is time. Our turnover has doubled each year the next major step in the company’s evolu- prevalent in Paris as well, which is where since the company was founded. tion. Drones are currently dependent on Parrot’s headquarters is located.

And your workforce has increased at the same pace. You currently employ 70 mem- bers of staff. How many will that rise to at A GOOD YEAR FOR EXITS the end of the year? Swiss image processing is much sought outlet store MyStore and Swisscom I estimate that we will probably take on an- after, and the takeover of Pix4D by purchased Mila, a mediation platform other 10 people. We need engineers and soft- Parrot is not an exceptional case. Last for technical services. As well as ware developers. December, Zurich-based sensor celebrating the willingness of major developer Skybotix was acquired by the corporations to invest, founders and At present, you are exclusively targeting US camera production company GoPro. startup investors are also pleased at the the market for surveying technology. Will Faceshift also found an American buyer renewed interest shown in the startup your focus stay like that? – the visual animation specialist is now scene by other investors. Since summer No, our developers are working hard on new, part of Apple. Another US company, the 2015, three Swiss startups have been more intuitive user interfaces. In the long tourism service provider Tripadvisor, listed on a domestic or foreign stock term, drones with 3D mapping software will acquired Housetrip. Meanwhile, Zurich- market. Cybersecurity specialist become the standard in various branches, based Eqipia was sold to German social Wisekey and biotech firm Kuros went such as the construction industry. If a site su- networking site Xing. In the last twelve public on the Swiss stock exchange in pervisor wants to know whether the calcula- months, domestic corporations also Zurich, while the Geneva-based tions match the reality after the excavation cherry-picked some promising GeNeuro was listed on the Euronext in work is completed, he can send out a drone. companies in the Swiss innovation Paris. Not yet completed – but at an The drone can then measure the excavated scene: Swiss Post acquired the advanced stage – is the initial public area within minutes. And this measurement Healthcare Research Institute, Ringier offering (IPO) of AC Immune on the is accurate to a few centimetres. took over the Geneva-based online NASDAQ technology index in New York. World-class STARTUPS. Swiss made.

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Industry Partners THE JURY THE JURY The experts on the scene A jury comprising 100 experts has chosen the TOP 100 startups. Each expert selected and rated their 10 favourite enterprises. The ranking list was based on the total number of points awarded.

A Marc P. Bernegger, Zurich. Co-founder of C Finance 2.0, Finance 2.0 & fintech conferences Carole Ackermann, Zurich. President of focusing on digitalisation in the finance industry. Heinrich Christen, Zurich. Managing Partner, Business Angels Switzerland (BAS). Founder of various online companies. Ernst & Young St. Gallen. Focus: medtech. CEO of Diamondscull, an investment firm Angel investor with a focus on fintech/finance. Partner in Charge of Entrepreneur Of The Year in the medical and environmental sector. www.finance20.ch Switzerland/Liechtenstein. Co-President of Angel for Ladies. www.ey.com www.diamondscull.ch Thomas Billeter, Herrliberg. Co-founder of multiple enterprises and business angel. Raphaël Conz, Lausanne. Promotion Domenico Alexakis, Zurich. Director of TallyFox Social Technologies AG. économique du canton de Vaud (SPECo). Director of Swiss Biotech Association. Partner in SeestattExperts AG. www.vd.ch/promotion-economique www.swissbiotech.org www.tallyfox.com Alexandre Coquoz, Neuchâtel. Claude Amiguet, Neuchâtel. Director of Neode, Laurent Bischof, Lausanne. Managing Partner at Associate Director of Innobridge SA. a science and technology park in Neuchâtel. Polytech Ventures, focus: early phase and Series CEO of Jade Invest SA, venture capital company Venture Kick jury member. A funding of high-tech startups. initiated by CSEM. www.neode.ch Director of Fintech Factory. www.innobridge.com www.polytechventures.com Lukas André, Zurich. Managing Partner of Affentranger Associates, venture capital firm. Philip Bodmer, Dübendorf. Business angel. D Co-founder of various IT startups. President of Volkswirtschafts-Stiftung. Venture https://ch.linkedin.com/in/lukasandre/de Kick jury member. Alberto De Lorenzi, Bioggio. Founder of www.volkswirtschaft-stiftung.ch multiple enterprises. Business angel focusing on Rolf Auf der Maur, Zurich. ICT startups. Partner at De Lorenzi & Partners. VISCHER, lawyers and notaries. Business angel. Silvio Bonaccio, Zurich. Head of ETH transfer/ Coach at CTI Start-up. www.vischer.com spin-offs. Member of the steering committee www.delorenzi.ch of ETH Zurich’s Venture Startup Competition. Co-founder and member of the Swiss Thomas Dübendorfer, Zurich. Internet B Technology Transfer Association (swiTT). entrepreneur and business angel. www.vpf.ethz.ch/transfer/ President of Swiss ICT Investor Club (SICTIC). Thomas Bähler, Bern. www.sictic.ch Partner in Kellerhals Carrard, private equity/ Diego A. Braguglia, Zug. General Partner of VI venture capital. Co-founder of SEF. Partners, venture capital company. Pascal Dutheil, Lausanne. Founder of Jury member for the Swiss Economic Award. Focus: life sciences/biotech. Andromede Consulting, focus: seed & early- www.kellerhals-carrard.ch www.vipartners.ch stage venture capital. Coach at CTI Start-up. www.andromede.ch Patrick Barbey, Lausanne. Managing Director of David Brown, Lausanne. Founder/co-founder of InnoVaud, a promotion agency based in Vaud. various startups, including buy.at and Poken SA. Co-founder of multiple startups. Venture Kick jury member. www.innovaud.ch Business Angel of the Year 2016. F www.hightechfondue.com Axel Favre, Lausanne. Debiopharm Investment Brigitte Baumann, Zurich. CEO and co-founder S.A, the holding company for the of Go Beyond Early Stage Investing, Beat Bühlmann, Zurich. Active business angel. biopharmaceutical group Debiopharm. a platform for business angels. Chair of Ferrum AG. Vice Chair of the Board of Focus: cleantech, IT and personal services. European Business Angel of the Year 2014. Invision Private Equity AG. Coach at CTI www.debiopharm.com www.gobeyond.biz Start-up. www.ferrum.net Claude Florin, Lausanne. Business angel. Christophe Beaud, Zurich. Investor and Founder/President of the A3 Angels club. entrepreneur. Founder and CEO of the Fabian Buller, Zurich. Director of New Ventures Partner at Polytech Ventures and peoplefone Group. at Johnson & Johnson Innovation. Director of VentureConcept; focus: medtech/mobile www.peoplefone.ch Business Development at Covagen AG. telecommunications. www.jnj.ch Nicolas Berg, Zurich. Co-founder of multiple www.a3angels.ch enterprises and business angel. Involved with Peter E. Burckhardt, Basel. CEO of Basel Patrik Frei, Zurich. various juries and young entrepreneur prizes. Inkubator. CEO of EVA – the Basel life sciences Founder and CEO of Venture Valuation AG. www.buildastiq.com startup agency. CEO of BioBac (Bio Valley www.venturevaluation.com Business Angel Club). www.basel-inkubator.ch THE JURY

Matthias Frieden, Zurich. Entrepreneur and Nicole Herzog, St. Gallen. Business angel. Co- Jean-Philippe Lallement, Geneva. Director of business angel. Coach at GoBeyond. founder/board member at Haufe-umantis AG, EPFL Innovation Park. Co-founder of multiple Venture Kick jury member. talent management. Chair of Agilentia AG. startups such as Prediggo and Attolight. www.xing.com/profile/Matthias_Frieden www.umantis.com www.epfl-innovationpark.ch

Jan Fülscher, Männedorf. Co-founder of multiple Matthias Hölling, Zurich. Team leader at startups. Board member and coach for multiple Technopark Zurich. Co-director of Startup SMEs. Founder and Director of the Swiss ICT Campus. L Investor Club (SICTIC). www.technopark.ch Hervé Lebret, Lausanne. Vice President for www.janfuelscher.ch innovation and technology transfer at EPFL. David Hug, Zurich. Managing Director of Ringier Manager at Innogrants. Ex-principal of Index Digital Ventures. Board member at multiple Ventures, venture capital company. startups. www.startup-book.com G www.ringierdigital.ch Antonio Gambardella, Plan-les-Ouates Eric Lohrer, Zurich. Investment expert of Loreda (Geneva): Director of Fongit, the startup Holding AG, a family-run company. incubator in Geneva. Venture capital expert and J www.linkedin.com/in/eric-lohrer-791139 angel investor. www.fongit.ch Michel Jaccard, Lausanne. Founder/partner of Ariel Lüdi, Zurich. Business angel. Founder and id est avocats sàrl, law firm. Expert for corporate owner of Hammer Team, incubator for software Frank Gerritzen, Lausanne. President of finance, new technologies and media. Jury startups. Business Angels Switzerland (BAS) Romandy. member of the Swiss ICT Award and Prix www.hammerteam.ch Board member at Careerplus Group SA. Founder Strategis. of the Swiss branch of the Wealth Peer Group. http://idest.pro www.businessangels.ch Mario Jenni, Schlieren. CEO of BIO- M Eric Gisiger, Zurich. Founder and Managing TECHNOPARK Schlieren, life sciences centre. Karim Maizar, Zurich. Partner at Kellerhals Partner of the holding company Helvetica Co-initiator and CEO of glaTec, the Empa Carrard, areas of specialisation: company law, Capital. Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). technology centre. corporate financing. www.helvetica-capital.ch www.bio-technopark.ch Head of the startup desk. www.kellerhals-carrard.ch Patrick Griss, Schlieren. Co-founder and Executive Partner of Zühlke Ventures, focus: K Pascal Marmier, Shanghai. Executive Director/ high-tech startups. Member of the Advisory Vice Consul General of swissnex China. Co- Board of glaTec, the Empa technology centre. Kilian Kämpfen, Wünnewil-Flamatt. Head of organiser venture leaders USA and China. www.zuehlke.com Business Development at Ringier Digital AG, www.swissnexchina.org centre of excellence for online marketplaces and Daniel Gutenberg, Zug. General Partner of VI Zurich. Business angel. Co- e-Commerce. Venture Kick jury member. Pascal Mathis, Partners, venture capital company, focus: IT. www.ringierdigital.ch founder of GetYourGuide. Business Angel of the Year 2011. Vice President of Selfnation (RealLook AG). www.vipartners.ch Fernand Kaufmann, Zurich. Business angel, www.google.com focus: cleantech. Adviser at Emerald Technology Bern. Head of Swisscom Ventures. CEO of HPL S.A. (high-power lithium) Dominique Mégret, www.emerald-ventures.com Ventures. Co-founder of Kickstart Ventures. H www.swisscom.ch/ventures Urs Haeusler, Zurich. CEO of DealMarket. Board Cédric Koehler, Zurich. Managing Partner of the Basel. Investment Director of the member of Swiss Finance Startups Association European holding company Creathor Venture. Simon Meier, Roche Venture Fund. Venture Kick jury member. (SFS). President of Swiss Startup Association. Focus: ICT, media, new materials. www.venturefund.roche.com www.dealmarket.com www.creathor.ch Didier Mesnier, Geneva. Executive Officer at Alp Peter Harboe-Schmidt, Schwerzenbach. Co- Marjan N. Kraak, Zurich. Group leader of spin- ICT, high-tech cluster in Western Switzerland. founder of various pharmaceutical companies off companies, ETH Zurich/ETH transfer. www.alpict.com such as SpiroChem AG, Xigen Pharma SA and Manager of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Glycemicon. CTI Coach. Lab for life sciences at ETH Zurich. James Miners, Plan-les-Quates. www.glycemicon.ch www.transfer.ethz.ch Serial entrepreneur. Business adviser at Fongit, the incubator for high-tech business in Geneva. Reto Hartinger, Zurich. Serial entrepreneur and André Kühni, Aarau. Head of SME services and Coach at CTI Start-up. business angel (e.g. search.ch). startup consulting at Aargauische Kantonalbank. www.fongit.ch President of the Internet Briefing information www.akb.ch exchange group. Felix Moesner, Cambridge, USA. Swiss Consul. Pius Küng, St. Gallen. Business angel. www.internet-briefing.ch CEO of Swissnex Boston. Co-organiser of Owner of Dr. Pius Kueng & Partner. Co-founder venture leaders Boston/New York. René Hausammann, Winterthur. CEO of Swiss of IFJ Institut für Jungunternehmen. www.swissnexboston.org Parks, association of Swiss technology parks and www.kueng-partner.ch incubators. Venture Kick jury member. Jordi Montserrat, Lausanne. Business angel. Stefan Kyora, Lucerne. Co-founder/Managing www.swissparks.ch Vice President of Logifleet SA. Managing Editor of startupticker.ch. Director of Venture Kick and venturelab. Wolfgang Henggeler, Zurich. Head of Physical Co-owner of Niedermann, journalist agency. www.venturekick.ch Sciences at Unitectra, technology transfer Journalist, focus: high-tech startups and organisation for the universities of Zurich, Bern corporate financing. and Basel. www.startupticker.ch www.unitectra.ch THE JURY

Carolina Müller-Möhl, Zurich. Investor. Erika Puyal Heusser, Zurich. Head of Startup Vice President of the Müller-Möhl Group, Finance/Pioneers at Zürcher Kantonalbank. V investment management. Board member of “Go! Ziel selbständig”. Paul-André Vogel, Sion. Director of CimArk, www.mm-grp.com www.zkb.ch startup support network. Coach at CTI Start-up. www.cimark.ch

Pascale Vonmont, Basel. Deputy CEO of Gebert N Q Rüf Stiftung. President of Startupticker Michael Näf, Zurich. Business angel. Till Quack, Zurich. Angel investor. Co-founder Foundation. Strategic council delegate at Co-founder of Doodle. Deputy Head of Swiss and CEO of Kooaba (takeover by Qualcomm). Venture Kick. venture leaders jury member. Life Lab, a fintech incubator. Venture Partner at Product manager at Qualcomm. Advisory board member and jury member of Cavalry Ventures. www.quack.ch seif, the Swiss Social Entrepreneurship Initiative www.cavalry.vc & Foundation. www.grstiftung.ch Steven Neftel, Geneva. Director of holding company Waypoint Capital. R Jean-Pierre Vuilleumier, Zurich. Director of www.waypointcapital.net Olivier Rozumek, Lausanne. Founder and CEO Swiss Startup Invest, Partner at Swiss Startup of orhizon. Focus: strategic investments in high- Factory, Vice President of Startupticker Peter Niederhauser, Zurich. tech companies. Foundation. Co-founder of Swiss Startup Day. Serial entrepreneur/business angel. www.orhizon.com www.cti-invest.ch Partner at Masterinvest. General Partner at Redalpine Venture Partners, venture capital company. W www.redalpine.com S Lucian Wagner, Zurich. General Partner at EuroUS Ventures, investing for US growth. Lutz Nolte, Bern. Vice president of the Christian Schaub, Zurich. Angel investor. Co-founder and CEO of Launch in US Alliance. Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI) Co-founder and CEO of Redbiotec. Trainer at www.eurousventures.com and head of the startup and entrepreneurship venturelab. www.redbiotec.ch funding areas. Director of the Institute for Steffen Wagner, Zurich. Co-founder and Surgical Technology and Biomechanics, Penny Schiffer, Zurich. Business angel. Head of Managing Partner at investiere, operated by University of Bern. Startup Initiatives at Swisscom. Manager of Verve Capital Partners AG. www.istb.unibe.ch Swisscom Startup Challenge. Silicon Valley trend www.investiere.ch scout. Cédric Waldburger, Zurich. www.swisscom.ch O CEO of Tenderloin Ventures. Beat Schillig, St. Gallen. Founder and President www.tenderloin.ch Magne Y. Orgland, Teufen. Business angel. of IFJ Institut für Jungunternehmen. Initiator of Lukas Weder, St. Gallen. Business angel. ­ Managing Partner at Norga Capital and Meridian venturelab, venture leaders and Venture Kick. Co-founder of EAT.ch. Venture Kick jury member. Capital Holding. Board member at 1741 Asset Business Angel of the Year 2012. www.eat.ch Management AG. Venture Kick jury member. www.ifj.ch www.1741am.com Christian Wenger, Zurich. Business angel. Peter Schüpbach, Langenthal. Business angel. Partner at Wenger & Vieli, commercial lawyers, Markus Oswald, Schwyz. Venture capitalist. Founder of multiple enterprises (including focus: private equity/venture capital/M & A. CEO of the Schwyzer Kantonalbank Innovation Miracle, Fashion Friends). Co-founder of SECA board member. President of Swiss Foundation. SwissCommerce. Partner at NewBorn Ventures, Startup Invest. www.szkb.ch/innovationsstiftung focus: ICT projects. www.wengervieli.ch http://peters.wordpress.com/ Sandy Wetzel, Yverdon-les-Bains. General P Florian Schweitzer, St. Gallen. Co-founder and Manager of Y-Parc SA – Swiss Technopole. partner at b-to-v Partners AG, business www.y-parc.ch Xavier Paternot, Geneva. Managing Partner at angels network. Vinci Capital, focus: growth financing for Swiss www.b-to-v.com high-tech companies. www.vincicapital.ch Paul E. Sevinç, Zurich. Angel investor with Z focus on IT. Founder of Squeng. Co-founder of Roland Zeller, Köniz. Business angel and Maurice Pedergnana, Zug. CEO of SECA Swiss Doodle AG. multiple executive board member. Co-founder of Private Equity & Corporate Finance Association. www.squeng.com online travel agency travel.ch. Supervisory Board Managing Partner of Zugerberg Finanz AG. Zurich. Business angel. of GetYourGuide. Partner at Redalpine Venture Professor of Banking & Finance, Lucerne Michael Sidler, Partner at Redalpine Venture Partners. Partners AG. University of Applied Sciences and Arts. www.marwas.ch www.seca.ch Venture Kick jury member and CTI coach. www.redalpine.com Jürg Zürcher, Zurich. Partner at Ernst & Young, Eric Plan, Sion. General Secretary of St. Gallen. Partner at b-to-v biotechnology leader for Europe, Middle East, CleantechAlps, cleantech cluster for Western Alexander Stoeckel, Partners AG. Board member at SECA. India, Africa (EMEIA). Switzerland. Coach at cimARK. www.b-to-v.com www.ey.com www.cleantech-alps.com Colin Turner, Geneva. Business angel. Mentor at Roberto Poretti, Lugano. Initiator of Centro di A3 Angels. Co-founder of greenTEK ventures. promozione START-UP, board member of the General Partner at Rising Star Ventures. Startupticker Foundation. www.a3angels.ch www.cpstartup.ch Ins IFJ A4 (E)_Ins IFJ A4 19.08.16 09:52 Seite 1

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Launch your company with up to CHF 5’000 starting capital

When launching your own company, you will receive starting capital in form of discounts which have a combined value of up to CHF 5’000. These offers are made possible by our sponsors such as Abacus, Google, la Mobilière, PostFinance, Swisscom and Microsoft. Additionally the IFJ Startup Support helps you with a business plan tool, bookkeeping solutions, free courses and networking events. More than 100’000 founders have profited from our support since 1989.

We are looking forward to support you on your way to become a successful startup.

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Where do the TOP 100 Swiss Startups hatch?

Find the best Swiss startups 2016 on startup.ch, the platform for companies and investors that love success stories. Which are the companies that will change the future? Who is supporting them?

www.startup.ch