Founders and their innovations get recognition

In recognition of his outstanding contribution to the satellite industry, Emile de Rijk, CEO and Founder of Swissto12 has been named Satellite Executive of the Year by Via Satellite at the Satellite 2025 event in Washington D.C. Founded in 2011, Swissto12 has grown to become one of the world’s fastest-growing satellite companies and a leader in Radio Frequency communications solutions. With its proven heritage in RF solutions established, in collaboration with the European Space Agency, SWISSto12 developed HummingSat – a small and agile satellite that defines a new category for geostationary telecommunications, helping global network operators including Intelsat, Viasat+Inmarsat, Astrum Mobile and sovereign nations use smaller assets in GEO to better address secure sovereign connectivity use cases, replacing ageing assets, servicing regional markets and supporting a variety of emerging payloads. Boasting a team of 200 employees and over 100% CAGR revenue growth over the past years, the EPFL spinoff has a strong presence in Switzerland, Europe and the USA, and customers worldwide.

KIDEMIS among the Economist Impact Ocean changemakers 2025
Economist Impact Ocean changemakers 2025 award which recognizes innovators developing practical and scalable solutions that hold the potential to positively impact the health and resilience of the global ocean. Swiss startup KIDEMIS is one of the three award winners. The startup is developing a sustainable alternative to fishmeal and fish oil for aquafeed. Their mycoprotein aquafeed is produced from renewable resources and is a high-quality, cost-effective, and scalable alternative to traditional aquafeed. Their aim is to replace 1 million tons of fish and soy-based aquafeed with sustainable mycoprotein ingredients.

Cowa Thermal Solutions wins category prize at SET
Held during the SET Tech Festival in Berlin, Start Up Energy Transition (SET) is a climate tech startup competition that brings startups sustainable energy solutions to the world stage. Cowa Thermal Solutions AG secured a prize in the category Clean Energy & Storage. Cowa develops compact thermal storage systems using patented Phase Change Materials (PCMs) that are five times smaller than water-based alternatives. Targeting the growing European heat pump market, Cowa’s scalable technology enhances urban heat pump integration and renewable energy use. Successfully launched in Switzerland, Cowa aims to drive urban energy efficiency. Additionally, Cowa won the decarb KICK Award by the Belimo Climate Foundation, recognizing the team among the five Pioneers driving global decarbonization.

Stream Up supports 10 Food projects
Organised by the United Against Waste association, the Steam UP mentoring program supports early-stage and established food-tech startups and projects in bringing their solutions to the next level by connecting them to a network of industry experts, research institutes industry players to foster collaboration. Ten food-save projects were selected to benefit from the mentoring program. They will present their solutions at the Focus Food Save event on 26. Juni 2025 in Bern.
The projects are: GoNina (food surplus app to combat food waste); Upgrain (transforms brewer’s spent into valuable raw materials), EggField (specializes in plant-based eggs alternatives), Luya (produces plant-based protein alternatives ), Wheycation (upcycles Swiss whey, a byproduct of cheese production, into natural premium products), Circunis ( B2B online marketplace for trading food surpluses and side streams), Pureup (rescues surplus fruit to produces high-quality fruit puree), Kernser Edelpilz (produces organic gourmet mushrooms), Blattman Schweiz (their latest innovation BECODUR® DINKEL allows for producing spelt bakery products), InnoFood (helps farmers use their surplus products to expand their existing range with new creations such as pasta, sauces, charcuterie or other products).

(RAN)