Generous cash prizes awarded to Swiss startups

Ananya Bala, founder of dancing shoes startup marleys, has been selected as the 2024 winner of the IMD MBA Venture Award, securing 100,000 CHF in funding, as well as mentorship and strategic guidance from a panel of successful IMD entrepreneurs and industry experts. Established in 2022, the award aims to support promising entrepreneurs in bringing innovative business ideas to market. With marleys shoes Ananya aims to build up a consumer brand that offers dancers stylish, comfortable, and accessible shoes.

Archiater comes out on top in a Ticino support programme 
PKB AddVenture Academy is a collaboration between PKB Private Bank and Match Strategies aiming to strengthen the local ecosystem in Ticino and stimulate innovation in Switzerland by providing support to startups in various areas like business development, operational management, funding, marketing, and human capital management. During the second edition, Lugano-based startup Archiater emerged as the winner. Archiater has transformed medication management with its automated dispenser, which stores and dispenses the correct dosages at the right times, delivering medications directly into a cup for easy intake. Complementing this innovation, Archiater has launched a companion app that empowers caregivers with real-time monitoring and management capabilities, enhancing efficiency and control. This technology has garnered industry recognition, securing a spot in the Top 10 at the 2023 Boldbrain Startup Challenge. While still in its early stages, Archiater is poised to transform medication management across healthcare settings and is seeking strategic partnerships and investment opportunities to accelerate market penetration and drive further innovation in the healthcare technology sector.

Compremium receives $50k grant
Bern-based medtech startup Compremium has won a prize in the “Make Your Medical Device Pitch for Kids!” competition. Held in Toronto, the competition is organized by the Alliance for Pediatric Device Innovation (APDI), a nonprofit consortium led by Children's National Hospital and funded through the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Additional Ventures, a nonprofit focused on accelerating research progress and improving clinical care for individuals born with single ventricle heart defects. Compremium stood out for its non-invasive diagnostic device that measures and monitors compressibility in the body. This method has been validated through various clinical trials, demonstrating its reliability as an aid in diagnosing and monitoring a range of acute and chronic medical conditions. The device prototype has been in regular use for six years by NASA on the International Space Station (ISS). Compremium believes that its innovative technology has the potential to assist in diagnosing over 30 medical indications in the future. It will be especially valuable in emergency and trauma situations, as well as in orthopedics and sports medicine. As one of the six promising solutions, Compremium was awarded a $50,000 grant to bring its device to the market and improve care for children with heart conditions.  

Zatap secures €10,000 for pilot project
Zatap  (formerly CollectID) has impressed the jury at SPORTBIZ EUROPE in Barcelona, with its innovative approach to enhancing fan engagement, winning the 2024 Euroleague Basketball FanXP Edition. The startup received €10,000 to pilot test its platform within the prestigious frameworks of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and BKT EuroCup. The Swiss startup has redefined the connection between physical merchandise products and the digital world. By facilitating direct-to-consumer interactions, ZATAP helps brands and sports teams better monetize their customer base. “We are excited to see how these solutions will be integrated into the Euroleague ecosystem and the sports industry,” said Alex Ferrer Kristjansson, Euroleague Basketball Marketing and Communication Chief Officer.

Gaudio wins @10’000 at ArtTech in Munich
ArtTech Prize & Conference was held in Munich has selected Gaudio, a startup the intersection of arts, culture and technology, as the winner of the €10’000 cash prize. Based in Rotkreuz (Lucerne), Gaudio is an AI-driven platform dedicated to transforming the way people engage with art, history, and culture. By providing personalized virtual guides, Gaudio enhances museum visits and historical site explorations, turning them into dynamic and interactive journeys tailored to each visitor's interests and knowledge levels. The platform not only enriches cultural experience through engaging storytelling and adaptive learning but also offers valuable insights to institutions, helping them better understand audience preferences and inform future exhibitions. The startup is currently working with five partners, including Verkehrshaus (Switzerland's most visited museum) and  more.

Juli wins UpLink challenge
The Prospering in Longevity Challenge by UpLink, the open innovation platform of the World Economic Forum supports solutions that promote preventative healthcare and financial well-being, enabling people from all generations to thrive and enjoy a financially resilient and long, fulfilling life. Based in the US with entities in Switzerland and the UK, juli is one of the ten selected startups in this year’s edition. Dedicated to helping people with chronic conditions to improve their quality of life, juli’s solution aims to reduce morbidity and disability through digital facilitation of self-management of a range of long-term health conditions. Between-visit data can also be provided to healthcare providers to ensure targeted use of resources and early intervention.

LinkedIn TOP 10 with multiple startups
LinkedIn has presented the annual list of the top ten up-and-coming companies in Switzerland to watch. The 2024 edition features fast-growing companies that are attracting investors and creating jobs, thanks to their innovative solutions. For ranking, the committee analyzed LinkedIn data in these four categories Employment Growth, Interest in Job Opportunities, Engagement with the Company and its Employees, and Attracting Top Talent from LinkedIn Top Companies. Only companies headquartered in Switzerland that are independent and privately owned, have at least 30 full-time employees and are no more than seven years old were considered. The following startups made it to the list: Planted Foods, GenTwo, Neural Concept, Alentis Therapeutics, BLP Digital and Dufour Aerospace.

(RAN)