August 21, 2015
There is still much to do
Dear reader
Zurich biotech company Kuros completed a financing round of CHF 15 million this week, IT start-up TestingTime received almost CHF 1 million from investors, and eco-supermarket GAIA also managed to secure growth capital for its planned expansion. A very successful crowdfunding campaign for Fotokite, an easy-to-use drone that hangs like a kite on a string, can also be added to this list.
Such successes are encouraging, but are no reason for complacency. The conditions for start-ups need to be further improved if Switzerland is to become an internationally recognised start-up hub. Currently, the fintech scene is the best example of how to do this. At a panel discussion at the Swiss Finance Startups association, two representatives from UBS and CS and prominent national councillors Ruedi Noser and Jacqueline Badran were very open about the problems faced by fintech start-ups today.
Elsewhere, much is happening in the fintech area. Next week will see the launch of another national association with Swiss FinTech and the official opening of the SIX fintech incubator in Zurich. The interplay of large companies, start-ups, associations and the response of politicians is exemplary and constitutes a good basis on which to build a scene that can compete with the best hubs worldwide.
There’s no doubt that in Switzerland the necessary knowledge to be at the forefront is available. This week we reported that Nick Balestra, founder and CEO of Beyounic, had won a Hackathon organised by taxi service company Uber. The author of the article is Ryan Vannin, our new startupticker correspondent for Ticino. We are delighted to have Ryan on board and thanks to his help we will be able to report on highlights of the Ticino start-up scene in future.
Ryan is also the organiser of Hack the City, the first Swiss open-air hackathon, which takes place in Chiasso in late August. A few days later at a Creathon in Lucerne, teams will create a prototype within 48 hours with the help of the Design Thinking method. And a series of Startup Weekends is planned for the autumn.
Have a sunny weekend.
Stefan Kyora
Managing Editor, Startupticker
News
The new Swiss Venture Capital Report was published on 26 January. It analyses 304 financing rounds closed in 2020 and includes further article such as an interview with Michael Hengartner, President of the ETH Board, and a list of Swiss "soonicorns". 
