November 8, 2024
Focus on hard work
Dear reader
After a very exciting week in terms of international politics, it might be good to focus again on start-ups that are quietly working on solutions to important and complex problems. They are numerous, as shown by the 33 companies and organisations from the biotech and pharma sectors that made up the Swiss delegation at BIO Europe this week. Numab, Nouscom and Aurealis also reported progress in clinical trials.
Four start-ups each received CHF 150,000 from the Innobooster programme: one is developing a new drug, a young diagnostics company is developing a non-invasive AI-supported diagnostic option for endometriosis, and of the two companies from the sustainability sector, one – Ionic Wind – has also secured CHF 150,000 from Venture Kick. Ionic Wind’s airflow solutions for cooling provide a quieter, smaller and more energy-efficient alternative to fans. The second start-up to secure CHF 150,000 from Venture Kick is working on bacterial degraders that enable CO2 emission-free degradation of industrial pollutants.
Swiss start-ups are offering innovative and convincing solutions not only in the environmental and healthcare sectors, but also in cybersecurity. Tech5 has signed a USD 54 million contract with the US state of Virginia to help modernise the Virginia State Police’s Livescan technology, which captures fingerprints in a digital format. And in Switzerland, Helvetia Insurance is using the insurtech platform from Ticino-based cybersecurity start-up Coinnect.
The focus of Swiss start-ups on solving socially relevant problems is also evident in CelsiusPro and Aidonic: both are working on projects with the UN World Food Programme.
In terms of financing, little happened this week, but there was one real highlight: Algorized, an AI-powered platform that pioneers advanced people-sensing and positioning software, has raised USD 4.3 million in seed funding led by the Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund.
Next week you can meet my colleague Eugène Schön at the CSEM Business Day in Bern. Global Entrepreneurship Week takes place from 18 November, with many events in Basel and Lausanne.
Don’t miss the deadlines for Venture Leaders Mobile, the Tenity Pre-Seed Incubator programme in Zurich and the IC Award for start-ups working on global problems.
Have a good weekend.
Stefan Kyora
Editor in Chief, Startupticker.ch
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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". 
