June 14, 2013
Millions from private investors
Dear reader
Two life sciences companies completed a round of financing this week in which private donors played a central role. InSphero generated CHF2 million and Aeon Scientific CHF4 million, the sums generating quite a stir among experienced insiders. The figures show how the community of Swiss business angels and private investors has developed, with the private sector now willing to put millions into a company such as Aeon, which is still at an early stage. Traditional venture capitalists (VCs) focus on fewer and bigger investments. We have reported little lately on investment by classic VCs; the most active institutional investors have been Zurich Cantonal Bank, which was also at the Aeon financing round, and Debiopharm.
CTI Invest and SECA are working on a specific project to improve the funding supply for start-ups from institutional investors. We will know more in the upcoming SECA Conference on 3 July.
That the pipeline is well filled is good news for Swiss start-ups. At the last Swiss Venture Day, no fewer than 10 young companies presented to investors. At the event on business analytics, hosted by CTI Invest and IBM, nine new companies were seen to be active in the growing big data market. Genilem Vaud-Genève is supporting three new companies, and ‘Call for Projects: Swiss Games 2012/2013’ is helping the development of seven video games from young entrepreneurs.
At the same time, start-up awards are continually putting new young companies in the spotlight. This week, Nora Gautschi, co-founder of Scarabeus, won the CHF 20,000 Prix du Jeune Entrepreneur. Scarabeus designs and makes horse riding apparel that is not only stylish, but also very functional.
As the video games and Scarabeus demonstrate, innovation can be fun and BlueBotics delivered another example this week. At Geneva airport, one of its robots has been helping travellers find their way around.
Have a sunny weekend.
Stefan Kyora
Managing Editor, startupticker.ch
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". 
