March 13, 2015
Open innovation
Dear reader
An increasing number of large businesses are discovering the innovative spirit of young firms. Thus, last August, SBB took over the reservations app park it from Parking Solutions, as part of an asset deal. Now it has invited five other young companies to its co-working space at Zollstrasse, Zurich. The results are eagerly awaited.
The relaunch of the news app Niuws, formerly Newscron, is being followed with anticipation. Seven weeks after the start, it already has 4,000 registered users, says CEO Peter Hogenkamp. The former head of digital media at NZZ refers to ‘Random Selection’ curated by Viktor Giacobbo as a highlight.
The fact that Swiss founders go to Silicon Valley for inspiration is not new and for the third time Vaud Cantonal Bank is sending up to 10 potential entrepreneurs to California. The registration period is running now.
It’s more surprising when Americans come to us for good ideas. Three representatives of the world famous start-up accelerator MassChallenge will be travelling through Switzerland next week on the look-out for promising early-stage projects.
Speaking of promising, the Basel medtech firm MiniNaviDent, a spin-off of the University Hospital Basel and the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland, generated CHF1.4 million in fresh equity in the course of a Series B funding. The Zurich creative agency Neves has announced new investors: an international group of business angels has supplied $700,000 for the expansion of content creation platform Boldomatic.
Finally, another event reminder: another Startup Weekend begins a week from today – in Biel for the first time.
Have a good weekend.
Jost Dubacher
Managing Editor, startupticker.ch
News
.jpg "Startup-Battle: Die Anmeldefrist läuft")
.jpg "Innovationspreis 2015 der Industrie und Handelskammer Zentralschweiz")
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". 
