November 8, 2013
CHF95 million for start-ups
Dear reader
This week was definitely a week of millions. Several financing rounds and a lucrative partnership meant the cash registers were ringing for young companies. Medtech company Biocartis received €30 million in a funding round, IT company coresystems completed a round of CHF14 million, biotech company Delenex Therapeutics generated CHF7 million, two IT start-ups Avance Pay and BugBuster secured investments of more than CHF1 million, and a research partnership between Polyphor and Roche brought Polyphor an upfront payment of CHF35 million.
This is good news for Switzerland as a start-up location, especially since several of the financing rounds have international connections. The investments show that, currently, large financing rounds are possible, but the flow of money is more evident in later-stage companies. For young start-ups such as Avance Pay and BugBuster, the sums are much lower than for seasoned companies like coresystems.
This is why events where start-ups present themselves to investors are still very important. In November, several such events are taking place: the first Swiss Venture Day in Lausanne, Swiss Venture Day in Berlin and the Investor Forum in Liechtenstein. In early December, i-net is organising a seminar for start-ups looking for investors, followed by a panel discussion on the topic ‘How can Swiss start-ups attract more venture capital?’.
Start-ups should find that the Swiss Innovation Forum (SIF), on 20 November in Basel, offers an interesting look over the border. The keynote speaker will be Klaus Wowereit, mayor of start-up hotspot Berlin, and 10 selected entrepreneurs from Berlin will be available at the main German booth for conversation.
In Switzerland, Global Entrepreneurship Week, which takes place from 12 November, will continue to inspire the entrepreneurial spirit; the strength of the event today is illustrated by the 30 announcements this week on startupticker.ch. The high quality of start-ups is demonstrated by the four new holders of the CTI Start-up Label and the three start-ups that were among the winners at the Design Prize Switzerland.
Have an enjoyable read.
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". 
