Startup 2014 EN

Startup A magazine from

SPECIAL EDITION 2014

The big Top 100 Ranking

best startups the

In Switzerland rank 1

InSphero

rank 2

L.E.S.S.

rank 3

Abionic

50 or

500

m2

storage space

Business is full of difficult questions.

Good thing that for financial matters there’s an easy answer: The start-up package for young entrepreneurs. postfinance.ch/startuppackage

ear the first y g in r u d e arg Free of ch

E D I TO R I A L

The triumph of openness

T

he world looks in amazement at the tiny country of Switzerland. Not only did the country fare much better than most other Western countries during the financial crisis, it has also remained a world leader in numerous country comparison indexes. This might be seen as a reproof to those observers who believed (or hoped) that the ‘tax haven of Switzerland’ would collapse after the abolition of its banking secrecy policy.

Yet Switzerland is much more than just a powerful financial center. First, the landlocked country with no natural resources succeeded in staying out of all wars over the last 200 years and developed a stable democracy. The functioning rule of law protects private property, and the liberal economic system encourages private initiative.

Second, this was and remains the ideal precondition for strong, vital entrepreneurship. The industrial revolution, the many excellent universities and in particular the open borders have promoted a longstanding, lively exchange of ideas, goods and people. Entrepreneurs and researchers have settled in Switzerland, met likeminded people and founded companies.

The magazine you are holding, Startup, is an expression of this enthusiasm and pioneering spirit. Young men and women build companies around their business ideas and

are confident in the success of their technology. This attitude is absolutely essential for a national economy. André Hoffmann, a major shareholder and great-grandson of Roche’s founder, points out that his greatgrandfather was once the founder of a startup. As Hoffman says: “If there is an opportunity to create a Roche of tomorrow from one of today’s startups, then we have to help.”

The openness of Switzerland is essential, which is why the latest report published by the World Economic Forum (WEF) should make us sit up. Switzerland took first place again for the sixth time on the Global Competitiveness Index. Yet WEF economists warn that Switzerland should not become

Pascal Ihle Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Handelszeitung

“Startup is an expression of this enthusiasm and pioneering spirit in Switzerland.” too complacent as it is becoming increasingly difficult for the country – and even more so after adoption of the mass immigration initiative – to recruit the engineers and scientists so essential in maintaining the country’s status as a center of research and production, which, in turn, fosters a vibrant startup scene and successful business location.

startup.ch 2014 . handelszeitung

Enjoy your flight at a high altitude!

We would like to congratulate CashSentinel, eSmart, Geosatis Technology, Hoosh and ScanTrust, the five winners of the Swisscom StartUp Challenge 2014!

The young companies demonstrate that with an innovative spirit, courage and disruptive technology an incredible thrust can be generated for successful businesses. In October, we – along with the winners – will be taking off in the direction of Silicon Valley. swisscom.ch/startup

E D I TO R I A L

Become a ­business angel !

O

f the 100,000 startups founded over the last five years, only one in 1,000 made it on to the TOP 100 list. For this reason, it is very likely that the list includes companies that will truly make it big some day, such as ublox (page 42) or Covagen (page 40). Investors are not, of course, blind to this and have so far invested an estimated CHF 300 million in the startups listed in this magazine.

But this is not enough. In order to fund their ambitious growth plans, more than half these promising startups are already seeking capital again. Each year, record numbers of innovative projects are established in Switzerland, most of which are hatched at universities before any attempt is made to conquer world markets. Thus, more and more young companies with excellent future prospects are vying for investors’ scarce financial resources.

Private investors play a key role in the financing of startups. Although, more of these business angels are fortunately becoming involved in Switzerland, they cannot fully satisfy the hunger for capital in the booming startup scene.

Do you have a few hundred thousand to spare and are looking for investments that make sense and are fun? This magazine or startup.ch is sure to help you find interesting startups that will welcome you with open arms. It goes without saying that the risk that

you might have to write off your investment after a few years is quite real – about 50%.

On the other hand, there is the opportunity to multiply your investment several times over if you land a high-flyer.

Really, though, you should not invest in a startup if your motives are purely financial, because you will have to wait an average of 10 years to see any returns.

Beat Schillig Founder of the IFJ Institute for Young Entrepreneurs and Business Angels.

“The true motivation for business angels is to share the vision with the founders.”

The real motivation for business angels is to share the company founder’s vision of changing the world or to offer a talented team of founders an opportunity.

Even if you do not receive any financial dividend on shares during the startup phase, there is nothing more exciting than being part of a success story or learning from an entrepreneurial flop. Follow the lead of former Wegelin banker Magne Orgland (page 48) and become a business angel. If you can afford this hobby, it is definitely worthwhile!

startup.ch 2014 . handelszeitung

All beginnings are easy.

With hands-on startup support from IFJ.

The startup team of Ava AG

Build up your business with a starting credit of up to 5.000 Swiss francs!

IFJ Startup Support is the first address for Swiss entrepreneurs. Since 1989 we have supported more than 100.000 startups. We guide you on your way to successful businesses with free courses, a personal startup support and our online incorporation service. And with the starting credit from our partners like ABACUS, Mobiliar, PostFinance, Swisscom, Google, HP, Microsoft or Swiss Life you save hundreds of Swiss francs.

handelszeitung . startup.ch 2014

www.ifj.ch/incorporation

21 Delighted to win fifth place Paolo D’Alcini, Olga Mykhailova and Francesco Dell’Endice (left to right).

THE TOP 100 TOP 100 12 Rank 1: InSphero

Cell layers are a thing of the past: pharmaceutical researchers are excited about the 3D organ models from InSphero.

16 Rank 2: L.E.S.S.

Artificial light beyond LEDs: the light fibers from L.E.S.S. have the potential to generate billions.

19 Rank 3: Abionic

Quick visits: the rapid test system from Abionic identifies allergies within minutes.

20 Rank 4: HouseTrip

Millions of satisfied customers can’t be wrong: HouseTrip continues to grow.

21 Rank 5: QualySense

Tossing the bad ones out: the QualySense machines sort oats and coffee beans.

23 Rank 9: TrekkSoft

Booking and marketing tool for tour operators: TrekkSoft is on the road to success.

23 Rank 10: Dacuda

A wireless mini-scanner for you and me: Dacuda now addresses consumers as well.

24 Ranks 11–100

Ninety companies on 10 pages, along with the results of the special categories.

50 The jury

A glimpse behind the scenes: who the 100 voting experts are and where they come from.

A complete perspective Simon Rivier (left) and Yann Tissot from L.E.S.S.

SCENE 36 André Hoffmann

The major Roche stakeholder and vice president talks about his greatgrandfather, startups and Tetra Pak soup.

40 Julian Bertschinger

The young biochemist sold his company to Big Pharma for more than CHF 200 million.

42 From the lab to the stock market

The former ETH spin-off u-blox has 550 employees on four continents.

46 An ambitious journey

The venture leaders initiative invites promising founders to China and the USA.

48 Business angels

The sale of Bank Wegelin as an opportunity: why an ex-banker is funding startups.

22 Rank 6: Bcomp 03 Editorial #1

by Pascal Ihle #

05 Editorial 2

by Beat Schillig

11 Background Hot bets on cool startups

All natural fibers: the organic composite materials from Bcomp are also in demand in the automobile industry.

22 Rank 7: Climeworks

Carbon-neutral driving: Climeworks produces a liquid fuel from greenhouse gas CO2.

23 Rank 8: joiz

Blending social media and TV: joiz is a treat for viewers.

startup.ch 2014 . handelszeitung

I N H A LT SV E R Z E I C H N I S

Die ältesten unternehmen der Schweiz

Startup

55 Von 1354 bis 1864

Der von der «Handelszeitung» gegründete Klub der ältesten Unternehmen der Schweiz zählt 85 Mitglieder.

58 Im Land der Pioniere

Der VR-Präsident von Burckhardt Compression, Valentin Vogt, über die Folgen der Industriellen Revolution.

A magazine from

Valentin Vogt Der Präsident des ­Arbeitgeberverbands über erfolgreiche Unternehmer.

Imprint Startups magazine is a supplement of the business publication Handelszeitung TOP 100 Startups Concept and implementation: IFJ Institut für Jungunternehmen, St. Gallen; Journalistenbüro Niedermann GmbH, Lucerne. Editors: Jost Dubacher, Stefan Kyora, Claus Niedermann

60 Cilander

Die Herisauer Textilfirma trotzte in ihrer 200-jährigen Geschichte einigen, zum Teil existenziellen Krisen.

62 Orgelbau Kuhn

65 Bäckerei Glatz

64 Sigvaris

66 Schwarzenbach

Das Männedorfer KMU setzt seit 150 Jahren auf die Herstellung von Pfeifenorgeln.

Der Weltmarktführer von Kompressions­strümpfen begann vor 150 Jahren im Merceriegeschäft.

64 handelszeitung . startup.ch 2014

Das Stadtberner Familienunternehmen startete vor 150 Jahren als Bäckerei und ist heute ein Gastronomiebetrieb.

Das Zürcher Kolonialwarengeschäft veränderte vor 150 Jahren die Ess- und Genussgewohnheiten.

Sigvaris Blick in die Fabrik, 1926.

Handelszeitung Editorial Team Editor-in-Chief Stefan Barmettler Deputy Editor-in-Chief Pascal Ihle (overall responsibility) Suite150 editorial team Georgia Garms, Sonja Lüthi, Pirmin Schilliger, Denise Weisflog Art direction and production Studio Wittwer; Peter Wittwer Photography Tina Sturzenegger Proofreading Urs Bochsler, Renate Brunner, Beat Koch, Sandra Noser, Florian Vogler Lithography Laurent Guye, Steven Leach, Silvia Mahrer, Luca Quadri Editorial address Handelszeitung, Förrlibuckstrasse 70, 8021 Zurich, Tel +41 (0) 43 444 59 00, Fax +41 (0) 43 444 59 30, redaktion@handelszeitung.ch, www.handelszeitung.ch Publishers Thomas Garms (Director), Maike Juchler (Assistant Director), Musti Asaf (Sales Director) Advertising Sales Renato Oliva (Head), Adi Frei, Verena Tschopp, Karin Urech, Tel: +41 (0)43 444 58 43, Email: inserate@handelszeitung.ch Western Switzerland: Servais Y.F. Micolot, Brigitte Lopez-y-Martin (Sales), brigitte.lopez@axelspringer.ch, tel +41 (0)21 943 76 20 Marketing Patrizia Serra (Head), Nicola Eberhard (Product Manager), Sabine Carrieu (Dep. PM) Publisher Address Förrlibuckstrasse 70, 8021 Zurich, Tel +41 (0) 43 444 59 00, Fax +41 (0) 43 444 59 32, Email: verlag@handelszeitung.ch Orders for single issues Email: broschueren@axelspringer.ch Retail price: CHF 8 ISBN: 978-3-9524325-3-2 Printer Swissprinters, Zofingen Publishing house Axel Springer Schweiz AG Disclosure of major shareholdings within the meaning of Art. 322 StGB: Amiado Group AG

B AC KG R O U N D

Hot bets on cool startups

P

otential is a promise for the future, and the future is uncertain. No one can determine with certainty whether a startup in good standing will be successful in the future. It depends on the ability of the founders to manage growth, on their ability to adapt the technology to customer needs, on market trends and, not least, on luck.

Experienced investors therefore rely on their gut feeling when it comes to their involvement, and the gut feeling of experts is also reflected in the TOP 100 list: 100 men and women from all over Switzerland have named the 10 startups they trust most (see bar The Concept). The lists were aggregated and the results are presented in this magazine – a classic case of collective intelligence.

What do all the companies have in common? Only that their founders are trying to improve on the way things are done. For this reason, an above-average number of them come from highly innovative fields, such as the life sciences, information and nanotechnology. However, the list also includes an innovative shoe producer and a guitar maker.

The selection For the fourth time,

100 experts have selected the 100 top startups in Switzerland.

Text: Claus Niedermann

TOP 100 Startups 2014 The experts had full freedom in their choice of product, service and business model. The only requirement was that the companies were founded no earlier than 2009 and that they were pioneer startups. Spin-offs from existing companies were not included in the selection.

The TOP 100 list is a snapshot. It is worthwhile to track the 100 selected startups over time; for example, by visiting www.startup.ch. The organizers have set the goal of profiling all the innovative and promising new Swiss companies on the platform.

It should be noted that dozens of international venture capitalists will also be keeping their eye on the ball. After all, they have already invested several hundred million francs in the startups on the TOP 100 list – in the hope that they will be able to cash in on their bet.

The concept A hundred experts with in-depth knowledge of the startup scene have had their say. Most are involved as business angels or venture capital investors, or otherwise deal with startups on a daily basis. Each expert was allowed to propose 10 top startups with the greatest business potential, awarding 10 points to their top selection and one point to the last. The companies with the most points made it into the 2014 TOP 100 Swiss startups. Beat Schillig (above) and Jordi Montserrat (below) from the Institut für Jungunternehmen (IFJ) started the ranking in 2011. In 2004, they began developing the venturelab training program and the venture leaders international program with Switzerland’s national startup team (page 44).

Since 2007, the two have been in charge of the venture kick initiative, which has already provided CHF 12 million in seed capital from private foundations to spin-offs from Swiss universities. Lucerne-based Journalistenbüro Niedermann also helped to establish the ranking. The project is supported conceptually and financially by the Gebert Rüf Foundation, the Swiss Private Equity & Corporate Finance Association (SECA) and Switzerland Global Enterprise. Handelszeitung is the media partner for the German issue with PME Magazin the media partner for the French edition.

Alumni

www.startupticker.ch

GetYourGuide and co.

The info hub

Several very successful companies were again excluded this year due to their age. These include the global booking platform GetYourGuide (2013: rank 8), which received USD 30 million in venture capital last year.

And we will surely hear much more about the biotech compa-

The startup.ch platform works together with the news portal startupticker.ch to report on the top 100 startups and other new high-growth companies in Switzerland. Startupticker.ch is the central online hub for information related to the startup and innovation scene in Switzerland.

ny BioVersys (2013: rank 2), the Lausanne-based microtech company Lemoptix (2013: rank 12) and, not least, the Zurich-based Optotune (2013: rank 66), which is working to turn the world of digital photography upside down.

The multilingual portal (German, French and English) provides information about events and training sessions, in addition to daily news from and about new startups. A newsletter is published each Friday with all the week’s highlights.

startup.ch 2014 . handelszeitung

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Experienced researchers Jens Kelm, Jan Lichtenberg and Wolfgang Moritz (left to right) in the lab.

In the third dimension handelszeitung . startup.ch 2014

InSphero Two biochemists and one micro-engineer are producing artificial organs to speed up the development of new drugs.

Text: Jost Dubacher Photo: Tina Sturzenegger

rank

U

nder the microscope, it becomes visible: a clump of roughly 1,500 liver cells. The most fascinating part is that metabolic processes are actually taking place in this artificially produced tissue.

“The key to understanding is known as self-organization,” explains Jan Lichtenberg, CEO of InSphero. If you prevent living organ cells from attaching to a fixed structure, they retain their natural differentiation and form a functional matrix.

The American biologist Ross Granville Harrison discovered this phenomenon almost exactly 100 years ago. He cultivated the first in-vitro tissues in hanging droplets, but only under lab conditions.

The method was too unstable for medical applications.

For this reason, pharmaceutical researchers still mainly use cell layers when they want to find out the effect a chemical substance will have on human tissue. What this does not show, however, is the effects at the organ level. Scientists have been trying to find this out in animal experiments – with varying degrees of success. This is the reason many side-effects of new medications first come to light during clinical trials.

Each year, the withdrawal of drugs in these late phases forces ‘Big Pharma’ to write off billions, which is why artificial organs have seen a sort of renaissance in recent years, thanks to advances made in microtechnology. Scientists all over the world are working on tissue production processes that are robust enough to meet industry requirements.

“The main problem is the instability of the hanging drops,” exp-

lains Jens Kelm, Chief Scientific Officer at InSphero. While working on his dissertation at the Laboratory of Bioengineering at ETH Zurich, he studied the problem and developed numerous tissue models. The rest was another type of self-organization, specifically at the Biotech Cluster in Zurich.

Kelm conferred with biochemist Wolfgang Moritz, a clinical researcher at University Hospital Zurich, and discovered how the surface tension of a drop can be supported by what are known as capillary forces. The two men contacted micro-engineer Jan Lichtenberg, who was head of R&D at the Zurich-based medtech company Hocoma. They then obtained their seed money from venture kick and in March 2009 founded InSphero.

The first organ the three men worked on was the liver, the reason being that many potential drugs have to be screened in human trials because they turn out to be toxic to the liver.

Back in 2011, the first microlivers were cultivated in the InSphero lab in specially developed microtiter plates, each with 96 hanging drops of nutrient solution. The number is crucial because the industrial lab machines each have eight arms. The entire plate can be pipetted in 12 steps.

“Here the goal was to develop an intelligent business model,” says Lichtenberg. He and his partners opted for a combination of product and service business.

The product is the plate containing the 96 artificial organs. The company offers a service to develop experimental designs and startup.ch startup.ch 2014 . handelszeitung 2014 . handelszeitung 13

T H E TO P 1 0 0

H ow d o e s t h at wo r k ?

The organ cells of a liver or heart, for example, are pipetted…

The culture medium of ­artificial organs: a microtiter plate with 96 wells.

Jan Lichtenberg First thing in the morning:

Coffee with my wife before the kids wake up.

Apps and gadgets:

My colleagues know me as an early adopter. I pretty much have everything the market has to offer.

Philosophy:

Not coined by me, but true: Problems can never be solved using the same mode of thinking that gave rise to them in the first place.

Work-life balance:

A difficult issue for startup founders, but the short commute to work does help.

deliver the evaluation equipment.

InSphero has also developed a container that allows easy transport of the micro-tissues at a constant temperature of 37 degrees.

“Our service package helps customers make a smooth transition,” explains Lichtenberg. This also generates turnover, which relieves budgetary pressure. The highmargin microtiter plates will be the real money-maker in the future.

In this respect, InSphero took a big step forward this spring when a British pharmaceutical company announced that in future it will test all its drugs candidates on the micro-livers from InSphero.

Along with industrial business, Lichtenberg maintains contact with authorities such as the American National Institute of Health (NIH), which, in light of the boom in micro-tissues, is looking for a validation procedure for tests submitted by industry.

Lichtenberg says with conviction: “If we are able to get in with the approval bodies, our platform will become practically a standard in the innovation departments in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries.”

It started off with the liver in Schlieren, but InSphero also provides 3D tissues and test methods for the brain, heart, pancreas and skin.

. startup.ch . startup.ch handelszeitung 2014 handelszeitung 2014

…and begin to reproduce in the nutrient solution in the way typical of the organ.

The micro-tissue – a liver here – can be used as a 3D model.

Thanks to the revenue from the service business, Lichtenberg and his two co-founders have so far required relatively little in capital resources. To date, outside investors have injected about CHF 5 million, and the company is ramping up for a third substantial round of financing.

The main reason for this is to reinforce international sales, as the market for mass tests with che-

pany InSphero Diagnostics is in the startup phase.

“The withdrawal of drugs costs the pharmaceutical industry billions of francs each year.”

— Jan Lichtenberg

mical, pharmacological and cosmetic substances is huge. Experts predict that the market for microorgans will be in the magnitude of billions. And it is here that InSphero wants to expand its leading position: the current business plan is based on a turnover of at least CHF 100 million and 60 employees by 2018.

Another growth target for the Schlieren-based company is personalized medicine: micro-organs are expected to provide insights into the right cocktails of drugs in chemotherapy. The spin-off com-

There is little sense of overconfidence in Schlieren. Kelm and Lichtenberg were successful professionals before they embarked on their own founding phase and are all in their 40s. They know that the path from startup to established global player is long and rocky.

However, there are already plenty of reasons to be satisfied.

Lichtenberg discusses the societal benefits of InSphero’s innovation: “Ultimately, everyone benefits from improvements in medical treatments and diagnostics.”

Founded: 2009; employees: 31 www.insphero.com

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Fast ­illumination L.E.S.S. After just two years,

the cleantech startup broke into a ­billion-franc market.

Text: Stefan Kyora Photo: Tina Sturzenegger

LEDs are in fashion as a replacement for light bulbs and for use in energy-saving lamps. But however compelling their use might appear, LEDs are anything but perfect. They require a relatively large amount of space and do not illuminate areas evenly.

The Lausanne-based startup L.E.S.S. has taken advantage of this by developing nanostructured fibers that generate bright, even light and require very little space and power. L.E.S.S. CEO Yann Tissot says: “You can picture our fibers as a kind of neon tube, but they are as thin and flexible as a human hair and as bright as hundhandelszeitung . startup.ch 2014

reds of LEDs.” The fibers made by L.E.S.S. are currently used for quality control.

They provide homogeneous light, which improves the automatic detection of defects with video cameras and special software. The control processes are thus more reliable and efficient, and manufacturers save money.

The applications sound unspectacular, yet without automated quality control almost nothing could be produced today. “We estimate the value of the market for lighting in the field of automatic image processing at USD 1 billion,” says Tissot.

Swiss watchmakers were the first to use the startup’s lighting technology, but L.E.S.S. has also successfully broken into the Japanese market as well. Companies in the electronics and medical de-

vices industries use the fibers from Lausanne, and Hitachi is already a major sales partner.

L.E.S.S. currently offers its own lighting system as an accessory for microscopes and video cameras.

What is more important, however, is the business as a supplier for system integrators, which can then offer complete systems for industrial image processing. The delicate light fibers are ideal for the integration.

“We are currently attracting many new customers,” explains Tissot. He now wants to take advantage of this momentum and in August, he significantly strengthened the sales department. He also wants to take on other markets, starting with Germany, which, like Japan, has plenty of manufacturers of cameras for industrial applications, especially for the automotive in-

ranK Light source for cameras and screens Simon Rivier (left) and Yann Tissot with their light fibers.

dustry.

The success came as somewhat of a surprise even for the L.E.S.S. team. “We thought that the lighting systems were a small niche market, and we were astounded by the magnitude of the market and high demand,” says Tissot. In contrast, for the second market L.E.S.S. has in its sights it was always clear that the volume is enormous because it deals with the screens in laptops and tablets.

Dozens of LEDs are currently used for backlighting these devices. The light fibers from L.E.S.S. would save power and extend battery life.

They could also be used to build very flat screens without edges.

To gain a foothold in this market, L.E.S.S. had to build up expensive production capacity just for the manufacture of a sufficient number of fibers for an ini-

tial prototype series. Last year, Tissot realized that the necessary capacity could not yet be financed, but he has not shelved the screen market. “In the medium term, we will take on this application field,” the CEO says. The startup there-

“We have already had to turn down several requests from investors eager to offer funding.”

— Yann Tissot

fore has the potential to conquer two billion-franc markets. It is no surprise that investors’ interest has increased as well. “We have already had to turn down several requests.” Tissot is looking for investors that will not only give the company new funding but which also have experience, and a net-

work, in industrial hardware products.

The plan is to use the money to further accelerate the company’s development and there are plenty of opportunities for additional growth. For example, Tissot was one of the winners of the venture leaders program in China. The CEO speaks enthusiastically on the topic: “As the world’s workshop, quality control is not only a major issue in China, the country is also a major player in the production of screens.”

Founded: 2012; employees: 5 www.less-optics.com

Yann Tissot First thing in the morning:

Checking emails, unfortunately.

Apps and gadgets:

Without my MacBook and iPhone, the company can’t function.

Philosophy:

Failure also always opens up new opportunities.

Work-life balance:

My social life depends on my work-life balance, and I make more room for this now than I used to.

startup.ch 2014 . handelszeitung

Sie bringen Ihre Innovation zum Fliegen – wir sind von Anfang an mit dabei.

Besuchen Sie uns auf www.zkb.ch/start-ups

Sind Sie bereit für einen Höhenflug? Unsere Start-upSpezialisten liefern den Treibstoff für Ihre Idee. Mit Fachwissen, Engagement und Weitblick stehen sie Ihnen in jeder Phase des Unternehmensaufbaus zur Seite.

T H E TO P 1 0 0

Between reading unit and reagent kit Nicolas Durand (left) and Iwan Märki.

Nicolas Durand First thing in the morning:

Shower.

Apps and gadgets:

Nothing electronic, just an analog tool. At Abionic, everything is done on whiteboards.

Philosophy:

Have a dream and do everything to realize that dream.

Work-life balance:

ranK

Thanks to my family, I still have a life outside the startup.

Following their noses with allergy tests Abionic In 2015, the medical devices company

will launch the first system for rapid allergy tests that can be used in doctors’ practices.

Text: Stefan Kyora Photo: Tina Sturzenegger

The annual conference of European allergists lasts three days.

This year, Abionic attended for the first time and presented its rapid allergy tests. Three devices demonstrated the test non-stop and the response was enormous. “A total of 600 allergy specialists came to our booth, filling up two binders with addresses of prospective customers,” says Abionic CEO Nicolas Durand.

This interest is no accident.

Until now, allergy tests were performed by specialist labs and patients had to wait days for the results. Abionic now makes it possible for the first time to perform tests right in the doctor’s practice.

The system consists of a round

disk the size of a CD that holds up to eight small, transparent capsules and a reading device into which the disk is inserted. The capsules contain tiny chambers, where drops of blood from the patient are mixed with allergy-specific reagents.

The reading unit is equipped with a touchscreen that is used to operate the device and which shows the results. In addition, an iPad app lets the doctor perform other tasks, such as quickly print out a report.

“If we start in early 2015 as planned, we will be the first in the world to sell a comprehensive system for rapid allergy tests,” exp-

lains Durand. Accordingly, the Lausanne-based startup has had its sights on the international market from the very start. The product will not only be launched in Switzerland, but also in Germany and the UK. The approval process for the US is already underway as well.

For more than a year now, Abionic has had the necessary CE mark required to sell the device in Europe. Nevertheless, the final clinical trial series are in progress in order to silence any critics before the actual launch. At the same time, the startup is in the middle of another round of funding, which will also be completed before the launch.

Founded: 2010; employees: 12 www.abionic.com

startup.ch 2014 . handelszeitung

T H E TO P 1 0 0

Arnaud Bertrand First thing in the morning:

Drink as much coffee as possible.

Millions of satisfied guests

Apps and gadgets:

I don’t go anywhere without my Kindle ebook reader.

Philosophy:

I try to avoid philosophies and ideologies, and instead make pragmatic and logical decisions.

HouseTrip The vacation a­ partment agency continues to grow at a rapid pace.

Work-life balance:

I know that I don’t do enough in this area, but my hobbies include cooking, reading and traveling with HouseTrip.

Text: Stefan Kyora Photo: Zvonimir Pisonic

ra

nK

HouseTrip continues to ramp up: For the first time, the startup has had ad spots on French television this year in addition to its internet advertising campaigns. The effort is paying off. “In the year-to-year comparison, we are still growing by more than 100%,” explains HouseTrip founder Arnaud Bertrand. So far, the company has recorded eight million overnight stays compared with four million a year ago.

At the same time, the number of apartments offered on the site continues to grow as well. The current figure is 350,000 – which is over 100,000 more than last year.

And as before, not everyone who wants to rent out their property on HouseTrip can do so. Landlords regularly fail to meet HouseTrip’s quality criteria, resulting in 95% of tenants saying they would recom-

handelszeitung . startup.ch 2014

Finding vacation rentals with the click of a mouse HouseTrip founder Arnaud Bertrand.

mend the platform.

In addition to the rapid growth and high quality, HouseTrip’s focus on families and on listing entire apartments has remained the same. There has been one key change, however: COO George Hadjigeorgiou has taken on the position of CEO and Bertrand has switched his role as operational executive chair for the post of President. One of his main duties now is external communications.

This task is of great importance for HouseTrip since the entire sharing economy has recently come under political pressure. Discussions are underway in several countries on whether restrictions should be placed on short-term apartment rentals. France has already passed a law to this effect.

“We are talking with the authorities at all destinations that are important to us,” explains Bertrand.

He fully understands that the rental of apartments to tourists has made housing scarcer in certain cities.

He stresses, however, that the typical landlord on HouseTrip rents out a second apartment that would otherwise be empty. And the company has found that the rental of second apartments ultimately benefits everyone: “Guests get reasonably priced accommodation, the host earns a bit of money and the municipalities attract more visitors.”

Founded: 2009; employees: over 220 www.housetrip.com

A sorting robot for any scenario First thing in the morning:

Shower, coffee, then off to work.

Apps and gadgets:

Plenty, from LinkedIn to ­Evernote to apps for travel planning.

Philosophy:

The decisive factor is the ­willingness to coach the team and help it grow.

Work-life balance:

Because the team notices when I am more balanced, I place more value on it today.

QualySense The market launch begins with three flagship customers.

Text: Stefan Kyora Photo: Tina Sturzenegger

QualySense has an ambitious strategy: “For each new market segment, we want to first land a leading company as a customer and then expand the business,” explains CEO Francesco Dell’Endice.

This autumn, QualySense has indeed been able to attract three major customers in three application fields.

A good example is General Mills, one of the largest food companies in the world. The corporation uses the QSorter Explorer made by QualySense to sort grains

of oats. Thanks to the startup’s machine, this happens at lightning speed – the QSorter processes 50 grains per second.

A wide range of applications is possible as the technology not only enables sorting using visible properties, such as size or color, it can also sort according to biochemical properties, such as protein content. Other QualySense customers also use the machine in fields such as beer and coffee production.

The task for QualySense now is

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Francesco Dell’Endice

to take advantage of the momentum the first customers have given the company, which is why Dell’Endice already employs three people in marketing and sales. A funding round has also been planned to allow the startup to take advantage of its current opportunities.

QualySense is also working on courting customers in other areas.

The team has developed a tool to select application areas in order to prevent it becoming confused by the many possibilities of the technology.

And the technical development continues: the team is developing equipment that again has significantly greater capacity. “In 2015, we will begin selling a QSorter that can process two tons of grains or beans per hour,” explains Dell’Endice.

Dell’Endice reveals that the startup has found an unusual source of funding for this project: “The necessary funds are likely to come not from investors but from a customer that will greatly benefit from the new device.”

Founded: 2010; employees: 15 www.qualysense.com

Well positioned QualySense founder Francesco Dell’Endice, Olga Mykhailova and Paolo D’Alcini (left to right).

startup.ch 2014 . handelszeitung

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A startup is setting the standard in lightweight construction Text: Stefan Kyora

Building lightweight skis that also ride well was practically impossible for a long time – until Bcomp launched its ski cores. The Fribourg-based startup uses flax to build its lightweight cores, which also possess a high damping quality and thus are good shock absorbers.

Twenty-five ski brands now use the ski cores, and they are continually introducing new models with Bcomp inside. “We are becoming the standard for lightweight ski construction,” says co-CEO Cyrille Boinay with pleasure.

Bcomp focuses on the sports sector, including ski, surfboard and

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skateboard manufacturers. However, the startup has also won contracts in diverse industries ranging from electronics to watches to aerospace.

The demand is also reflected in the figures: “Our sales will double in 2014 and the breakeven point is in sight,” reveals Boinay.

The pace of growth is expected to remain at a high level. Mobility applications are especially promising, as Boinay says: “We are working on projects with automobile manufacturers that are complementing or even replacing carbon fibers with our environmentally friendly materials.”

Founded: 2011; employees: 7 www.bcomp.ch

CO₂ as a commodity Climeworks The ETH

spin-off is collecting CO₂ from the atmosphere.

Text: Jost Dubacher Photo: Tina Sturzenegger

Coming clean Jan Wurzbacher (left) and Christoph Gebald . startup.ch 2014 handelszeitung 22

Dominique Brauchli ­Reception

Nicolas Bürer Managing ­Director

Alexander Sautter Head of Program

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Bcomp Doubled sales and the black is in sight.

In 2013, we blew 36 billion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere – considered to be the main cause of global warming. But CO2 is also a commodity used to keep food fresh and promote plant growth.

For a long time, the production of ready-to-use liquid gas was expensive and possible only at large

thermal plants. But an alternative is now available. The process developed by Climeworks allows CO₂ to be separated from the atmosphere with a process heat of just 80 degrees.

The potential for decentralized, inexpensive CO₂ is enormous, as the greenhouse gas can be used to produce synthetic fuel.

And this is where it all comes full circle, with the transformation of a climate pest into a commodity for internal combustion engines. One day cars could run on exactly the pollutant they themselves create.

In January, it was announced that VW subsidiary Audi had entered an exclusive partnership with Climeworks. The car maker sees the technology developed by Climeworks as an important element in the CO₂-neutral mobility of tomorrow.

Founded: 2009; employees: 10 www.climeworks.com

Sarah Host

Corsin Host

Making money the easy way TrekkSoft Booking tool for tour operators

and activity organizers at the holiday location.

Text: Stefan Kyora

Matthias Sallenbach CFO

Alexander ­Mazzara CEO / co-founder

Dominik Stroppel COO

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joiz becomes an export hit joiz The global trend towards social TV is unstoppable and

the Swiss broadcaster joiz is a pioneer.

Text: Claus Niedermann Photo: Tina Sturzenegger

joiz combines television with the web, mobile and social media.

“We focus on the viewers,” says cofounder and CEO Alexander Mazzara for the record. In other words, viewers can post online comments and input and communicate with each other via the various social media channels. This interactivity also makes it possible to incorporate the viewers directly into the advertising.

The interactive TV broadcaster joiz enjoyed instant success here in Switzerland and is already turning a profit. It has also taken its social TV to Germany: it opened its first additional location in Berlin in August 2013 and it does not plan on stopping there. “We have received numerous requests

from other countries,” says Mazzara. Several countries are being discussed, including the UK, but the first market to be pursued remains to be seen. What is clear is that joiz is also relying on partners for its expansion. After all, the Swiss broadcaster not only possesses exclusive knowledge as a producer of social TV, it also has its own software tools. As a first mover, joiz had to develop the software required for using TV and social media simultaneously. This software will now be licensed to third parties by the subsidiary joiz IP. Founded: 2009; employees: 130 www.joiz.ch

TrekkSoft helps organizers of tours and other recreational activities to earn money. Tourists can make reservations and pay directly on the provider’s website. The software also helps organizers with their marketing on Google or social media, such as Facebook, and includes a capacity management tool.

“Our product is really quite cool,” comments TrekkSoft co-founder Philippe Willi with just a touch of Swiss under-

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statement.

The software is already in use by 500 providers, which together have so far generated sales in the tens of millions through TrekkSoft. The Swiss startup makes money with a subscriptionbased model and a transaction fee for each booking.

Founded: 2010; employees: 15; www.trekksoft.com

Towards a mainstream brand Dacuda The Zurich-based company ­launches a wireless mini-scanner.

Text: Jost Dubacher

In the past, Dacuda was active only in licensing its technology. Numerous electronics companies built the internationally patented SLAM scan technology into countless devices, such as computer mice and smartphones.

The Zurich company has now launched a product under its own brand name. The PocketScan is a small, portable scanner that connects via Bluetooth to PCs, Macs or iPads.

To generate money for

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the high-margin mainstream market, Dacuda launched a funding campaign on the US crowdfunding platform Kickstarter. The results surpassed all expectations: in a single month, interested parties from 67 different countries donated USD 542,732.

Founded: 2009; employees: 25 www.dacuda.com

startup.ch 2014 . handelszeitung

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Ranks 11 to 100 The seven sectors ­included in the rankings

Cleantech

Biotech

11. Glycemicon Schwerzenbach  The active ingredient developed by Glycemicon is designed to help diabetics restore their bodies’ ability to naturally regulate blood sugar. It is based on a substance that is found in the human body and food. It is therefore considered a ‘medical food’ and requires fewer regulatory hurdles, which is also attractive to investors. This spring, the startup completed a seed funding round of more than CHF 1.1 million. www.glycemicon.com

12. Kandou Bus Lausanne  The technology developed by Kandou transmits signals from electronic devices more intelligently, allowing data to be transmitted twice as fast and with a quarter of the energy previously needed. In February, the startup’s technology made its debut at a forum in San Francisco. There was an enormous amount of interest and many potential customers subsequently contacted the Swiss startup. www.kandou.com

13. Sophia Genetics Lausanne  Big Data is also a huge trend in medicine and Sophia Genetics works in this field with the provision of solutions for the analysis, visualization, storage and quality control of patients’ genome data. A funding round of more than CHF 10 million last July is allowing the Lausanne-based startup to penetrate the European markets more quickly. www.sophiagenetics.com

14. ProteoMediX Schlieren  ProteoMediX hopes that its test for prostate cancer will reduce the number of biopsies currently required. The first results have shown that the test will probably make it possible to reduce the number of tissue biopsies in which no cancer is found by as much as 50%. Finance for the next phases of development has been secured. In April, ProteoMediX completed a funding round of more than CHF 3 million. www.proteomedix.com

15. senseFly Cheseaux VD  The EPFL Lausanne spin-off, which was founded in 2009, already has more than 70 employees. The company owes its growth to the international success of the eBee survey drone, which can cover an area as large as 10 km2 in just a single flight and is completely autonomous from start to landing, thanks to the patented autopilot. Applications include agriculhandelszeitung . startup.ch 2014

Internet/ Mobile

Mikro-/nano­ technoloy

Medtech

ture and forestry, mining, the construction industry and disaster relief. www.sensefly.com

16. Uepaa!

Zürich  The Uepaa! app turns a smartphone into a rescue device that can provide security even when it is outside the telephone network. In 2013, the company launched the first version of the app for hikers, backcountry skiers and other athletes. This was followed by a funding round of more than CHF 3 million in February 2014.

Uepaa! is clearly on the right track: the company has moved up by no less than 80 spots in the rankings. www.uepaa.ch

17. Teralytics Zurich  ETH spin-off Teralytics analyzes large volumes of data for companies and government agencies. An experienced team of data analysts and the company’s software collect valuable information from complex data volumes. Founded in 2012, the company already has a subsidiary in Singapore. www.teralytics.net

18. On Zurich  While running shoes have certainly become flashier, basic innovations have been hard to find. The startup On has done just that. Thanks to the dozen patented elements on the outer sole, the startup’s shoes are soft on landing while providing a solid foundation for a strong push-off. The shoes are popular among top athletes, such as Nicola Sprig, and leisure joggers alike. www.on-running.com

19. Agilentia Zurich  Sherpany is the name of the platform developed by Agilentia to simplify communication between companies, administrative boards and shareholders. Sherpany is already established in Switzerland, and its impressive client list includes Adecco, Nestlé, SwissRe and Zurich Insurance. Using the money from a funding round completed in June and a global partner in the US, the team now wants to expand to other countries. www.sherpany.com

20. flatev Zurich  A quarter of the world’s population regularly eats flatbread. Flatev wants to make the preparation of flatbread as easy as making coffee.

The flatev machine bakes the bread with a capsule system, much like those used in instant

Elektronics/ Mechanical

Software

Other

espresso machines. The company, which has offices in Zurich and Boston, is currently preparing for the market launch and already has a waiting list for pre-orders on the company’s website. www.flatev.com

21. AOT – Advanced Osteotomy Tools

Basel 

Saws are still used to cut bones during surgery.

AOT is developing a robot-controlled system for cutting bones with lasers. The system is extremely precise, promotes faster healing and is safer. The final clinical trials will take place next year and the market launch is planned for 2016 at the latest. www.aot-swiss.ch

22. SamanTree Technologies

Lausanne



Cancer can be treated when a tumor is discovered early and removed entirely. Yet so far surgeons have been unable to ascertain whether the entire tumor has been removed. SamanTree is now developing a tool with the HistoScope digital microscope to help surgeons check during the operation whether any remnants of the tumor still remain in the patient’s body. www.samantree.com

23. Recommerce Rotkreuz ZG  Recommerce purchases used smartphones, laptops and tablets on the verkaufen.ch platform, refurbishes the devices and resells them through various channels. The startup has significantly improved on last year’s Top 100 ranking, which is not surprising considering that the venture capital firm b-to-v Partners and Ringier each took a stake in Recommerce in April. Ringier provided the startup with advertising opportunities as part of its media-for-equity deals. www.verkaufen.ch

24. STAFF FINDER Zurich  STAFF FINDER can search for temporary staff around the clock – and find them: 98% of search inquiries can be filled within four hours.

Each month, the startup places no fewer than 4,000 temporary jobs. It has had an office in Lausanne since April and the system has also been available in English since July. www.staff-finder.jobs

25. Mila Zurich  Mila operates a mobile platform for service

provider referrals. The start-up is active in Switzerland and Berlin, and made headlines when it became partners with Swisscom. Together, they launched a peer-to-peer marketplace for services and support in the ICT industry in November. Other partnerships with large companies are in the pipeline. www.mila.com

26. One Drop Diagnostics Neuchâtel  Patients and doctors still have to wait hours or even days for the results from blood tests. One Drop Diagnostics hopes to change this with a small portable device that will enable those diagnoses that require special labs to be performed in the doctor’s office, in patients’ homes or at the bedside in hospital. The market launch is currently planned for 2016. www.onedropdiagnostics.com

27. Bluetector Root LU  Today, wastewater is treated biologically. However, the biological treatment of water polluted with toxic substances or chemicals can be problematic and even paralyze these treatment phases altogether, making disposal a difficult process. The BlueBox Ultra from Bluetector is a treatment system that fits in the space of a single container and can efficiently and inexpensively clean this type of problem wastewater. www.bluetector.com

28. DAHU Sports Company Fribourg.

A ski boot you can wear while driving, hiking or shopping, and which even looks good for a night on the town. The Fribourg-based startup

DAHU has done just this. The Clou is a removable exoskeleton that delivers the same performance as a conventional ski boot. Once the outer shell is removed, you have a chic winter boot that can be worn all day. www.dahusports.com

29. HYT Biel  The wristwatches made by HYT not only let their wearers see the flow of time in a figurative sense – the hours are not shown with pointers but with a colorful liquid that slowly flows around the face of the clock, thanks to tiny mechanical pumps. The innovation has been a success. HYT has already launched more than a dozen types of watch. www.hytwatches.com

30. Typesafe Lausanne  The demands placed on software are growing.

The response to this is referred to as reactive applications – scalable, failsafe, responsive and event-driven. Typesafe offers a platform for developing these types of solutions, which includes the Scala computer language developed by co-founder Martin Odersky at EPFL Lausanne and which is used by Twitter and other top Silicon Valley companies. www.typesafe.com

31. Codecheck Zurich  Codecheck has provided product information for critical consumers for some time – on the web or mobile phone. In the meantime, Roman Bleichenbacher founded a company just a few months ago after completing a round of funding with big name business angels. He has

hired the first employees and now hopes to continue to accelerate further. There are also plans to create new monetization models. www.codecheck.info

32. Qloudlab Lausanne  Blood tests with your phone? It sounds like science fiction, but Qloudlab is working to make this a reality. The EPFL Lausanne spin-off is developing a piece of software and a special film for touchscreens. Together, the two components create a biosensor that can, for example, be used by patients taking anticoagulants who have to test their blood regularly. www.qloudlab.co

33. Newscron Lugano  All news of interest to the user delivered in a single app. This is what Newscron has to offer.

The app has been downloaded 350,000 times and the startup reports 70,000 active users each month. Newscron now wants to further expand the utility of the app by including ‘curation’ by editorial staff. Peter Hogenkamp (who formerly worked for NZZ) has taken on the post as CEO for the implementation phase. www.newscron.com

34. AgriCircle Rapperswil  AgriCircle is using Big Data for agriculture. The startup is using its web platform to link current field data with historical weather data and prediction models to derive growth and disease trends. The goal is to achieve more efficient production. At the same time, farmers can cooperate with other farmers and partners via AgriCircle and make purchases in the online shop on favorable terms.

Startups by Industry

Internet companies march forth The Swiss startup scene is diverse in terms of industries.

What is striking this year, however, is the large number of companies from the internet

23

Internet / Mobile

17

Medtech

15

Biotech

and mobile segments. Never before have there been so many and the reason for this is the number of newcomers, such as AgriCircle, attrackting, everyglobe, Mila, Nezasa, Selfnation and Urbanpeople.

A closer look at these compa-

14

Software

nies reveals that they have something interesting in common.

Many were not founded by young students but by experienced business people – a good precondition for success in this competitive industry.

12

Elektronics / ­Mechanical

10

Cleantech

9

Other

startup.ch 2014 . handelszeitung

CHF 130.000 TO KICK YOUR STARTUP

A PHILANTHROPIC INITIATIVE OF A PRIVATE CONSORTIUM

Get your kick: venturekick.ch

© Reto Oeschger (Tages-Anzeiger)

Explore the business potential of your technology:

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www.agricircle.com

TOP 5 Moving up in the ranks Uepaa!

80

Bluetector

73

AOT

69

DAHU Sports Company

60

Flatev

54

Zurich, rank 16 (last year: 96)

Root, rank 27 (last year: 100)

Basel, rank 21 (last year: 90)

Fribourg, rank 28 (last year: 88)

Good news every month Those moving up in the ranks made progress in recent months. The startups added partnerships, entrepreneur prizes and funding rounds to their list of successes. This goes for Bluetector too (rank 27). In July of 2013, the Lucerne-based startup completed a round of seed funding, and in December founder David Din (photo) was one of the winners of the startup competition held by the world-renowned Lausannebased management firm IMD. But by far the most important step was the successful market launch of the Bluetector system for treating wastewater polluted with chemicals and toxic substances.

After completing a pilot system in December 2013, in January the startup successfully sold its first unit to its first customer, which will use it to treat industrial wastewater. The customer is a wellknown group of companies with 1,600 employees, creating the opportunity for further orders. In order to make use of the growth potential, Bluetector is currently in the middle of a funding round. It is therefore quite possible that the stream of good news will continue to flow in.

moved up in the ranks:

Zurich, rank 20 (last year: 74)

35. Lunaphore Lausanne  The technology with the unwieldy name ‘immunohistochemistry’ enables the individual examination of cancerous tumors. Ten million of these examinations take place each year and this number is expected to double by 2019. The device made by Lunaphore is much faster, more precise and smaller than currently available products. The startup therefore will not only profit from growth in this market, it will also be able to tap into new application fields. www.lunaphore.ch

36. faceshift Zurich  The software from faceshift captures movements in the human face and converts them to the movements of an avatar in real-time. The fascinating solution caused an international sensation and drew the attention of the big IT players to the Swiss startup. Intel used faceshift’s software for its demonstration of a new 3D camera at the largest IT trade fair in Asia. www.faceshift.com

37. BugBuster Lausanne  BugBuster’s product, which hit the market in December 2013, makes it possible to automate testing of websites and web applications. The basic idea was to minimize the amount of work for testers. Where it was previously necessary to write small programs to test applications, the solution developed by the Lausanne-based startup involves little work. www.bugbuster.com

38. Calcisco Bern  The startup is solving a real medical problem.

The test developed by Calcisco tests the tendency for calcification in the blood. Diseases caused by calcification are the number one cause of death in patients with chronic kidney diseases. This test now makes it possible to identify patients at risk of calcification and to treat them in a controlled manner. The benefit for patients – a considerably longer life expectancy. www.calcisco.com

39. CombaGroup Molondin VD  CombaGroup is developing a new greenhouse technology to grow lettuce much more efficiently and in an environmentally friendly manner. Because the technology also requires less space, lettuce can be produced closer to the consumer and is fresher by the time it gets to the table. A funding round at the beginning of this year allowed the startup to build a 500 m2 pilot plot to test the technology on a larger scale. www.combagroup.com

40. attrackting Biel  More than 1,000 cats disappear in Switzerland alone each month. Attrackting has now come

to the rescue for cat owners, thanks to its intelligent Kaddz cat collar. The collar is equipped with GPS and cat owners can use the app or website to find out where their pets are located; they also receive a warning if the cat leaves its usual territory. www.attrackting.com

41. ActLight Lausanne  ActLight is currently developing two products: a small solar cell that fits on a computer chip and a highly sensitive light sensor that uses little power. ActLight is developing both products to the point where they can be produced by licensees. The light sensor is currently further along in the development phase. The startup expects the first products manufactured under license to hit the market within a year. www.act-light.com

42. MySwissChocolate Pfäffikon ZH  The first MySwissChocolate product was customized chocolate with a choice of thousands of ingredients. In the autumn of 2013, the startup launched its second product line, Chocogreets. Customers can send personalized chocolate greetings with a picture of their choosing or company logo. In addition to consumers, customers include numerous companies such as Vögele. www.myswisschocolate.ch

43. Parku Zurich  One person makes money on their unused parking spot; another person finds a parking spot when they need it. This is the very simple idea behind the Parku platform. After launching in German-speaking Switzerland, the Zurich-based startup has gained a foothold in Geneva and Hamburg as well. The app now offers an interface for the locking systems of underground parking garages and private parking lots. www.parku.ch

44. Nezasa Zurich  The Nezasa web platform combines the convenience of a travel agency with the benefits of the online world, where trips can be booked instantly and inexpensively. Founded in July 2012, Nezasa has completed a second round of funding. The investors include Doodle founder Myke Näf and Gregory Gerhardt from the Zurich-based web agency Amazee Labs. www.nezasa.com

45. NBE-Therapeutics Basel  The medical potential of antibodies continues to inspire new projects. Founded in 2012, Basel-based NBE-Therapeutics develops and produces what are referred to as antibody drug conjugates (ADC) for the treatment of cancer.

The antibodies carry a potent cytotoxin and dock precisely with the tumor cells without damaging healthy tissue. www.nbe-therapeutics.com startup.ch 2014 . handelszeitung

SMEPORTAL

www.sme.admin.ch

Setting up business online:// sme.admin.ch The SMEPORTAL of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO is the leading information platform for small and medium-sized enterprises in Switzerland. Company founders can register their business in the Commercial Register, with the Compensation Office and for VAT and Accident Insurance online. So to save time and money, take advantage of the online business services.

47. Malcisbo Malcisbo offers a technology platform for developing vaccines against bacteria and parasites that afflict humans and animals. The projects include a vaccine to fight campylobacter bacteria in chickens. This bacteria, which is harmless to chickens, is the biggest cause of food poisoning around the world. Serial entrepreneur Bruno Oesch holds the post of CEO. www.malcisbo.com

48. greenTEG Zurich  A temperature difference between two contact points in an electrical circuit consisting of two different electrical conductors will create an electrical charge. Zurich-based greenTEG is using what is known as the Seebeck effect for the production of thermoelectrical generators in the form of flexible films and for sensors. The sensors have already been on the market for about 18 months.

The top medtech startups

Technology that saves lives In the US each year, 75,000 people who receive artificial respiration in hospitals die due to respiratory failure. Half of them could be saved if their lung function was monitored in real-time. This is exactly what the lung monitor from Swisstom (rank 70) does. It consists of a vest with textile electrodes for the patient, a small monitoring unit and a computer with a monitor. The doctors and nursing staff see a picture of the breathing lung on the screen and can match the treatment directly to the lung function. “Our lung monitor will save lives, patients will be able to breathe without the artificial respirators and leave the intensive care unit sooner,” explains Swisstom CEO Josef Brunner.

Swisstom’s story is typical of many Swiss medtech startups not only be-

cause of the great medical utility of the product but also because the company emerged from an interdisciplinary development project lasting several years. The team developed the innovative textile electrodes itself, in addition to the hardware and electronic components.

1

www.leman-micro.com

TOP 5

5 4 3 2

46. Leman Micro Devices Lausanne  Leman Micro Devices says its operations are a secret, but insiders know that the Lausanne company is working on a sensor module that can turn a smartphone into a measuring kit for vital functions, such as blood pressure and body temperature. Investors have injected CHF 1 million of venture capital into the company.

Abionic

Lausanne, rank 3

AOT

Basel, rank 21

SamanTree Lausanne, rank 22

One Drop Diagnostics Neuchâtel, rank 26

Qloudlab Lausanne, rank 32

www.greenteg.com

49. Scandit Zurich  Software is displacing hardware and Zurichbased Scandit is following this trend. The company’s software turns mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets or laptops into fully functional barcode readers and data scanning devices. In March, a group of experienced investors provided USD 5.5 million for further growth. www.scandit.com

50. SwissLitho Zurich  Since Heinrich Rohrer and Gerd Binnig were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics, the IBM research center in Rüschlikon has become world famous for its expertise in micro and nanotechnology. Based on research of the time, an innovative fabrication method for three-dimensional structures has been developed on Lake Zurich. SwissLitho began commercializing this expertise in 2012 and the first nanofabric has already been delivered. www.swisslitho.com

51. ScanTrust Lausanne  Each year, product pirates cause billions in damages to industry and trade. Lausannebased ScanTrust is now taking an intelligent approach to combating counterfeiters. The company’s online platform links manufacturers directly with consumers, who can download an app that allows them to scan the quick

response code and verify whether the product is genuine or a cheap copy. www.scantrust.com

52. Visionarity Basel  Visionarity combines game-like incentives for saving power with a smart meter. It is placed upstream from electronic devices and individually measures the power consumption of the users. Each individual can see their power consumption and receive recommendations for optimization. Use of the technology by large companies such as Google in Zurich and Roche in Basel has shown that massive savings are possible. www.visionarity.com

53. Selfnation Zurich  Things are moving at lightning speed at Selfnation. The internet enterprise, which launched just a few months ago, has already delivered more than 1,000 custom-made pairs of women’s jeans to customers. And the first customers from Germany are already placing orders even though Selfnation has not done any marketing in the country yet. In 2015, the company plans to target and systematically conquer the German market after it first adds men’s jeans to its product range.

54. DistalMotion

www.selfnation.com Lausanne 

DistalMotion is developing a platform for minimally invasive procedures, making it possible to perform surgery with greater precision. Harrie van Baars was appointed CEO of the company in January. He has many years of startup experience in the field of medical devices and recently took a company into the exit phase.

For the young medtech company, this means it is one step closer to market entry. www.distalmotion.com

55. SWISSto12 Lausanne  The EPFL Lausanne spin-off develops components that make it possible to transmit terahertz signals. The new technology is designed for medical applications, the pharmaceutical and chemical industries and for the inspection of surfaces. In April, SWISSto12 entered a partnership with US test equipment company Lake Shore Cryotronics. www.swissto12.ch

56. Politnetz Zurich  Founded in 2009, Politnetz AG takes the culture of debate surrounding the federal government in Bern to the web. The goal is to promote an exchange between politics and citizens and to create transparency within the political institutions and processes. In addition to collecting information on the voting history of politicians, the company also documents attenstartup.ch 2014 . handelszeitung

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dance and absences in the National Council and Council of States. The list of the most frequently absent politicians regularly attracts great attention. www.politnetz.ch

TOP 5 The newest companies Lunaphore

1

Codecheck

2

Bluebox Shop

3

ScanTrust

4

imperix

5

Lausanne, rank 35 (founded April 2014)

Yverdon-Les-Bains, rank 33 (April 2014)

Zurich, rank 77 (February 2014)

Lausanne, rank 51 (January 2014)

Sion, rank 78 (November 2013)

Customer-­ focused from the very ­beginning It is often astounding what these young startups on the TOP 100 list have already achieved. And this is true not only for internet companies, but also for medtech companies such as Lunaphore (rank 35) as well. The company already has a functioning prototype for testing tumor tissues – a huge bonus.

“Many of the people we talk to are at first skeptical of a new technology startup like Lunaphore – until we are able to show them how the technology actually works with our prototype,” says Lunaphore CEO Ata Tuna Ciftlik (picture).

This demonstrates that Ciftlik and his team dealt with the business side of their innovation very early on. They evaluated the market, spoke to potential customers, shone in competitions hosted by venture leaders and venture kick, and worked on a round of funding.

Ciftlik plans to continue moving forward at this pace. The lab device is expected to be available to customers in the next 18 months.

handelszeitung . startup.ch 2014

57. Creoptix Wädenswil ZH  Using a patented technology platform, the Wädenswil-based firm is developing innovative analytics devices for molecular interactions. The devices will be used in the development of new medications. Last November, Creoptix completed a round of funding of more than CHF 3 million. Along with the cantonal banks of Zurich and Aargau, the investors also included various business angels. www.creoptix.com

58. urbanpeople.com Zurich  In addition to the latest hip-hop music and books, the online shopping mall for trendy urbanites sells shoes, clothing, sports items, travel gear and accessories from a wide range of brands. Florian Rieser and Marc Brandtner – two very well-known names in the Swiss music and hip-hop scene – are in charge of running the company. The management board includes famous Swiss investor Peter Schüpbach. www.urbanpeople.com

59. UrbanFarmers Zurich  UrbanFarmers breeds fish in a closed cycle and grows vegetables right in the middle of the city and close to the customer. At an old locomotive storage facility in Basel, the company is producing supplies for a nearby Migros store. The company, which was founded in 2011, received bridge funding of more than CHF 700,000 last winter. www.urbanfarmers.ch

60. Anokion Ecublens VD  The report made headlines when Vaud-based Anokion generated no less than CHF 300 million at the beginning of May in an initial funding round. The investors are intrigued by a technology that makes it possible to dampen the body’s immune response against exogenous proteins – a major step towards finding an effective treatment for autoimmune disorders and allergies. www.anokion.com

61. CAScination Bern  A miniature light source and a camera is all that is needed to look at bone, cartilage and ligaments in the body. In compact organs with branching internal vascular systems, however, imaging technologies reach their limits. In the brain, kidneys and liver, minimally invasive surgical methods work only with highly complex navigation systems. The CAS-ONE for surgery on liver metastases is setting international standards. www.cascination.com

62. Relish Brothers Horw LU  Electric guitars have been built the same way for about 60 years. Two young men from Lucerne are now breathing new life into the industry. Pirmin Giger and Silvan Küng are wellversed designers and musicians. In 2010, they began developing their electrical guitar dubbed ‘Jane’, which will set new standards with its high-tech materials. Production of the first series began in August. www.relishguitars.ch

63. MindMaze Ecublens  The spin-off is commercializing on a real-time virtual reality technology developed by EPFL Lausanne. The first application is motor skills rehabilitation following brain injuries and strokes. The Mindplay product is the first technological system designed for use during the early phases of rehabilitation. Patients can work on the exercises while they are still in bed.

The market launch has already taken place in Switzerland and the US. www.mindmaze.com

64. Domo Safety Lausanne  The number of people over 65 will increase by 40% by 2030. The EPFL spin-off has developed a residential surveillance system based on wireless sensor technology for this target group. The Clou system also detects risks and allows neighbors, relatives, nursing staff and doctors to act preventively. The system is already in use in Vaud, and other cantons are planning to follow. www.domo-safety.com

65. rqmicro Zurich  Speed is everything, and the same applies to measurement technology. The ETH spin-off rqmicro has developed an analytics system that detects pathogens in water and food in less than a second – and with an even greater degree of precision. www.rqmicro.ch

66. Amphasys Root LU  Crop yields depend on the quality of the seed and, in turn, the quality of the pollen used to pollinate the parent plants. The measuring device made by the Lucerne-based company Amphasys allows the seed industry to perform reliable quality checks for the first time. The pollen is passed through an electrical measuring field that provides information about the size, shape and even vitality of the cells. In June, the first ‘labs-on-a-chip’ were delivered. www.amphasys.com

67. Cosibon St. Gallen  The app from Cosibon sends a receipt directly to the consumer’s smartphone following a purchase. It displays not only the total invoice amount, but also information on the products purchased; for example, ingredients, origin

68. rayneer entertailorment Zurich  In October 2013, rayneer completed a funding round of more than CHF 2 million. Five months later, the company beat its target of 100,000 users per month. Rayneer, the first customized music TV provider in Switzerland, streams more than 100,000 music channels each month. One reason for the good figures is its integration into the Wilmaa TV platform. www.rayneer.tv

69. Aeon Scientific Zurich  Founded in 2010, Aeon Scientific completed the third round of funding last May, bringing in CHF 4.3 million. The company is working on a system for the high-precision movement of medical instruments in the human body; for example, for minimally invasive heart operations. The first product has already been put into use. www.aeon-scientific.com Landquart 

70. Swisstom The last 12 months have gone very well for Swisstom. The company launched a device for the real-time monitoring of lung function and the company has been able to attract Maquet, one of the world’s largest makers of artificial respirators, as a distribution partner. With the money from a funding round, sales can now be bolstered and production capacity expanded. www.swisstom.com

Valais Bern Geneva Basel-Stadt Other Vaud Zurich

3

The best biotech startups

Quality high, quantity on the ascent Development at biotech startups normally moves quite slowly, which is what makes the accomplishments of Amal Therapeutics founder(rank 98), Madiha Derouazi (picture) during recent months all the more impressive.

The startup, which is developing vaccines to prevent cancer, gained two well-known investors, appointed Johanna Holldack, an experienced manager in the pharma sector, to serve as president of the board, recruited four employees, secured funding from the EU and even succeeded in its first proof of concept for its technology. The founder explains her recipe for success: “You have to focus on what will really move the company ahead.”

Companies like Amal are a testament to the high quality of today’s

Swiss biotech startups. And the quantity is increasing as well: the 16 biotech startups on the TOP 100 list represent a record. Highly promising biotech companies are no longer founded only in Zurich, Lausanne and Basel, but also in Bern, the Valais and, in the case of Amal, in Geneva.

1

www.cosibon.com

TOP 5

5 4 3 2

and product category. Pilot projects are currently underway.

InSphero Zurich, rank 1

Glycemicon Schwerzenbach, rank 11

Sophia Genetics Lausanne, rank 13

ProteoMediX Schlieren, rank 14

CALCISCO Bern, rank 38

Startups by canton

4

Switzerland: land of entrepreneurs

5 5

At first glance, the list of TOP 100 startups by canton reveals the usual picture: Zurich at the top, followed by Vaud in second place and the other

14

cantons well behind. However, the comparison over the years reveals an interesting trend: the proportion of top startups from the two ETH cantons dropped to a new low of 69 out of 100 companies in 2014.

27 42 startup.ch 2014 . handelszeitung

T H E TO P 1 0 0

71. Imina Technologies Lausanne  Those who imagine robots as man-sized industrial assembly devices have completely the wrong idea of Imina. The robots developed by the EPFL Lausanne spin-off are not much larger than a sugar cube and can move objects with extreme precision. They can also serve as flexible assistants, such as in research in the materials sciences and microelectronics at renowned institutions worldwide. www.imina.ch

72. Fastree3D Lausanne  Most car accidents happen at low speeds. Fastree3D hopes that its 3D imaging system will help reduce this number. The system detects distant objects in real-time, allowing the car’s driver assistance system to react to the hazard in time. Other potential application fields include robotics and medical devices. www.fastree3d.com

73. everyglobe Zurich  Today it is possible to book hotels and flights on one of the countless online portals. In contrast, everyglobe offers everything from a single source – and with full price transparency and low price guarantee. The startup’s portal can be used to book flights, hotels, rental cars

and other activities all from a single source. A second round of funding of more than CHF 1 million in August has given the company a boost. www.everyglobe.com

74. PIQUR Therapeutics Basel  Disruption to the intracellular exchange of phosphate groups can transform a normal cell in the body into a tumor factory. Based on a dissertation by founder Vladimir Cmiljanovic, PIQUR developed a molecular platform to interrupt the intercellular signal paths. Since its founding in 2011, PIQUR has generated about CHF 40 million in venture capital. The most recent round of funding took place last April. www.piqur.com

75. Apidel Geneva Apidel has two drug delivery technologies that can be used to influence the effect of medications; for example, through the delayed release of an active ingredient in the body. The track record of the startup is impressive: it has established seven partnerships with large pharmaceutical companies and completed two rounds of funding. www.apidel.com

TOP 5

Cool on the outside, high-tech inside

handelszeitung . startup.ch 2014

www.qvanteq.com

77. Bluebox Shop Zurich  Amorana.ch, the webshop from Bluebox, had its online debut last April and offers high quality lifestyle and erotic products. Brands from all over the world are available for purchase. The company offers a special subscription that lets customers receive two to three new erotic products each month. Thanks to the company’s warehouse, delivery times are short and availability is high. Customers are pleased and have given nearly perfect ratings. www.amorana.ch

78. imperix Sion  Power grids need to be rebuilt if they are to accommodate the increasing volume of alternative and decentrally generated power. The products and services of the Valais-based EPFL spin-off imperix, which was founded in 2013, are specially tailored for research and development involved with this shift. www.imperix.ch

The top internet/mobile startups

1

room, and then uses the model to generate the sewing pattern.

There is quite a bit of development behind the software of the ETH spinoff. “To the outside world, we’re a fashion company; on the inside, we’re a high-tech startup,” explains Guggenbühl. Selfnation is by no means alone here. Numerous other internet and mobile startups with simple user interfaces offer cuttingedge technology.

5 4 3 2

Fashion is sold on the internet too these days. The main players in this trend are not only newcomers like Zalando, but also existing chain stores. Yet all providers have a problem: the high number of returns makes the e-shops insufficiently profitable. In the case of women’s jeans, the percentage of returns according to insiders is well over 50%. The situation looks different at Selfnation (rank 53): “Our female customers send back only about 10% of the jeans,” says co-founder Andreas Guggenbühl (picture). The reason for the low percentage of returned merchandise is a clever piece of software that makes mass production possible. The software uses the customer’s measurements to create a 3D model that resembles the image in the mirror of a dressing

76. Qvanteq Zurich  Stents are routinely used to keep constricted blood vessels open. The stents from Qvanteq have a specially structured surface that enables ideal integration, thereby reducing the number of complications. The stents are being tested in a clinical trial and if everything goes as planned, the Zurich-based startup will be able to launch its product in 2017.

HouseTrip Lausanne, rank 4

joiz

Zurich, rank 8

Uepaa!

Zurich, rank 16

Recommerce Rotkreuz ZG, rank 23

STAFF FINDER Zurich, rank 24

79. Faveeo Geneva  There is no shortage of information. But which information is relevant for a company? And how does it find it? The search and filter tool Faveeo closes the gap between expert search systems and services like Google Alerts that are lacking in specificity. Last autumn, the Geneva-based company completed an early round of funding of CHF 350,000. In June, another valuable investor, a former Cisco manager, joined in the funding. www.faveeo.com

80. BioKaizen Monthey VS  The aim of the Valais-based startup in the next five years is to develop a diagnostics system that uses a blood sample for the early detection of various kinds of cancer. The technology detects the footprint of certain types of cancer in the blood, thanks to its ability to test for more than 20,000 biomarkers and to be individually adjusted for specific patients. www.biokaizen.com

81. CashSentinel Yverdon-les-Bains  The financial tech company CashSentinel from Yverdon is making it possible to make large payments in real-time at a low cost – for example, when purchasing a used car. The solution is app-based and always available. So far, the escrow service is available only in Switzerland.

Preparations to expand to neighboring coun-

82. helmedica Winterthur  Rockethealth gives established doctors and hospitals a mobile platform for keeping medical records. The tablet-based solution for documentation and administration can be used on any computer. Patient data can be accessed securely at all times. A medically validated guideline for medical history and examination makes it possible to save time that can be used to provide patient care instead. www.helmedica.ch

83. Pix4D Lausanne  The spin-off from the Computer Vision Lab at EPFL Lausanne has developed a piece of software that compiles aerial images to create 2D and 3D maps. In March this year, the Lausanne-based company announced its partnership with the US camera and aircraft equipment maker WaldoAir. This summer, Pix4D created a sensation with its 3D model of Château Chillon on Lake Geneva. www.pix4d.com

84. Sanovation ANZEIGE

Glattbrugg



TOP 5 The top software startups

Born global Typesafe currently has about 70 employees spread between Lausanne, San Francisco, Sweden, Germany and Australia. “We are a very international company,” comments co-founder Martin Odersky (picture). Software is a global business and Swiss startups understand this. Many of them have offices or close partnerships with customers on other continents and the US is particularly important. In the case of Typesafe, its most important location is in San Francisco.

“We’re right on the pulse of Silicon Valley,” explains Odersky, “and many well-known companies in the US are implementing our products.”

True indeed. The company, which offers a development platform for very

high-powered applications, has a list of customers that includes names such as Walmart, LinkedIn and HolidayCheck. Typesafe now hopes to gain additional momentum in Europe through a partnership with the French IT service provider Atos.

1

www.cashsentinel.com

5 4 3 2

tries are in the works.

TrekkSoft

Matten bei Interlaken, rank 9

Dacuda Zurich, rank 10

Teralytics Zurich, rank 17

Sherpany Zurich, rank 19

Typesafe Lausanne, rank 31

T H E TO P 1 0 0

Using the online journal CatchMyPain from Sanovation, patients can document their pain.

The core element of the journal is the option to create pain drawings that are more expressive than simple verbal descriptions, thus simplifying communication with doctors. Patients from all over the world are already using the journal software. In future, the anonymized user data could be used to develop better types of pain therapy.

TOP 5 The top newcomers

www.sanovation.com

On

1

SamanTree

2

Mila

3

One Drop Diagnostics

4

Codecheck

5

Zurich, rank 18

Lausanne, rank 22

Zurich, rank 25

Neuchâtel, rank 26

Zurich, rank 31

Moving forward at a run The list of TOP 100 startups is characterized by new companies in the high-tech industries. However, Swiss startups in other industries are gaining international attention and making the list for the first time. The best example is the Zurich-based company On (rank 18).

The high-ranking newcomer has developed running shoes that combine the properties of a soft training shoe with those of a rigid, fast racing shoe.

David Allemann (picture), co-founder of On, sums up the development of the company: “Fifteen months ago, we had just 15 employees in Zurich’s Seefeld quarter. Today, we have 40 employees in four countries.” About 1,300 retailers in 25 countries sell the innovative shoes and the strong commitment to retail is paying off.

Not only is the number of retailers rapidly growing, but also sales per store. “In some Swiss stores, On is already the best-selling brand of running shoes,” says Allemann.

handelszeitung . startup.ch 2014

85. 3BaysOver Lausanne  The platform from 3BaysOver is positioning itself as a marketplace for the global tourism industry. Tour operators, travel agencies, hotels and event organizers can use the B2B online platform to quickly and easily establish contacts. In July, the Lausanne-based company completed a round of funding that brought in CHF 1.2 million. The lead investors include travel.ch founder Roland Zeller. www.3baysover.com

86. Numab Wädenswil  Numab, the company founded by former Esbatech employees, is working on developing antibody-based drugs. Founded in 2011, the company received the second milestone payment from the collaboration with established pharmaceutical companies in March of this year, with a figure of CHF 3.3 million mentioned. www.numab.com

87. Andrew Alliance Geneva  The founders of Andrew Alliance had 100 years of industry experience when they started building an ultra-fast, high precision pipetting robot in 2010. An initial product has hit the market and relieves lab personnel of tiring, repetitive tasks. In August, the Geneva-based company opened its first overseas office in Boston. The company also announced that it had completed a second round of funding. www.andrewalliance.com

88. Winterthur Instruments



W’thur

The testing equipment made by Winterthur Instruments is used to test the quality of coatings – precisely, quickly and non-intrusively. It works with all colors and even on complex shapes. The underlying system of the thermal layer test was developed at Zurich University of Applied Sciences in Winterthur. www.winterthurinstruments.ch

89. Thelkin Winterthur  Thorsten Schwenke has set an enormous pace.

In June 2010, he founded Thelkin with the aim of building devices for mechanical component tests. In November, he presented the first product and started sales in January 2011. The test systems from Thelkin are fully electrical, instead of hydraulic or pneumatic, and are there-

fore maintenance-friendly, energy-efficient, quiet and clean. www.thelkin.com

90. Starmind International Zurich  The software from Zurich-based Starmind promises to revolutionize the internal flow of information at large companies by automatically assigning inquiries to the relevant experts – across departments and hierarchies. At the beginning of the year, the spin-off of the Artificial Intelligence Lab at the University of Zurich embarked on an international expansion. www.starmind.com

91. Compliant Concept Fehraltorf ZH  Using the Mobility Monitor from Compliant Concept, nursing staff can easily and reliably determine whether bedridden patients are mobile enough or need to be repositioned. The device has been on the market since 2012 and is sold internationally. The team is also working on an active mattress pad that gently and continuously moves patients in order to prevent pressure sores. www.compliant-concept.ch

92. Geosatis Le Noirmont JU  The Jura-based startup has developed an electronic ankle monitor with GPS tracking for convicted criminals. The product detects any attempt to remove or damage it and helps save costs in the penal system. It also contributes to the social reintegration of offenders by giving them more freedom. The startup is already working on the production of several hundred ankle monitors for South Africa. www.geo-satis.com

93. SmartCardia Lausanne  An electrocardiogram (ECG) records cardiac function. It normally can be done only in hospitals, but SmartCardia, an EPFL Lausanne spin-off, wants to change this. The company has developed a portable ECG monitor that uses smartphones as monitors. In an emergency, the data can also be sent via smartphone to the general practitioner or nearby hospital. www.smartcardia.com

94. OsmoBlue Lausanne  The natural process of osmosis can be used to generate mechanical energy and, ultimately, to produce electrical power. The method is referred to as pressure-retarded osmoses (PRO).

OsmoBlue has developed a method that considerably simplifies this process. In January, the EPFL Lausanne spin-off received stimulus funding of CHF 130,000 from the venture kick initiative. www.osmoblue.com

95. Koring Basel  The skilled soft tissue surgeon Philipp Kirchhoff has developed a ring-shaped implant that stabilizes ostomies, or stomas. In 2012, he re-

TOP 5 The best cleantech startups

Powering the Internet of Things

1

ActLight is operating in a future market. The timing is of key importance. ActLight was working on this very early on in its history and has developed a second product. Okhonin is confident: “We feel that the market for our solar cells is now truly here.”

5 4 3 2

Everyone is talking about the ‘Internet of Things’: Connecting devices of all types to the internet is expected to revolutionize the economy A particularly high potential is seen in sensor networks, which, for example, can warn against natural hazards, such as floods or avalanches. However, they will gain a foothold only if a simple problem is solved first: namely, how to power these sensors from decentralized sources.

ActLight has developed the solution. “We can build small solar cells on to the same chip as the sensor,” explains ActLight CEO Serguei Okhonin (picture). The manufacturing process is extremely inexpensive and may help sensor networks break into the mainstream.

Like most other cleantech startups,

L.E.S.S. Zurich, rank 25

Bcomp

Fribourg, rank 6

Climeworks Zurich, rank 8

Bluetector Root LU, rank 27

ActLight

Lausanne, rank 41

ceived the Swiss Technology Award and the following year the first successful implantation of the device was performed at Spital Limmattal.

The Koring is also sold in Germany, Austria and the UK.

based on the research of founder Madiha Derouazi at the University of Geneva, in which she demonstrated how the technology works in animals. The project has already attracted investors.

www.koring.ch

www.amaltherapeutics.com

96. ObsEva Geneva  A year ago, ObsEva caused a sensation. An investment of CHF 32 million during an early phase is unusual even for the pharmaceutical industry. Using the money, the startup has now developed molecules that have been licensed

by Merck Serono. The goal is to develop drugs that can be used to prevent premature labor during pregnancy.

99. SwissLeg Lugano  A high quality leg prosthesis remain a luxury affordable to very few people in crisis-stricken regions. SwissLeg is changing this with its product. Its innovative high-quality, yet affordable, prostheses make it possible to meet the needs of patients in developing countries, and they are currently being used in the Middle East to benefit children.

www.obseva.com

www.swissleg.com

97. Swiss Space Systems Payerne  Swiss Space Systems, or S3, is developing a system to affordably transport small satellites into orbit using a reusable drone. It is taken to an altitude of 10,000 meters using a conventional Airbus and then launched from there. The first test flights are planned for 2017.

100. Pharmalp Conthey VS  The Valais-based startup has already developed three product lines: probiotic food supplements, a spirulina product for reducing and preventing iron deficiency, and products made from Swiss alpine plants to soothe sunburned skin and insect bites. The products are used by the crew of the Swiss solar boat PlanetSolar.

www.s-3.ch

98. Amal Therapeutics Geneva Amal Therapeutics develops vaccines to prevent cancer by using the patient’s immune system to fight tumor cells. The development is

www.pharmalp.ch

startup.ch 2014 . handelszeitung

SCENE

Y

ou sit on the boards at Roche and Givaudan, are committed to the environment and a champion of music. Why startups, too?

André Hoffmann: We have a long family tradition. Don’t forget that my great-grandfather Fritz Hoffmann-La Roche also founded Roche in 1896 as a startup. I draw on this tradition and am very happy to support young entrepreneurs.

Aren’t you also tempted to be a startup founder yourself?

Back when I still worked at Nestlé in the UK, I founded a startup. I wanted to recycle wine bottles, which was unheard of in England at the time. The problem was that the Brits drink wine in green bottles and export whiskey in white ones. The project failed early on due to the missing market gap.

Did you find this failure discouraging?

Not at all. After my time at Nestlé, I studied at Insead Business School before going on to found three startups with friends. One of these was a success.

Which one?

The startup was called New Covent Garden Soup Company and we sold fresh soups in Tetra Paks. That didn’t exist at the time. All that was available was canned soup.

A brilliant idea. Today you find soup in tetrapaks in every supermarket all over the world.

I always say that the decisive factor with a startup is not the idea – there are an infinite number of those – but rather the sale and execution of the idea.

What did your great-grandfather do right when he founded Roche?

He recognized that there was a market niche for the industrialization and standardization of pharmaceutical products. At the time, it was the pharmacists that prepared the powders and ointments. My great-grandfather was great at understanding the customers and patients, and responding to their needs.

An idea, however great it might be, achieves little on its own. You have to make it marketable.

handelszeitung . startup.ch 2014

“I'm helping the Roches of tomorrow.”

André Hoffmann Major shareholder and great-grandson

of Roche founder speaks about his startup involvement.

Text: Pascal Ihle Photos: Tina Sturzenegger

Are you maybe underestimating the power of the idea a little?

My great-grandfather was the first to industrialize the production of drugs in Switzerland. The idea was not new, however. These concepts already existed in Germany, the UK and the USA. But he did it better than the competition.

lem. Steve Jobs, for example, was convinced that we needed an iPhone. No one knew this.

But he certainly did. A company that wants to launch a new product needs to focus on more than just market analysis. Instead, they need to be fully convinced of the product and therefore possess a certain amount of arrogance.

What intrigues you about young entrepreneurs?

My children would respond by saying we don’t have to study at university. All we need is an idea like Steve Jobs had. But there are very few people like Steve Jobs. As a young entrepreneur, you have to have a certain arrogance. You must be convinced that you have the brilliant solution for a certain prob-

Is Switzerland fertile ground for startups?

One of the big issues that concerns me is the use of natural resources. Switzerland has an important voice when it comes to technology for sustainability and the question of how we can use resources more conservatively and in an environmentally friendly way. I am a member of the Cleantech Association,

SZENE

“An idea, however great it might be, achieves little on its own.”

— André Hoffmann

which tries to find new technological solutions in the area of energy and to become more efficient.

What advantages does Switzerland have?

We are a small country, but have high technological standards and outstanding universities. We have decided to do without nuclear energy in the future and to focus on new technologies.

If you look at the startup landscape in Switzerland, there are two main poles: the Lemanic Arc connected with EPFL and the Zurich metropolitan area connected with ETH...

Don’t forget the BioValley in Basel.

Are top universities a prerequisite for a startup cluster?

Universities certainly don’t hurt. If you look back at economic history, the proximity of a company to a good research institute is surely a benefit. But that’s not all it takes. You need people who are willing to take risks.

Is this quality sufficiently pronounced among young people in Switzerland?

In the US, failure is considered an important experience. In Switzerland, we love to try out new technologies, but failure is not appreciated at all. This is paradoxical. We see this in the fact that we have great successes in the bio and biotech scene, but far fewer in the area of social networks.

Not only in the area of social media but in IT as well – which is astounding considering that the IBM Research Center and Google Research Center emerged in Switzerland. Or that the Pascal programming language was developed at ETH Zurich and the World Wide Web at CERN. Yet the impact on large entrepreneurial breakthroughs was minimal. Why? I agree with your assessment. Look at the issue of Big Data. The big question is: “What can I glean from immense volumes of data in terms of insights and business ideas for the future?” Unfortunately, this way of thinking is uncommon in Switzerland. That might explain it.

Despite all the top universities and big startup.ch 2014 . handelszeitung

SZENE

zerland but not in France.

Does the state have a key role to play in supporting startups?

If the state offers too much financial support, there is a great risk that not only the truly good startups will receive funding. There has to be a meritocracy, and the best meritocracy is the market. If everyone who wanted to start a company received funding from the state, bad ideas would be promoted as well.

This can’t be in the interest of a healthy economy. The most important overall governmental conditions are stability and independence.

“In every system, the good entrepreneurs stay on top and find the necessary capital.”

— André Hoffmann

In Switzerland the question of using pension funds to promote startups is being discussed.

I don’t think that’s a good idea. In every system, the good entrepreneurs stay on top and find the necessary capital. I think it’s a clever form of philanthropy to give young entrepreneurs money to develop their business plans or to further pursue an idea as part of a competition. This is why I am also involved with venture kick.

multinational corporations?

We shouldn’t just talk about Switzerland.

Look at the students and faculty at the local universities or the top talents working at the multinational companies. They come from all over the world and come to Switzerland because, for one, the level of education is very high and they want to learn something.

And, secondly, because they want to start and probably develop their future here. We benefit greatly from this and will continue to benefit from it. I believe it’s always very dangerous to speak disparagingly of other nationalities. We all live in Switzerland and are trying to make things happen here.

Switzerland is a global location and must be predestined for new ideas and technologies.

Compared with many European countries, we have a great many startups, if not as many as in Silicon Valley or Bangalore. handelszeitung . startup.ch 2014

What are the differences between Europe, the US and India?

Much has to do with the willingness to take risks – and perhaps with congeniality and comfort as well. Here in Switzerland, we are unbelievably fortunate and can therefore get set up quite comfortably. In my opinion, it’s not a matter of cultural difference but rather a coincidence when the right people meet at the right place and right time. That can happen anywhere in the world.

What role does education and the general political climate play?

Of course, there has to be a certain measure of administration and regulation, but not too much. The Anglo-Saxon countries correctly speak of a ‘red line’ that should not be crossed because it impedes entrepreneurial initiative. And business success must be accepted by society, which is the case in Swit-

What are you exactly? A manager, entrepreneur or philanthropist?

I have an unbelievably privileged life and am very aware of this. I often think about my great-grandfather, who founded his little startup that became a global corporation. If there is an opportunity to create a Roche of tomorrow from one of today’s startups, then we have to help. I have this opportunity and I use it.

Be part of the Swiss national startup team

Team 2014

Conquering global markets!

Join the Swiss national startup team and build your global business.

Approach investors, business partners and opportunities in USA and China.

Apply now on: www.venturelab.ch

SCENE

“An unbelievable adventure” Julian Bertschinger

You can certainly say that: from the company’s founding to the sale to Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals, it generated about CHF 60 million in venture capital. How do you do that as a young biochemist?

There are maybe 150 venture capitalists around the world who will fund a project like ours. If you want to get on the radar of these people, you need professional support.

Without the international relationships of our seed investor, the Novartis Venture Fund, it wouldn’t have worked out, especially in the founding phase.

So the sale of the company – how did that happen?

Over the past few years, we were approached by various large companies with intentions to buy. Although we made it clear that we wanted to remain independent, they presented us with concrete offers. We finally accepted the best offer.

FynomAb COVA208 A second ­binding site for cancer drugs. handelszeitung . startup.ch 2014

Together with a fellow student, the 37-year-old biochemist founded Covagen. Now they have sold the company to Johnson & Johnson.

Text: Jost Dubacher

The price was not disclosed, but trade journals mentioned a figure of “well over USD 220 million”.

Our investors and shareholders are very happy with the returns that have been generated.

Can you explain to us what it was about Covagen’s research and development that made it so attractive to Janssen?

Do you want to hear the whole story?

Covagen targets inflammatory and tumor diseases. To date, you have made major advances with inflammatory diseases.

What is the mechanism of action?

The immune system produces pro-inflammatory molecules or cytokines in cases of inflammation. Conventional antibody-based anti-inflammatories each block one of these cytokines. An antibody supplemented by our technology can inhibit two cytokines at the same time and is therefore incomparably more effective.

Please.

Many antibody drugs are a success treatment-wise and commercially because they Your second pillar is the development of are able to bond to the disease-related mol- cancer drugs. And once again the quesecules and expel them. But antibodies are tion: what can FynomAbs contribute to highly complex molecules, which limits their medical progress? other clinical applications. For this reason, There are antibodies that couple with the researchers all over the world are looking for scavenger cells of the immune system to tara production method for get tumor cells, thereby molecules that are simpler putting the immune dethan antibodies, but have “Our investors fense mechanism into acthe same bonding qualition. Our FynomAbs can and shareholders are ties. Researchers currently distinguish between very satisfied.” have 20 or so such methhealthy cells and tumor ods. About a dozen are becells more effectively than ing developed further on a commercial ba- antibodies. sis, two of these in Switzerland – in Schlieren to be exact – by us and Molecular Partners.

The journey from idea to an approved product is long and arduous in the Do your antibody alternatives pharma industry. Where do you find have a name? yourself currently?

We call them FynomAbs. They are able to We have made the most progress with a drug add a second bonding site to an already that fights chronic inflammation. At the moproven antibody drug. ment, trials with about 40 patients suffering

PHoto: zvg

C

ovagen was considered one of the hottest independent biotech companies in Europe.

Why? Julian Bertschinger (laughing): Apparently, our research and the tools we developed showed a certain amount of potential.

from psoriasis are currently underway. I expect that we will be able to begin trial series with larger patient groups in mid-2015. The market launch of COVA322 is planned for 2021.

Let’s look to the near future.

Will the location in Schlieren with its 30 staff continue?

I assume that we will stay here, either as a Janssen R&D location or as an independent company.

What will change for you personally?

With the integration into a global company like Johnson & Johnson, quite a bit changes, of course. We will take on certain business processes of the American company and give up some tasks, such as accounting and the management of our patents and brands.

Are you embracing this process?

First and foremost, this is a relief. I can now focus more on what is important, namely developing our FynomAbs into effective drugs.

It’s been seven years since you founded Covagen. How do you feel when you look back?

It’s been an incredible adventure. I can still remember exactly when my professor at ETH Zurich, Dario Neri, approached me and Dragan Grabulovski, co-founder and current Chief Scientific Officer, for the first time to discuss the possible foundation of a company.

How did you react?

We took part in the venture 2006 business plan competition. I have to smile when I think about our presentation at the time...

Why? It was way too scientific. A clear case of tunnel vision.

FynomAb COVA322 The drug for psoriasis is expected to hit the market in 2021.

can’t have been so bad.

Yes, apparently so.

Anja König helped us survive the legendary ‘valley of death’.

Shortly thereafter, you started Covagen.

It’s striking that, except for Novartis, none But would you also have had the opportu- of your investors came from Switzerland nity for application-oriented work at the but were instead from the USA, Belgium, university or a pharmaceutical company? Japan, France and Ireland.

I had, in fact, already started on a postdoc That’s not necessarily an accident. application to Cambridge University. But then we began talking with our coach at ven- How so? ture 2006, Rudolf Gygax from the Novartis Switzerland has certain qualities. There is a Venture Fund. Dragan and great deal of what you need I told him that we didn’t to set up a biotech compa“Johnson & Johnson have any investors to build ny, from major research faup a biotech company. cilities to highly specialwill relieve ized lawyers, to people us of many duties.”

And what did he say? who provide consulting in That something could be the design of clinical studdone about that, and the Novartis Venture ies. However, in terms of the availability of Fund became our seed investor. Gygax venture capital, Switzerland lags behind the helped us start Covagen and his successor top centers in the US.

Biography

Does that surprise you?

Honestly, yes. Especially when I consider Zurich’s major international role as a financial center.

Julian Bertschinger studied biochemistry at ETH Zurich and earned his PhD at the Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences. He has been CEO of Covagen since January 2007. The 37-year-old lives near Zurich, is married and the father of three children.

Still, your business plan was rewarded. It startup.ch 2014 . handelszeitung

SCENE

From startup Becoming a global player

Once they enter their sixth year of business, startups no longer qualify for the TOP 100.

At this point, however, they are often still just diamonds in the rough: u-blox serves as an example of what they can become.

Text: Jost Dubacher

J

ean-Pierre Wyss is flying to Malmö. Accompanied by two employees, he is visiting ConnectBlue, which was acquired by u-blox on May 19 this year. “The task is to introduce our production and delivery processes,” explains manager and board member Wyss. u-blox paid CHF 25 million for the Swedish SME. Thanks to the additional sales being generated at the new location, sales predictions for the group have been adjusted upwards from CHF 264 million to CHF 275 million. Profits are expected to climb from CHF 35 to CHF 39 million.

The acquisition of ConnectBlue is the latest chapter of a story that began in the 1990s. A the time, Wyss and his colleagues Andreas Thiel and Daniel Ammann were working on their dissertations at the Institute of Electronics at ETH Zurich.

They built a GPS module that delivered the same performance but was three times smaller than anything that had existed before. The three young engineers, all around 30 years old, were so intrigued by their research findings that they did what Bill Gates and Michael Dell had done and what Mark Zuckerberg had yet to do – they broke off their academic careers and founded a comhandelszeitung . startup.ch 2014

pany. They called it µ-blox after the 12th letter of the Greek alphabet and which generally stands for the word ‘micro’.

The timing was spot-on because the global positioning system – a development of the US government – was attracting more and more civilian and commercial users.

These included the Swiss Confederation, which introduced a distance-related heavy vehicle fee (HVF); u-blox was awarded the contract and delivered around 100,000 GPS receivers. The startup allocated production of the postage stamp-sized module to contract manufacturers – international semiconductor and assembly companies for electronics.

And this is how it has remained: u-blox is a manufacturer without its own production

capacity. However, the batch volumes have changed. Last year, u-blox shipped no fewer than 50 million components to thousands of customers in the manufacturing industry, automotive production and consumer goods production, well distributed among the major markets in Asia, Europe and North America. Maintaining international storage and sales logistics is complex, “We were and several dozen typical entrepre- employees are enneurs: way trusted with this too euphoric.” task at the headquarters at the in— Jean-Pierre Wyss dustrial area in Thalwil.

The HVF contract increased sales in 2000 to CHF 17 million – and the next large contract was already waiting in the wings.

“We were a typical startup,” recalls Wyss.

“We were euphoric.”

Former startups on a growth course

www.temenos.com Headquarters: Geneva Industry: bank software Founded: 1993 Employees: 3,700 Turnover: USD 470 million

What enterprise resource planning (ERP) software is to industry, core banking solutions are to the financial sector: the digital backbone of the company and indispensable controlling tool for management. The Geneva-based company Temenos has invested around USD 1 billion in its platform in recent years and currently operates 1,600 installations in 150 countries.

www.sensirion.com Headquarters: Stäfa Industry: microtechnology Founded: 1998 Employees: 600 Turnover: n.a.

Sensors are the interface between the virtual and real world.

Because they ensure that computers are able to see, hear, feel, they will become increasingly important in the future.

The throughput, humidity and temperature sensors from Sensirion are the best in the world and are bringing steady double-digit growth to the former ETH spin-off. www.hocoma.com Headquarters: Volketswil Industry: medical devices Founded: 1996 Employees: 160 Turnover: > CHF 30 million

Hocoma is the world’s innovation leader in technology-assisted physical therapy. The lead product is the Lokomat walking robot, which is used for physical therapy for people with spinal cord injuries. Now the Zurich-based company is using its expertise for preventative applications as well. Valedo, a back exercise machine for home use, has been on the market since May.

It was a hard landing. The supposedly strong customer began having difficulties, and the young Swiss company faced a mountain of invoices from suppliers; it required countless negotiations with investors, banks and creditors in order to get the ship back on course.

Still, if there had been a TOP 100 list at the time, u-blox would probably have been included by the experts. With a turnover of CHF 13 million, 20 employees and a still negative cash flow five years after its founding, it matched the profile back then of a high-tech startup aiming to position itself in a future billion-franc market.

Today, the payroll accounting department in Thalwil looks after 550 staff, 400 of whom are at 20 development and sales subsidiaries around the globe, from Sydney to Tokyo, Lahore, Cork and San Diego.

The business language is English. Meet-

www.actelion.com Headquarters: Allschwil Industry: pharmaceuticals Founded: 1997 Employees: 2,400 Turnover: CHF 1.78 billion

For Big Pharma, rare diseases like pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) or digital ulcers do not translate to big business. This is creating opportunities for startups such as Actelion, which develops treatments for diseases that were previously untreatable or only inadequately treated.

The PAH drug Tracleer has brought in CHF 1.5 billion for the Basel-based company.

www.freitag.ch Headquarters: Zurich Industry: fashion and accessories Founded: 1993 Employees: 160 Turnover: n.a.

Each and every bag, wallet and smartphone case is custommade and everything is made from used truck tarpaulins, car engine belts and bike tire tubes. From this basic idea, Freitag has evolved to become an internationally respected lifestyle brand. In 2012, brothers Markus and Daniel Freitag received the Swiss Award in the Business category. startup.ch 2014 . handelszeitung

SCENE

Company sold, same CEO

“I enjoy lots of freedom” You’ve heard the golf question before, Mr. Escher?

Dominik Escher: People have asked me quite often and I can only give them the same answer: the sale of ESBATech to Alcon [for USD 590 million] made money for all the shareholders involved. Otherwise, little has changed about my life. Golf would become boring if I played all the time. I go to work every day.

What is your role?

I still manage ESBATech, which has been a full subsidiary of Novartis since it was acquired from Alcon. We belong to the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research [NIBR], which is responsible for research and development and which works in the field of ophthalmology.

What motivates you?

I enjoy seeing every patient who has benefited from the drugs we have developed.

But are any ESBATech products available on the market yet?

Our first drug, ESBA1008 to prevent age-related macular degeneration, is in the phases of advanced clinical trials. And what is exciting here is that the ESBATech team can follow these trials, which are taking place in various clinics all over the world. If we had remained independent, we

ings are no longer held in the coffee corner at the ETH Institute of Electronics but rather through conference calls, taking into account the current time zones in which staff are located.

Dominik Escher manages the Novartis subsidiary ESBATech.

would have had to license ESBA1008 to a large pharmaceutical company.

You currently work for one such company. Does working for a multinational corporation have negative aspects as well?

Hardly. First and foremost, I enjoy the freedom to develop things in many more fields and am able to take more risks.

Really?

As the head of a startup, you essentially can not make any mistakes. If a drug does not perform as promised in clinical trials, you may have to shut down the operation. Here at Novartis, we know that innovative drugs may fail on the long journey to becoming viable medication.

And how is it when it comes to entrepreneurial freedom?

As CEO of a biotech startup, you are mainly concerned with raising money. I don’t miss this. I sleep much better than I used to.

“We set a course back during the founding phase, and this was the key to our current success,” says Wyss. He is referring to the decision to develop the company’s own positioning chips.

The backwards integration improved margins and made it possible to keep up with the enormous price pressure of the electronics industry. The receiver for the HVF project had cost CHF 120 francs; today, the price for an entire GPS module is between four and seven dollars. “Our former competitors from that time that did not take this step are gone,” said Wyss.

In 2004, u-blox customers for the first time built more than one million modules and chips into their products, generating revenue of CHF 34 million and the first positive cash flow in the company’s history.

The investors, some of which had already been on board for well over five years and which had injected CHF 44 million during seven rounds of funding, made their way to the exit. In October 2007, the company took its IPO risk on the Swiss Exchange in Zurich.

Wyss was Chief Financial Officer at the time and says: “The timing was perfect.” Six months later, the subprime mortgage crisis hit. The world economy nearly collapsed and high-tech startups making IPOs on the stock exchange became a rarity for years to come. u-blox was valued at CHF 340 million on the first day of trading – welcome news for the

List of sold startups 4-Antibody, a University of Basel spin-off, employed barely 50 staff. And still it was worth $ 50 million to the US biotech corporation Agenus. The deal was closed at the beginning of the year and did not cause much of a stir, nor did the sale of Prionics in March this year. These are the most recent examples of a long list of deals in the life sciences. The buyers are often handelszeitung . startup.ch 2014

from the USA, as was the case with Geneva-based Endosense, which was sold for CHF 309 million last year to the medtech corporation St. Jude Medical.

Sometimes Swiss multinationals get in on the action as well: in 2005, Roche purchased Zurichbased Glycart for CHF 230 million. The sale to an industry giant is lucrative for founders and investors, but it also generates

fresh growth capital. This is true in the IT industry as well. The Leshop founders got Migros on board back in 2003. The shopping platform Deindeal was sold to Ringier in 2011, and at the beginning of this year the Doodle team sold most of its shares to Tamedia. However, not only portals but software companies as well are in high demand: Vaud-based Jilion

was recently sold to Dailyvision, Lucerne-based Endoxon to Google, and Media-Streams. com to Microsoft. Founders are not just generating value in IT and the life sciences, however.

In September 2012, Indian company Infosys put no less than CHF 330 million on the table for consulting firm Lodestone.

founders who, after all, still held about 5% of shares.

Yet Wyss and his colleagues did not use this time to celebrate because they decided to reinvest the money they had made into the next step in communications technology. The u-blox modules are designed not only to determine but also to retransmit positions wirelessly via WLAN, Bluetooth or the various mobile radio protocols.

“The IPO was an amazing experience,” said Wyss. The 45-year-old – at the time still childless – was hardly ever home, commuting between London, Frankfurt and Zurich.

In just a few weeks, he and CEO Thomas Seiler had 150 investor meetings.

Tending to the shareholders has been one of the managerial duties at u-blox. The annual general meeting takes place in a municipal multipurpose room near the headquarters. Many of the visitors are engineers. “We enjoy drinks and appetizers and discuss the technical features of the latest GPS module,” says Wyss.

The anchor shareholders, mainly from

domestic and international investment automatically share information, many funds, are contacted regularly over the with GPS and communication modules course of the year. “The task is to foster trust from u-blox. and understanding,” said Wyss. In the case of smaller companies, or ‘small caps’, the market can get bumpy now and again. ublox experienced this when its stock dropped from its debut share price of CHF 51 to CHF 13 during the financial crisis. It recovered, and since the beginning of this year it has held steady above CHF 100. Market capitalization is more than CHF 700 million.

Most bank analysts expect that u-blox stock “The task is to foster still has the potential to trust and understanding increase. The stock is among shareholders.” recommended to buy — Jean-Pierre Wyss because growth is profitable and turnover of CHF 0.5 billion is possible.

The main driver of business is the frequently cited ‘Internet of Things’. Experts estimated that by 2020, about 20 billion devices and machines around the world will

ANZEIGE

The summit in sight.

Zühlke Ventures take their partners to the top: high-tech start-ups and co-investors profit from our secure funding, extensive management and technology experience, as well as from our powerful business network. Our strategy of early entry with full support and commitment reduces risks and capital requirements for investors, and enables start-ups to reach the summit faster. So clip in your carabiner and link up with us:

startup.ch 2014 . handelszeitung

zuehlke.com/ventures

2008

SCENE

Venture leaders

Fitness for the world market G

lobalization doesn’t stop at the startup scene. International presence is a must for young companies. Those who want to make money with a technical innovation must exploit international market potential as quickly and efficiently as possible. Venture leaders, a national program organized by venturelab and supported by companies, foundations and universities, helps startups with their geographic expansion.

How it works: a jury selects about 20 startups that travel together to the hotspots of the global economy – to Boston and Silicon Valley for 13

years and more recently to China. The application deadline for the next USA trip is March 1, 2015. Each trip lasts 10 days and is packed with workshops, company visits and networking events to bring the Swiss startups into contact with potential partners and investors.

“The program opened the door to the American market for me,” says Carlos Ruiz, founder of flatev (rank 20), which took part a year ago.

As a startup, doing business with a heavyweight like Xiaomi doesn’t seem possible.

In China, it’s not just big companies – there is also a scene with smaller high-tech companies. We hear little about them in the west because we are focused on the rapidly growing Chinese market. But it is true handelszeitung . startup.ch 2014

Where are the challenges?

Usually you have to develop a special offer for China. And then western companies often rely overly on the benefits of their products.

In China, business is relationship-driven. Nothing works without close relationships with trustworthy partners.

Where do you find these partners?

At swissnex, we are developing a network of business people who, for example, have worked for Swiss companies or who hold a degree from a Swiss university. This greatly simplifies collaboration. A goal of the venture leaders program is to bring startups and these kinds of people together.

2009 “It was simply fantastic!”

2010

Image helps with exporting that making the step towards China requires effort and patience.

Stefan Tuchschmid, Founder and CEO of medtech ­company VirtaMed. Today, he has more than 30 employees.

Christian Hirsig, co-founder and CEO of Atizo.

He and his partners ­established Atizo, the largest open innovation platform in Switzerland.

Five questions for Pascal Marmier China is considered the world’s extended workshop.

Why is the country interesting for highly innovative Swiss startups?

The Chinese economy is changing, as companies such as Xiaomi have shown. The mobile phone maker has become the market leader in China within a short time due to its innovative business model. In addition to the state, more and more Chinese companies are focusing on innovation.

“Venture leaders stimulat­ ed my entrepreneurial ­spirit. I’m returning to Switzerland from Boston with plenty of energy.”

Pascal Marmier CEO swissnex China (Shanghai) and co-organizer of venture leaders China

In which industries can the step towards China pay off for startups?

Venture leaders are a good indicator of this and include companies from the cleantech field, mobile communications and the luxury goods segment.

Add to this several B2B startups as well, which primarily want to attract western companies with a presence in China as clients.

“I gained valuable ­insights into American business culture.”

Alexander Ilic, co-founder of ­Dacuda (rank 10). The Zurichbased company is among the hottest high-tech startups in Europe.

2011 “A perfect combination of work, learning, ­networking and fun.”

Dominik Bell, co-founder and CEO of Aeon Scientific (rank 69).

Bell brought in CHF 4 million in venture capital in May.

S.T.

C .H

.

A.

“The USA trip changed my perception of our project and opened my eyes to identifying ­future opportunities and risks.”

I.

J.R.

Johannes Reck, CEO and ­co-founder of the booking platform GetYourGuide.

T.S. “The program helped me further develop my project skills and my personal leadership qualities.”

.

D.B

Thorsten Schwenke, founder and CEO THELKIN (rank 89). startup.ch 2014 . handelszeitung

47

SCENE

The second career

Magne Orgland The former partner of Bank Wegelin has been

­investing in highly promising startups for a good year now.

Text: Jost Dubacher

O

utside it is pouring. Inside, hot coffee is ready along with orange juice and fresh croissants.

We are at the Zeppelin building complex in the largest Technopark in Zurich – more precisely, we are in room 2.3, which is used by the Institut für Jungunternehmen (IFJ). It’s a meeting room like thousands of others this Tuesday morning: 20 men and women are checking their phones, looking under the tables and chairs for power sockets to plug in their laptops or asking for the wireless password, which is ‘Wesupportstartups’.

Magne Orgland is also getting settled.

He is sorting his papers – business plans written by the founders who will be appearing today.

One of the teams is from Zurich; its members got to know each other at ETH. The other three applicants are from EPFL in Lausanne. As the statutes of the funding organization venture kick require, the initiative is supported by private patrons and knowledge-based startups.

ting. Someone from a venture capital company wants to know how delivery capacities will be maintained if demand goes through the roof. Another jury member – a man who has created one of the most successful travel portals in Europe – asks the competitors about barriers to market entry.

Orgland also asks about the jeans project – he has questions about the estimated market volume. The HSG graduate is familiar with the consumer goods market; he worked at Procter & Gamble for years before

All four startups have already received CHF 30,000 in startup capital from venture kick and are now applying for the grand prize of an additional CHF 100,000. Their projects include the online sale of custom jeans, special lenses for smart glasses like Google Glass and holograms that make plastic packaging tamper-proof.

Orgland is diligently taking notes. “I’m here as a juror. My job is to judge the projects,” he says later. But he is also learning a lot – about new technologies, business models and market trends. He has also been able to expand his own network in the Swiss innovation scene.

Schools for business angels don’t exist.

Anyone wanting to become involved as a private investor must put together their own lessons (see box below).

After the presentations, the jury puts each of the startups through a round of vet-

The question is inevitable. Orgland is surprisingly frank in his answers: “Yes,” he says, “I would certainly still be at Wegelin if the

48

handelszeitung . startup.ch 2014

“Working for a big company was no longer an option for me.”

— Magne Orgland

switching to strategy consulting at McKinsey and finally moving to St. Gallen at the age of 36. There he worked for the private bank Wegelin & Co building up institutional investor business with a team of 50 employees.

bank was still independent.” He does not want to reveal what he, as one of eight managing partners, made on the sale of non-US business to the Raiffeisen Group – just that he is financially independent.

He has also restructured his life. “Working for a big company was no longer an option for me,” the native Norwegian says. He enjoys his freedom. Today, at the age of 50, he says it is the first time in decades that he does not have to follow an agenda.

At the beginning of 2013, he founded Norga Capital AG. He has managed his investments in SMEs and startups under the company’s umbrella ever since. He also provides consulting services for companies and advises a family office in terms of investment strategy. He assisted as an investor and board member in the management buy-out at two Swiss SMEs. He also has other board positions and gives lectures at the University of St Gallen. And he is involved as a business angel.

The early phase funding currently ties up about 10% of his capacity. He is involved with six Swiss startups, each with a low sixfigure amount and always together with other private investors.

“I specifically look for startups that gen-

How it’s done The term business angel is not an official title and there are no diplomas or degrees. However, there are places you can go to approach potential private investors.

Prize juries: The collaboration with a startup prize, as with venture kick, provides valuable insights into the founder scene and facilitates contact with other business angels.

Angel Clubs: Investor associations such as the Band of Angels, StartAn-

gels, Business Angels Switzerland and Brains-to-Ventures (b-to-v) always welcome newcomers.

A third way into the life as a private investor is to attend events where, in addition to founders and donors, representatives from universities, large companies and government agencies meet.

The Swiss startup scene is focused in Zurich and Lausanne, making it quite manageable. It does not take long to get to know the important people.

PHoto: keystone

Benefiting from his many years of ­management ­experience: Business angel ­Magne Orgland

erate added value both economically and societally,” says Orgland. For example, his portfolio includes the Zug-based cleantech company ROMO Wind AG, which develops sensory systems to optimally orient the rotors of wind turbines.

Meanwhile, the presentations are finished. Orgland submits the evaluation sheets he has filled out for each startup and grabs a few vegan sandwiches. He uses the short break to talk to two other investors about a startup all three are considering taking on.

Following the buffet lunch, the jury convenes and quickly comes to an agreement.

The CHF 100,000 will go to the custom jeans and the intelligent glasses projects. It’s the end of the event.

Orgland looks at the clock. He is expected in Winterthur in the afternoon. A young man wants to present his ideas for an innovative new marketplace for internet currencies. “As a former banker, I feel com-

fortable with the topic of currency exchange,” he says and greets a colleague who is accompanying him. The man has a degree in electrical engineering from ETH and has worked for companies including IBM. He will examine the technology of the potential investment.

“I specifically look for startups that also generate added value for society.”

private investors as part of an IPO. Disputes between founders and funders can ruin things along this steep path because they deplete energy and detract from the development of the company.

“For me,” says Orgland, “it is essential that the chemistry is right between me and the team of founders.” His experience as a manager with HR responsibilities helps him with the evaluation: “I have to sense early on where the talents, strengths, weaknesses and limits lie in the person I am dealing with.”

So far, this method has served the former banker well. He has never regretted his involvement as a business angel, to which he dedicates on average 20% of his working hours. On the contrary: “The contact with talented young people with big goals in their sights intrigues me,” he says on his way to Winterthur.

Since he has been setting up his own appointments again, he is frequently on the go, usually by train. As a holder of a firstclass train pass, the SBB lounge at Zurich main station has become his second workplace.

His main office is at his home in Teufen, Aargau, where he will arrive at around 6 pm in the evening. After dinner with his family, he will work for another two hours answering emails, studying monthly reports and reviewing contracts.

— Magne Orgland

Orgland is familiar with the relevant statistics. They show that it is possible to lose all your money in early phase investments. Payday arrives only when a company with funding succeeds on the market and can eventually be sold, whether it be to a venture capital fund, a large company or to institutional and startup.ch 2014 . handelszeitung

49

T H E J U RY

The experts on the scene 100 experts have selected the TOP 100 startups.

They have also selected each of their 10 favorites.

The ranking was created based on the total number of points.

A Carole Ackermann, Zurich. President of Business Angels Schweiz (BAS).

CEO OphthaMetrics. CEO Diamondscull, investment firm in the medical and environmental sectors. www.diamondscull.ch

Flavio Agosti, St. Gallen. In charge of the venturelab program and venture leaders in German-speaking Switzerland as well as Swiss South African venture leaders. www.venturelab.ch

Domenico Alexakis, Zurich. Director of the Swiss Biotech Association. www.swissbiotech.org

Olivier Allaman, Fribourg. Director of the Fribourg-based business incubator Fri Up. www.friup.ch

Claude Amiguet, Neuchâtel. Director of the Neode Science and Technology Park Neuchâtel. www.neode.ch

Lukas André, Zurich. Managing partner at venture capital firm Affentranger Associates. Cofounder of various IT startups. www.aasa.com

Siddhartha Arora, Zurich. Director of the IBM Global Entrepreneur program in Switzerland, IBM Switzerland. www.ibm.com/isv/startup

(sold to Axel Springer) and amiando (sold to Xing). Angel investor with focus on fintech/finance 2.0. www.nextgfi.com

Thomas Billeter, Herrliberg. Multi-business angel. Partner at Seestattexperts. Director of TallyFox Social Technologies. www.seestattexperts.com

Christoph Birkholz, Zurich. Co-founder and managing director of Impact Hub Zurich. www.zurich.impacthub.net

Philip Bodmer, Dübendorf. Business angel.

President of the Volkswirtschaft Foundation.

Member of CTI Invest and StartAngels Network. Expert at the de Vigier Foundation.

Thomas Bähler,Bern. Specialist at Kellerhals Attorneys at Law, including private equity/venture capital. Co-founder of SEF. Jury member Swiss Economic Award. www.kellerhals.ch

Roman Balzan, Zurich, EMEA TECH Industry Programs at Google. Expert in social media and e-commerce. www.google.ch

Nicolas Berg, Zurich. Founder of multiple companies and a business angel. Co-founder of Redalpine Venture Partners. Involved in various panels for young entrepreneur awards and a trainer for venturelab courses. www.redalpine.com

Marc P. Bernegger, Zurich. Founder of various web companies, including usgang.ch

www.basel-inkubator.ch

C Heinrich Christen, Zurich. Partner EY. Focus: medtech. Partner in charge of Entrepreneur Of The Year Switzerland/Lichtenstein. www.ey.com

Gert Christen, Zurich. CEO of BlueLion, incubator for ICT and cleantech companies, and CEO of Startzentrum Zürich. Organizer of the Startupfair trade fair for company founders. www.bluelion.ch

Raphaël Conz, Lausanne. Promotion économique du canton de Vaud (SPECo). www.vd.ch/promotion-economique

www.volkswirtschaft-stiftung.ch

Wylinn Boey, Zurich. Venture partner at private equity firm Aravis. www.aravis.ch

Jan Bomholt, St. Gallen. Founder/CEO of the MeinEinkauf portal. Co-founder of the b-to-v business angel network. Member of the b-to-v Investor Club. www.meineinkauf.ch

Silvio Bonaccio, Zurich. Director of ETH transfer/spin-offs, member of the steering committee of the venture business plan competition at ETH Zurich. Co-founder and member of the Swiss Technology Transfer Association (swiTT). www.vpf.ethz.ch/transfer/

B

ness Angel Club).

Jacques Bonvin,Geneva. Specialist at Tavernier Tschanz, business attorneys, for venture capital, private equity, M&A, new technologies. www.taverniertschanz.com

Pierre Bordry, Lausanne. Director of CapitalProximité, network initiatives for investors/ startups in the cantons of western Switzerland. www.capitalproximite.ch

Diego A. Braguglia, Zug. General partner at VI Partners, venture capital firm. Focus: life sciences/biotech. www.vipartners.ch

David Brown, Lausanne. Active business angel.

Founder/co-founder of various startups, including buy.at/Poken. www.linkedin.com/in/spacecubist

Peter E. Burckhardt, Basel. CEO of EV, the Basel life sciences startup agency. CEO Basel Inkubator. President of BioBac (Bio Valley Busi-

Didier Coquoz, Pully. Founder and CEO Copexis. Interim manager for pharmaceutical/biotech companies. www.copexis.com

G Alberto De Lorenzi, Bioggio. Founder of multiple companies, business angel with focus on ICT startups, partner at De Lorenzi & Partners.

CTI Startup coach. www.delorenzi.ch

Benoît Dubuis, Consultant at EPFL. Director of Eclosion (startup incubator for the life sciences). Publisher of the Republic of Innovation newsletter. www.eclosion.com

Pascal Dutheil, Lausanne. Founder of Andromède Consulting. Focus: seed and early stage venture capital. CTI Startup coach. www.andromede.ch

F Claude Florin, Lausanne. Business angel.

Founder/president of the A3 Angels club, partner at Polytech Ventures and VentureConcept.

Focus: medtech/mobile telecom. www.a3angels.ch

Alan Frei, Zurich. Entrepreneur, investor. Head of startup platform Startup@UZH at the University of Zurich. www.startup.uzh.ch

Patrik Frei, Zurich. Founder/CEO of Venture

www.tpw.ch

Valuation, rating high-tech companies. Focus: life sciences, ICT, nanotech, renewable energy. www.venturevaluation.com

Jan Fülscher, Männedorf. Managing director of Business Angels Switzerland (BAS). Development of ICT Investor’s Days. Juror and coach for various startup competitions. www.businessangels.ch

G

Wolfgang Henggeler, Zurich. Head of Physical Sciences at Unitectra, a technology transfer organization of the universities of Zurich, Bern and Basel. www.unitectra.ch

Nicole Herzog, St. Gallen. Attorney, business angel. Co-founder/member of the board at Haufe-umantis, Talent Management and President of the board at Agilentia. www.umantis.com

Manuel Gerres, Bern. Head of Startup Relations at SBB. www.sbb.ch/startup

Frank Gerritzen, Lausanne. President of Business Angels Switzerland (BAS), western Switzerland. Board of Careerplus Group. Founder of the Swiss branch of the Wealth Peer Group.

Matthias Hölling, Zurich. Technology Manager – Group Director of ETH transfer/spin-offs.

Markus Hosang, Basel. Venture capitalist. General partner at BioMedinvest.

Focus: life sciences.

www.defigestion.com

Denis R. Grisel, Bern. Head of Economic Promotion Agency, Canton of Bern. www.berneinvest.com

Patrick Griss, Schlieren. Co-founder and Executive Partner at Zühlke Ventures. Focus: hightech startups. Member of the Advisory Board of glaTec, the technology center at Empa. www.zuehlke.com

Daniel Gutenberg, Zug. Business Angel of the Year 2011. General partner at VI Partners, venture capital group. Focus: IT. www.vipartners.ch

Rudolf Gygax, Zurich. Venture capitalist, Managing Partner at Nextech Invest.

Focus: oncology. www.nextechinvest.com

H Peter Harboe-Schmidt, Schwerzenbach. Cofounder of various pharmaceutical companies including SpiroChem, Xigen Pharma and Glycemicon. www.glycemicon.ch

Reto Hartinger, Zurich. Serial entrepreneur and business angel (including search.ch).

President of Erfa-Gruppe Internet Briefing. www.internet-briefing.ch

Philipp Hasler, Zurich. Business angel. Investment Director at Emerald Technology Ventures.

Focus: cleantech. www.emerald-ventures.com

René Hausammann, Winterthur. Director of Technopark Winterthur and Transfer ZHW.

L Jean-Philippe Lallement, Lausanne. CEO of EPFL Innovation Park. President of SwissParks. ch. Business angel. www.epfl-innovationpark.ch

Hervé Lebret, Lausanne. Vice President for innovation and transfer at EPFL. Manager of innogrants at EPFL. Former principal of venture capital company Index Ventures. www.vpiv.epfl.ch/

Peter Letter, Baar. Business angel.

Co-founder/principal of paprico, partners for private capital and companies. www.paprico.ch

www.biomedvc.com

Hansruedi Lingg, Root-Längenbold. CEO of Technopark Lucerne.

Patrick Hug, Zurich. Deputy Head of Startup Finance at Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB).

www.technopark-luzern.ch www.zkb.ch

www.svc-risikokapital.ch

Gabriel Gomez, Lausanne. Director of private equity/venture capital association DEFI Gestion.

www.startupticker.ch

www.vpf.ethz.ch/transfer

www.businessangels.ch

Eric Gisiger, Zurich. Investment Director at SVC – AG for SME venture capital. Chartered financial analyst (CFA).

cus: high-tech startups/corporate finance.

J Michel Jaccard, Lausanne. Founder/partner at law firm id est avocats. Expert in corporate finance, new technologies and media. www.idest.pro

Mario Jenni, Schlieren. Director of BIO-Technopark Schlieren, life sciences center for the Zurich metropolitan area. Co-founder and Managing Director of glaTec technology center at Empa. www.bio-technopark.ch

K

M René Mäder, Zurich. Head of Venturing at Ringier Digital, competence center for online marketplaces and e-commerce. www.ringierdigital.ch

Pascal Marmier, Shanghai. Executive Director/ Vice Consul General at swissnex China. Co-organizer of venture leaders in the USA and China. www.swissnexchina.org

Davide Mauri, Lausanne. Vice President of Technologies Médicales – Eurofin Ventures.

Partner at Polytech Ventures. www.polytechventures.ch

Kilian Kämpfen, Flamatt. Chief Business Development Officer at Ringier Digital, competence center for online marketplaces and e-commerce. www.ringierdigital.ch

Fernand Kaufmann, Zurich. Business angel.

Focus: cleantech. Advisor at Emerald Technology Ventures. www.emerald-ventures.com

Willy Küchler, Horw. Deputy Managing Director of InnovationsTransfer Zentralschweiz (ITZ). www.itz.ch

André Kühni, Aarau. Director of KMU services/ start-up consulting at Aargauer Kantonalbank. www.akb.ch

Pius Küng, St. Gallen. Founder of business and marketing consultancy Dr. Pius Küng & Partner and the Institut für Jungunternehmen (IFJ). www.kueng-partner.ch

Stefan Kyora, Lucerne. Co-founder/Managing Editor of startupticker.ch. Co-owner of Journalistenbüro Niedermann. Business journalist. Fo-

Dominique Mégret, Bern. Manager at Swisscom Ventures. Co-founder of Kickstart Ventures. www.swisscom.ch/ventures

Simon Meier, Basel. Investment Director of Roche Venture Fund. Jury member for venture kick. www.venturefund.roche.com

Didier Mesnier, Geneva. Executive Officer of Alp ICT, high-tech cluster western Switzerland. www.alpict.com

Laurent Miéville, Geneva. Director of Unitec, technology transfer at the University of Geneva. www.unige.ch/unitec

James Miners, Plan-les-Quates. Business advisor at Fongit, the Geneva-based incubator for high-tech ventures. www.fongit.ch

Felix Moesner, Cambridge, USA. CEO swissnex Boston. www.swissnexboston.org

Ecknauer+Schoch ASW

Jordi Montserrat, Lausanne. Co-founder of XO3. Responsible for management of venture kick and venturelab. www.venturekick.ch

Carolina Müller-Möhl, Zurich. Chairperson of the Müller-Möhl Group, investment management. President of the Swiss Economic Award. www.mm-grp.com

manager.

S Beat Schillig, St. Gallen. Founder and managing partner of the Institut für Jungunternehmen (IFJ), initiator of venturelab and venture kick.

Business Angel of the Year 2012. www.ifj.ch

N Michael Näf, Zurich. Business angel. Founder of doodle.com. Startup coach at the ETH Innovation & Entrepreneurship Lab (ieLab).

Peter Schüpbach, Langenthal. Business angel.

Founder of multiple businesses (including Miracle, FashionFriends). President of the board at Reitsport.ch. www.peters.wordpress.com/

www.sbbtcl.me

Peter Niederhauser, Zurich. Serial entrepreneur/business angel. Partner at Masterinvest.

General partner at venture capital firm Redalpine Venture Partners. www.redalpine.com

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Lutz Nolte, Bern. Vice President of the Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI) and Funding President for startups and entrepreneurship. Director of the Institute for Surgical Technology and Biomechanics at the University of Bern. www.istb.unibe.ch

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Markus Oswald, Schwyz. Venture capitalist.

CEO of Innovation Foundation of Schwyzer Kantonalbank. www.szkb.ch/innovationsstiftung

P

www.b-to-v.com

Peter Seitz, Zurich. Serial entrepreneur. Managing Director of the ETH Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab (ieLab).

Michael Sidler, Zurich. Business angel. General partner at Redalpine Venture Partners.

Partner at Intro International. www.redalpine.com

Roland Siegwart, Zurich. Vice President of Research and Corporate Relations at ETH Zurich.

Professor for autonomous systems. Robotics expert. www.vpf.ethz.ch

Peter Pfister, Zurich. Active business angel since 2001. Member of the StartAngels network. www.startangels.ch

Eric Plan, Sion. General Secretary of CleantechAlps, cleantech cluster western Switzerland. Coach at The Ark and CTI Startup. www.cleantech-alps.com

Jim Pulcrano, Lausanne. Consulting and teaching. Member of the IMD teaching team. In charge of the IMD Startup Competition.

V Paul-André Vogel, Sion. Director of CimArk, startup support network. Coach for CTI Startup. www.cimark.ch

Pascale Vonmont, Basel. Deputy Director of Gebert Rüf Stiftung. Delegate on the strategic council of venture kick. Jury member for venture leaders. Advisory Board of ‘seif’, Swiss Social Entrepreneurship Initiative. www.grstiftung.ch

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Florian Schweitzer, St. Gallen. Co-founder/ partner of the b-to-v Partners business angels network Board member at SECA.

Paul E. Sevinç, Zurich. Co-founder of Doodle and Inturico Engineering.

Magne Y. Orgland, Teufen. Business angel.

Managing partner at Norga Capital.

Board member of 1741 Asset Management.

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www.b-to-v.com

www.ethz.ch

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Christian Schütz, St. Gallen. Partner of the bto-v Partners business angels network. Jury member of venture leaders.

Erika Puyal Heusser, Zurich. Manager of Startup Finance/Pioneers, Zürcher Kantonalbank. Board member of ‘Go! Ziel selbstständig’.

Jean-Pierre Vuilleumier, Solothurn. Managing Director of the WA de Vigier Foundation. Managing Director of CTI Invest. www.devigier.ch

www.zkb.ch

R Balz Roth, Zürich. Business angel.

Independent management advisor and interim

W Lucian Wagner, Zurich. General partner at EuroUS Ventures, Investing for US Growth. Cofounder/President of Launch in US Alliance.

T H E J U RY

www.eurousventures.com

Steffen Wagner, Zurich. Co-founder/Managing partner of Investiere / Verve Capital Partners. www.investiere.ch

Christian Wenger, Zurich. Business angel.

Partner at Wenger & Vieli, corporate and commercial law. Focus: private equity/venture capital/M&A. Board member at SECA. President of CTI Invest. www.wengervieli.ch

Sandy Wetzel, Yverdon-les-Bains. General manager at Y-Parc – Swiss Technopole. www.y-parc.ch

Z Roland Zeller, Binningen. Business angel. Cofounder/longtime CEO of online travel agency travel.ch. Board member at GetYourGuide.

Shareholder at Crearis, operator of various online shops. www.crearis.ch

Jürg Zürcher, Zurich. Partner at EY, biotechnology leader for EMEIA (Europe, Middle East, India, Africa). www.ey.com

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