TOP 100 Swiss Startups

Startups The best Swiss startups

Top 100

Special edition 2013

The high-flyers of the startup scene

› How startups get the big money

›

130’000 for your startup 10’000 for a great business idea20’000 for a solid business case100’000 for a successful startup

www.venturekick.chA philanthropic initiative of a private consortium:

Beat schillig Editorial

3 Startup.ch 2013 handelszeitung

in the past five years, more than 100,000 new companies were founded in Switzerland. Just one among the thousands made it onto the list of the top 100 startups. It is no sur-prise that these startups together represent a potent range of achievements. Despite their tender ages, they have brought in a

combined total of more than CHF 300 million from investors, created around 2,000 jobs and attracted customers from around the globe. These kinds of startups are what Switzerland needs in order to assert itself amidst intensifying international com-petition.

The competition has tightened among the top Swiss startups. More and more young companies with ex-cellent prospects are vying for a limited amount of funding available from investors. Dedicated private investors – or so-called «business angels» – are be-coming increasingly important. Fortunately, growth has been seen in this area, not least from the ranks of highly successful entrepreneurs who reinvest their capital in the next generation of startups. These entrepreneurs invest in the potential high-flyers – Switzerland’s «youngster corporations», which are founded mostly by young people emerging from the high-tech laboratories at universities. These startups are among the world’s best when it comes to re-search and patenting. For investors, however, it is also worth keeping an eye on those who have not yet made it into the spotlight of the top 100 startups in 2013. Portraits of hundreds of next-generation start-ups pushing their way into the market with their in-novative solutions can be found at www.startup.ch.

Startups are vitally important to Switzerland. Studies conducted by the Institute for Young Entrepreneurs (IFJ) have shown that newly established companies create about 50,000 new, lasting jobs each year – lasting because the growth generated by the half that

do actually survive the first five years are more than able to offset the losses of the other half.

The economic importance of startups has now been recognized by politicians around the globe. Silicon Valley is no longer the only place you will find start-ups. Last year, for example, several business delega-tions from countries including Taiwan, Singapore and South Africa visited Switzerland to discover the secrets of its startup boom and our global standing as the leaders in innovation. Private as well as government funding programs are springing up like wildflowers all over the world. Recently, the concept of the «venture leaders», Switzerland’s national startup team, has even been copied by the French and South Africans.

It is therefore not surprising that the rate of innova-tion, particularly in Asia, is ramping up at a perilous pace. If Switzerland wants to stay on top, we cannot afford to rest on our laurels. Instead, we must con-tinue to intelligently reinforce the overall conditions necessary for startups to succeed.

Race to the top

Beat Schillig Founder of the Institute for Young Entrepreneurs (IFJ)

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Contents

5 Startup.CH 2013 handelszeitung

the 100 best startups in switzerland

Taking off the high-flyers of the startup scene 7

Business angels Experience and pioneering spirit unite 8

tHE top 100Gold Housetrip – Swiss quality conquers the world market 10

Silver BioVersys – fighting infections 13

Bronze abionic – precision allergy testing 15

Ranks 4 to 100 the winners in eight different industries 16

The jury 100 experts of the startup scene 29

Contents

Best newcomer thibaut Weise from faceshift records human facial movements. 22

Moving on up Chad Brokopp von Mabimmune ist auf personalisierte Medizin spezialisiert. 25

Quick starter Nadja Mrosek, founder of Glycemicon, has high hopes for «medical food». 23

IMpRInTStartups magazine is an insert in the business publication Handelszeitung Top 100 startups Concept and realization: IFJ Institute for Young Entrepreneurs, St.Gallen; Journalistenbüro Niedermann GmbH, Lucerne. Editors: Jost Dubacher, Stefan Kyora, Claus Niedermann Handelszeitung Editorial Team Förrli-buckstrasse 70, 8021 Zurich, Switzerland. Phone +41 (0) 43 444 59 00, Fax +41 (0) 43 444 59 30, E-mail: [email protected], www.handelszeitung.ch publisher Förrlibuckstrasse 70, 8021 Zurich, Switzerland. Phone +41 (0) 43 444 59 00, Fax +41 (0) 43 444 59 32, E-mail: [email protected] publishing house Axel Springer Switzer-land. Disclosure of major shareholdings within the meaning of Article 322 Criminal Code: Amiado Group AG Editor in Chief Stefan Barmettler Deputy Editor in Chief Pascal Ihle (responsible for this special edition) Special edition editorial staff Stefan Mair, Laurina Waltersperger, Mark Köchli, Pirmin Schilliger Special edition production Roger Cavalli (Art Director), Charlotte Pauk (Text). Photographers: Martin Heimann, Bruno Arnold. Proofreading: Urs Bochsler, Renate Brunner, Beat Koch, Florian Vogler publishers Thomas Garms (Director), Maike Juchler (Assistant Director) Advertising Renato Oliva (Director), Adi Frei, Verena Tschopp, Karin Urech, Eveline Fenner (Art), Phone +41 (0) 43 444 58 44, E-mail: [email protected] print and advertising management, Western Switzerland Servais Y.F. Micolot, Brigitte Lopez-y-Martin (Sales), E-mail: [email protected], Phone +41 (0) 21 943 76 20 Marketing Patrizia Serra (Director), Laura Hayek (Product Manager), Sabine Carrieu (Assistant PM) Retail price CHF 8ISBn no. 978-3-9523947-7-9print Swissprinters AG, Zofingen

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building a knowledge networkWith the creation of swissnex, a

new era of science diplomacy took

root. Launched in 2000 as a pioneering

initiative of the Swiss State Secretariat for Education,

Research and Innovation (SERI), the swissnex net-

work aims to promote Swiss research, technology and

innovation, all while spreading a culture of knowledge

exchange. Existing through public-private partner-

ships, the swissnex model is a dynamic platform for

Swiss institutions, business leaders, entrepreneurs and

stakeholders. Hundreds of high tech companies have

benefited from the network in various ways — ultimately

strengthening Switzerland as a global innovation leader.

First in Boston and later in San Francisco, Shanghai,

Singapore and Bangalore, swissnex has grown into a

network of five science and technology outposts in the

world’s most innovative hubs. In 2013, swissnex Boston

opened an outpost in New York City (NYC) and in 2014

the network welcomes its newest hub, swissnex Brazil.

swissnex and startup success in the usaThe USA has been fertile grounds for Swiss startups

and institutions focused on innovation. Over the years,

swissnex has launched programs to streamline startup

activities in Boston and San Francisco and assist Swiss

entrepreneurs in the local markets.

Since 2001, the venture leaders program has introduced

over 260 Swiss startups to the US startup ecosystem.

Co-organized by venturelab and swissnex Boston, the

intensive ten-day development course brings 20 prom-

ising entrepreneurs to the Boston area to improve their

executive skills in strategically crafted workshops and

events. Kicked off in 2010 through a partnership between

CTI (Swiss Commission for Technology and Innovation),

Gebert Rüf Stiftung, swissnex San Francisco and swiss-

nex Boston, the CTI Market Entry Camp USA is geared

towards advanced Swiss startups enrolled in the CTI

coaching process and looking to enter the US market.

Providing Campers with office space, coaching, men-

torship, workshops and a stipend, the US swissnex

outposts assist these startups in setting up a custom-

ized business development curriculum. Campers can

apply for space in San Francisco, Boston, New York or

a combination of all locations for up to 3 months. Once

there, entrepreneurs have the opportunity to leverage

the different startup ecosystems and progress in their

quest to gain traction in some of the world’s most recep-

tive markets. These USA startup programs have proven

to be extremely successful for Swiss startups and con-

tinue to be an inspiration to other regions of the world.

new startup initiatives in the networkIn 2013, two major initiatives upped the benefits for

swissnex affiliated startups working: First, the CTI

US Market Entry Camp now includes the CTI Market

Validation Camp, offering fact-finding missions (up

to one month) for early stage startups within the CTI

coaching process.

Second, in August 2013, swissnex Boston opened the

New York Outpost, expanding swissnex’s services -

including the CTI Camp - to New York’s Silicon Alley.

With the New York outpost, swissnex Boston bridges

two complementary innovation ecosystems. While

Boston’s academic excellence provides a positive envi-

ronment for the validation of a technology, New York

offers unlimited marketing opportunities, feedback from

a diverse sample of consumers and preferred access to

capital.

Recognizing the importance for global innovation and

entrepreneurship, CTI is also tapping into the Asian mar-

kets. This year, in collaboration with swissnex China and

swissnex India, CTI opened fact-finding, market valida-

tion and market entry programs. Looking to build on

existing networks, these new initiatives compliment the

current entrepreneurial efforts by the Asian swissnex

offices. With the help of swissnex India, Swiss start-

ups can leverage the prominent Indian IT community

and find service providers for offshore developments.

Additionally, swissnex Singapore provides a smooth

transition and expertise for startups focusing their

efforts on the local innovation friendly ecosystem and

its specialty in intellectual property protection.

join the swissnex network Every day, our community is growing. Whether you’re

looking to launch your startup in the US or expand your

market to Asia, we want to hear from you!

Discover all the opportunities for Swiss institutions,

entrepreneurs and more today: www.swissnex.org

swissnex: Helping Swiss Entrepreneurs Breakthrough

Background Top 100

7 STarTup.ch 2013 handelszeitung

Top 100 sTarTups of 2013

The concept 100 experts have had their say. They possess in-depth knowledge of the startup scene, are business angels, venture capital investors or oth-erwise deal with startups on a daily basis. Each ex-pert proposed ten start-ups with the greatest business potential, giv-ing ten points to their top selection and one point to the tenth best. The companies with the most points made it into the Top 100 ranking of Swiss startups in 2013. Beat Schillig and Jordi Montserrat (pictured above) from the Institute for Young Entrepreneurs (IFJ) ini tiated the ranking in 2011. They also created the ven-turelab training program and transferred Gebert Rüf Stiftung’s NETS program into the U.S. venture leaders program with Swit-zerland’s national startup team. Since 2007, they have been in charge of the venture kick initiative, which provides startup capital from private foundations for spin-offs from Swiss universities. Journalistenbüro Nie der-mann also helped to set up the ranking. The project is funded by the Gebert Rüf Stiftung, the Swiss Private Equity & Corpo-rate Finance Association (SECA) and Swit-zerland Global Enterprise. Handelszeitung and PME Magazin are the media partners.

www.sTarTupTicker.ch

cooperation partnersThe startup.ch platform works together with the news portal startupticker.ch to report on the achievements of the top 100 startups and all other new high-growth companies in Switzerland. Startupticker.ch is the central online hub for information relevant to the startup and innovation scene in Switzerland. The multilingual portal (German, English and French) provides information about events and training in addition to daily news and a Friday newsletter with all the week›s highlights.

alumni

former startups stay on course

The top 100 Swiss startups of 2013 have been announced. 35 new startups managed to make the list straight away and most of these new companies were founded

just last year. The Zurich-based company Glycemicon, which specializes in medical food, was only founded in January. Some were unable hold on to their position in the top 100 list, whereas plenty of others man-aged to improve their ranking. Other com-panies maintained their listing but lost con-siderable ground.

When the Top 100 list was launched, its creators (see box to the right) announced that it would provide a sort of snapshot – which is precisely what these results reflect. The companies included in the ranking are those the experts consider to be the high-flyers of the future. As well as those which are currently seen as hip. In other words, the top 100 up-and-coming companies are the hippest, hottest and coolest startups in 2013.

The criteria: The startups must be inde-pendent startups, i.e. actual newly founded companies. Spin-offs from existing compa-

nies were excluded from the selection, as were companies founded prior to 2008. If a company had changed its legal form since its inception, for example, from an LLC (GmbH) to a joint stock company (Aktiengesellschaft), it was also excluded from the top 100 vote.

Those companies that reported recent successes are frequently well-positioned to rank at the top. Several new companies are in the process of completing funding rounds or negotiating major contracts with distrib-utors or customers. Considering the rapid pace at which founders of these top startups tend to move, the ranking would already look different in six months, which is why it is worth tracking the top 100 startups on an ongoing basis. Some of them will soon be making headlines. The website www.start-up.ch not only keeps a business directory of all the top 100 startups; it also provides por-traits of more than 700 other promising young companies. Visitors to the site will find a company profile for each startup, in-cluding an overview of the company›s latest news and a list of the milestones it has achieved so far.

The high-flyers of the startup sceneCream of the crop 35 companies made the top 100 startup ranking, which was held this year for the third time.Claus NiedermaNN

Each year, top companies like paper.li and the scheduling platform Doodle disappear from the Top 100 list because they are more than five years old. Ten companies were excluded from this year›s ranking for this same reason, such as Poken (2012: rank 17), which was recently granted a patent in the U.S. for its NFC technology for sending bro-chures, videos and business cards. The Lau-sanne-based medtech startup Biocartis (2012: rank 28) that completed a financing round for CHF 42 million in late 2012 has also dropped out of contention. About a

year before, the company had generated capital inflow of CHF 100 million. Another medtech company is VirtaMed (2012: rank 36), which took home the 2013 Swiss Eco-nomic Award in the high-tech category. Vir-taMed develops, produces and sells VR simulators for surgeons. Also excluded from the ranking: Secu4 (2012: rank 70), route-RANK (2012: rank 75), Telormedix (2012: rank 83), Augurix Diagnostics (2012: rank 89), RedElec Technologie (2012: rank 92), Covagen (2012: rank 99) and NeMoDevices (2012: rank 100).

8 handelszeitung Startup.ch 2013

Would you give a 22-year-old student a quarter of a million Swiss francs to fund his vision to develop a revolutionary heating

system for luxury restaurants? Let’s be hon-est now. Most of us would turn him away. But not Rolf Weigele. The investor from Eastern Switzerland jumped on board, to-gether with six partners from his own net-work. «Timo Hafner’s project is simply bril-liant,» he says.

Hafner came up with the basic idea while he was still at high school. He once burned his finger on a breakfast buffet and won-dered whether food could be kept warm us-

ing induction instead of chafing fuel. So he built a prototype with students from the Konstanz University of Applied Sciences and was able to demonstrate the feasibility. The local chamber of commerce then put him in contact with Rolf Weigele.

The two have been a team ever since. Al-though Gastros AG (rank 28) opened its office at Technopark Zurich in 2010, Weigele’s liv-ing room in Steckborn is the main meeting room of the startup. After all, Weigele invests not only money but also a great deal of time in Gastros.

«I specialize in innovation management and industrialization,» says Weigele, who was formerly a production manager at Ber-

nina, a sewing machine manufacturer in Eastern Switzerland. He is recognized inter-nationally as a factory automation expert.

There is no index of men and women like Rolf Weigele, but there are some rea-sonably reliable estimates. For example, the study «Financing High-Growth Firms: The Role of Angel Investors» conducted by the OECD in 2011 estimated that around 5 percent of business angels belong to an investor’s club. If one assumes that the business angel clubs in Switzerland each have around 500 members, this equates to a total of around 10,000 individuals who have provided equity capital to a company founder at least once.

Experience and pioneering spirit uniteBusiness angels Wealthy and enterprising: Around 10,000 Swiss are involved in funding new companies.Jost Dubacher (text), Martin heiMann (photo)

rolf Weigele (above) invests his time and money in timo hafner’s induction heater concept for restaurants.

zvg

Funding


The individual investment is usually be-tween CHF 50,000 and 1 million. As a result, it is estimated that over half a billion Swiss francs worth of «angel funding» has been in-vested in Swiss startups. Angel contribu-tions are particularly crucial in the early stages, i.e. the first two years after a compa-ny is founded. A survey conducted by ven-ture kick (see inset) has shown that for around 250 startups, funding from business angels was roughly equal to what the found-ers were able to raise from private sources, research funding, foundations and prize money combined. In other words, business angels have doubled the financial clout of these companies.

Passing the torch. «From an economic per-spective, this money is extremely valuable,» says Pascal Gantenbein, a professor of cor-porate finance at the University of Basel. All the more so, considering these angels also invest during hard economic times, in turn stabilizing the business cycle. They also pro-vide founders with advice and assistance.

Take Rolf Weigele, for example. Or Roland Zeller, who founded the online travel agency travel.ch in 2000 and then sold it to Hotelplan in 2005. He is currently invested in ten Inter-net companies including GetYourGuide (rank 8). He acts as «lead angel» in four of these ten companies by looking after the in-terests of other private investors. He estimates that he devotes half to one full day each week to the four companies. «I’ve been through the process of starting a business,» says Zeller, «and often find solutions more quickly than someone who’s just starting out.»

44-year-old Zeller is an entrepreneur an-gel who cut his teeth founding companies about ten years ago. His experiences are still fresh in his mind, and he has a tight-knit net-work both in and outside the industry. Zeller has no trouble finding attractive companies: Those keen to start an Internet company in the Swiss tourism sector flock to Zeller in the hope of getting him on board as their angel.

«Without a network, it’s impossible,» says Carole Ackermann. She is President of the Swiss Business Angels (BAS) investors club, which she sees as an ideal complement to the personal relationships cultivated by each of the club’s 60 members. Each year, the Ger-man Swiss chapter of BAS organizes ten «catwalk events» that give two to three pre-selected startup teams the opportunity to

impress potential investors with their inno-vations and business models. BAS initiated nine investments in 2012, not including sec-ond-round funding in which the angels in-crease their involvement after predefined milestones have been reached. «BAS simply provides the platform,» explains Carole Ack-ermann. If a company piques the interest of investors, there are then further bilateral ne-gotiations. Generally, a few angels convene to select a lead angel, who then coordinates the group and also represents it on the club’s board.

This system of lead and co-investors is the international standard. The division of labor reduces the average time spent on each investment and allows the individual angels to broaden their financial involve-ment, without compromising the mentoring and monitoring activities. This decreases the risk of default and improves the likeli-hood of achieving the long-term investment goal.

There are no recent studies on business angels’ expected returns. The most recent study was conducted in 2006 by ETH Zu-rich. The Swiss angels who were surveyed said that they expected a minimum return of 25 percent. That sounds like a lot, but Pascal Gantenbein from the University of Basel puts the figure into perspective: «Pur-

chasing a Swiss blue chip stock returns an average of about 8 to 10 percent in the long-term.» Reportedly, in the case of an angel investment, an additional 10 to 15 percent is justified, on the one hand, due to the greater risk of the investment and, on the other, because of the long-term commit-ment.

A long investment horizon. Normally, it ac-tually takes seven to ten years before shares in a startup yield returns and can be sold – to a large company, for example. In other words, those who are focused on turning a quick profit would be ill-advised to become investment angels.

Norwegian-born Magne Orgland is well-aware of this situation. He was one of the managing partners at Wegelin Bank, where he oversaw asset management for institu-tional investors. After the sale of the bank to the Raiffeisen Group, he served as CEO of 1741 Asset Management Ltd. before he de-cided to take a new direction in his career. Since then, he has been a professional pri-vate investor. At age 49 and possessing expe-rience in large and medium-sized com-panies (before Wegelin, he worked for Procter & Gamble and McKinsey), Orgland closely resembles the statistical archetype of a Swiss business angel. Like many of his col-leagues, he gets excited about new begin-nings: «To start again from scratch,» says Or-gland, «with a team of highly motivated and competent young people.»

So far, he has invested in two companies: the Zurich-based medtech company InS-phero (rank 5) and the cleantech company RomoWind. Now he wants to gradually ex-pand his portfolio. «In the long term,» says Orgland, «I hope to invest in 10 to 20 start-ups.»

Rolf Weigele is at the end of his angel ca-reer. After 20 years, Gastros is the last big thing for him. «Financially,» he says, «I could sustain a total loss and be fine.» Of course, the 72-year-old still hopes the busi-ness will become a high-flyer of the startup scene.

The initial outlook is promising. The in-duction-based heating systems are in de-mand, especially at luxury hotels in the Mid-dle and Far East. High-volume production is slated to begin soon. «We have invested a lot of money,» says Rolf Weigele. «In 2014, we will see whether we›ve hit the target.»

vEnturE kick

network of angelsEach year, the non-profit initiative venture kick awards over CHF 2 million in venture capital to innovative startups. A jury of busi-ness angels, representatives of business an-gel clubs, venture capitalists and innovation leaders from large companies judges four to eight startup presentations each week. The goal – in addition to awarding new businesses with up to CHF 130,000 in prize money – is to connect capital-seeking start-ups with the largest possible group of po-tential investors. Venture kick is an interest-ing platform especially for «beginner» an-gels because it provides an ongoing opportunity to see exciting projects and ex-pand their networks.

www.venturekick.ch

«angels stabilize the business cycle, they also invest during tough times.»

Founder Arnaud Bertrand banks on reliability and integrity.

10 handelszeitung StArtup.ch 2013

Rankings the best startups

11 StArtup.ch 2013 handelszeitung

For vacationers in Europe, 2013 de-livered an unforgettable summer. Just as the school break started, the warm, sunny weather began and stuck around for weeks – not only

to the delight of travelers, but also to hote-liers, renters and agencies like HouseTrip.

The Internet platform founded four years ago by Arnaud Bertrand and his wife Junjun Chen in Lausanne took off in almost no time. The startup›s website, which the cou-ple now operates from London, currently lists 250,000 vacation rental apartments and homes. Particularly in European cities like London, Paris, Stockholm and Rome, you are nearly certain to come across HouseTrip if you are looking for an easy and secure way to find a vacation rental. The startup has been used to book over four million over-night stays. Arnaud Bertrand explains the next step required to continue the company›s rapid growth: «Right now, we are specifically soliciting apartments in rural ar-eas such as Provence and Spain’s Costa Brava.»

International financing. The company›s growth is being funded by three venture capital firms in Switzerland, the UK and the USA. Together, they have invested a total of around CHF 60 million in HouseTrip.

Yet despite the company›s rapid growth, not every renter is allowed to list his or her apartment or home on the platform. «We re-ject 30 percent of the renters due to poor quality,» explains Bertrand. If an apartment fails to meet the expectations of travelers, they have a safety net because they pay their rent to HouseTrip. The startup waits three days before it transfers the money (minus

the agency fee) to the renter. For Arnaud Bertrand, the quality of the property being offered is an important success factor: «Fifty percent of our customers are families who don›t want to deal with any surprises in rela-tion to their accommodation during their vacation.»

In terms of presentation, HouseTrip›s high-quality image also distinguishes it from competitors like Silicon Valley startup Airbnb, a platform teeming with spelling mistakes and blurry mobile phone photos – two things you will not find on HouseTrip.

To make values like quality and reliability tangible on the website, renters have access to special software and can request assis-tance by phone when creating content. Ads with superior presentation move up in the list of results or are given special badges of distinction.

The emphasis on quality and integrity is a hallmark of the 28-year-old manager. Ar-naud Bertrand is not a CEO who focuses pri-marily on strategic issues: «I deal with a lot of the details in relation to our website and our product,» he explains. And he’s open about the fact that this style of leadership has at times led to managerial conflicts.

A second important aspect of his leader-ship is Bertrand›s insistence on faster imple-

mentation. The company has its own IT team, which developed an app that offers renters all the features they need in order to manage their ads. It›s particularly beneficial for owners of several houses or apartments who are frequently on the go.

Taking on a pioneering role. Arnaud Ber-trand has also come up with something for travelers. Last June, HouseTrip launched a loyalty program, which offers travelers who have booked ten nights on HouseTrip an eleventh night for free. This makes House-Trip a pioneer among these types of book-ing platforms. Bertrand hopes this will at-tract more regular customers. The program has certainly been well-received by the users, who have already enjoyed 10,000 free nights.

The Board of Directors supported the en-trepreneur during the development of the loyalty program idea. The board includes representatives from the venture capital firms who have invested in HouseTrip and who have also funded companies like Face-book and Spotify in the past. The President of the Board is Michael van Swaaij, former CEO of Skype and European Director of eBay. «My board members know exactly what works and what doesn›t in the Internet business,» explains Bertrand.

In addition, the board members have an excellent network at their disposal. House-Trip makes good use of this network to fill posts, as the startup›s staff is also growing rapidly. In just the past twelve months, the number of employees increased from 130 to 200.

Founded: 2009; employees: 200; www.housetrip.com

Swiss quality conquers the world marketHouseTrip The web portal is one of the fastest growing startups in Europe. HouseTrip is characterized by its 28-year-old founder Arnaud Bertrand. SteFan Kyora (text), Ben Cawthra (photo)

1st place

«I also deal with the details of our product.»

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the human genome is a sort of li-brary. In order to make accurate use of the information stored there, you have to read it. In the genome, information is read, or

processed, by molecular switch.The ETH Department of Biosystems in

Basel has been researching these switches for years. In 2008, two young postgraduate students named Marc Gitzinger and Marcel Tigges began speculating as to whether these kinds of transcription factors might also play a role in the resistance of patho-gens to antibiotics. This marked the birth of «transcriptional repressor inhibiting com-pounds» (TRIC). A TRIC does not overcome the resistance, but rather disrupts its activa-tion. This has two advantages. It both slows down the formation of new forms of resis-tance while also making it possible to re-store the effectiveness of tried-and-tested antibiotics.

The scientific hypothesis proved tenable and Gitzinger and Tigges sprang into action. They independently founded BioVersys, generated CHF 2.5 million in seed money and found a home for their lab at the Tech-

nologiepark Basel. «Right now,» explained CEO Gitzinger, «we have a two-pronged ap-proach.» On the one hand, the focus is on the tuberculosis pathogen and, on the other, a group of six species of bacteria summarily referred to as hospital pathogens, including the dreaded E. coli and enterococci.

Resistant pathogens are on the rise. Hospi-tal infections are a medical time bomb. More and more strains that are resistant to every approved antibiotic are cropping up. In the USA, these «superbugs» are respon-sible for as many as 100,000 deaths each year. In Europe, the annual estimate is roughly three million hospital infections, which kill around 50,000 people.

It’s an urgent matter which is reflected by BioVersys’ ambitious timetable. A candidate for the preclinical testing phase for one of the six hospital pathogens is expected to be identified by the end of 2014, thanks to Bio-Versys screening technology. This involves a dozen highly specific experimental set-ups and the testing of tens of thousands of mol-ecules to determine their suitability and po-tential side effects.

If all goes as planned, the favored TRIC candidate will be tested on humans for the first time in 2016. In order to fund the con-tinuing development, Gitzinger and Tigges completed a second investment round this summer, which brought in a high seven fig-ure sum from business angels.

The market for the «upgrading» of al-ready approved antibiotics is enormous. Doctors prescribe antibiotic drugs valued at CHF 50 billion each year, not least be-cause of polyresistance, the majority of which is in Western industrialized coun-tries. In the Third World, however, treat-ments costing several hundred francs per day are cost-prohibitive. Tuberculosis alone kills more than one million people each year.

BioVersys is therefore also going to great lengths to discover a TRIC that can fight Mycobacterium tuberculosis. CEO Gitzing-er describes it as a «moral obligation.» The development is being funded by non-profit organizations and charitable founda-tions.

Founded: 2008; employees: 8; www.bioversys.com

Fighting infections BioVersys The antibiotic resistance of pathogens is a ticking time bomb. Biochemists Marc Gitzinger and Marcel Tigges want to defuse it. Jost Dubacher (text), Martin heiMann (photo)

2nd place

Marc Gitzinger and Marcel tigges also

work with aid organizations.

Rankings The best startups


Touring the offices of startups is typically not very revealing. How-ever this is certainly not the case at Lausanne-based Abionic. Em-ployees at the company,s facilities

assemble devices for hospitals in Switzer-land and there,s even a semi-automated as-sembly line for the consumable materials.

Abionic is in a crucial phase. After years of development, the tests undertaken in Swiss hospitals must provide statistical evi-dence confirming the precision of the de-vices, as well as information regarding mi-nor flaws. After the necessary adjustments have been made, the startup hopes to launch their product in 2014.

There,s a good chance of success. Abio-nic has developed an allergy testing system that is unparalleled anywhere in the world. Standing at the coffee machine, CEO Nicolas Durand explains what it does: «Our system makes allergy testing as simple as preparing a cup of Nespresso.»

The startup,s system consists of a scanner and biosensors. Several of these biosensors are contained within a capsule, and several capsules are mounted on a carrier known as

an abioDISC. A drop of the patient,s blood serum is mixed with a special chemical and applied to the capsules, which are then in-serted into a scanner. Each sensor consists of tiny, biochemically active chambers and tu-bules where a reaction takes place. The scan-ner then detects biomarkers that identify specific allergies.

Small but mighty. The device is similar to large lab devices, except that it is much smaller and less expensive. It is therefore suitable for doctors, offices, offering them a new method for performing blood tests. Pa-tients will benefit from this kind of point-of-care diagnostics as well. «In the past, they had to wait two weeks for their results. Our system delivers a personal allergy profile in 20 minutes,» says Durand.

Each year, billions are spent on allergy tests because allergies are such a wide-spread ailment. In industrialized countries, they affect one quarter to one third of the population. Many people get tested so they can find out what is causing their allergic re-action and take appropriate measures to counter it.

A unique device for a billion-dollar mar-ket – it should practically be able to sell itself. But Nicolas Durand is not leaving anything to chance and has conducted market sur-veys for several countries. «We are interest-ed in finding out what kind of customers to target in different countries, where they work, how we can contact them and what obstacles exist,» he explains. The CEO knows that these studies alone are not enough: «What matters most is the imple-mentation.»

In the past, however, the team has shown that it can deliver results. For example, Abio-nic was already granted the CE mark neces-sary for the launch months ago. The startup was also granted the necessary ISO certifica-tions more than a year ago.

Although Abionic has just eight em-ployees and may need more, Nicolas Du-rand sees no reason to get ahead of himself. He only plans undertake the next round of funding once the first sales have gone through. Nevertheless, Durand has already begun making preparations.

Founded: 2010; employees: 8; www.abionic.com

Accurate allergy testingAbionic The young medical device company has developed a unique system for allergy testing – a billion dollar market. The system is set to be launched in 2014. SteFan Kyora (text), Martin HeiMann (pHoto)

3rd place

Well prepared for the market launch:

Iwan Märki and Nicolas Durand

(from left).

The best startups Rankings

16 handelszeitung STarTup.ch 2013

Yann Tissot, CEO of L.E.S.S., has al-ready impressed several juries for en-trepreneur prizes with his startup.

L.E.S.S. has won funding from venture kick, Prix Vittoz and the W.A. de Vigier Founda-tion award – among others. This came as no surprise to the co-founder of this high-tech startup.

L.E.S.S. has developed an extremely thin, nano-structured fiber that generates and disseminates light evenly across laptop and tablet PC screens, which use dozens of LEDs for backlighting. The system made in Laus-anne uses 30 percent less energy, which ex-tends the battery life accordingly.

The fiber also makes it possible to con-struct extremely flat, frameless screens. This gives the manufacturers a way to set them-

selves apart from the otherwise monoto-nous design of IT products in the highly competitive mass market. And unlike other competing technologies, L.E.S.S. can be in-tegrated into conventional manufacturing processes, making it possible for display manufacturers to replace LEDs with more eco-friendly optical fibers – without requir-ing sizable investments.

L.E.S.S. does, however, currently need in-vestors. Although L.E.S.S. already has func-tional prototypes, in order to do business with the big display makers, they need to pro-vide between 100 and 1,000 units for testing purposes in accordance with industry prac-tices. The startup therefore needs a produc-

tion line costing several million Swiss francs to manufacture these units. «Our biggest challenge right now is getting funding for this first production line,» explains Yann Tissot.

Finding investors has proven difficult be-cause the L.E.S.S. team is looking for the most suitable venture capitalists from around the globe and has its eyes on sub-stantial seven-figure sums. Until this mas-sive round of financing is secured, the com-pany is launching spin-off products in niche markets. Later this year, the startup hopes to launch their special inspection lamps. Stefan Kyora

founded: 2012; employees: 4; www.less-optics.com

Testing drugs on tissue samples presently yields little useful information,

since samples consist of just one layer of cells and only vaguely resemble human or-gans. InSphero has developed a technology for the automated production of three-dimen-sional cancer tumors, micro-livers or other micro-organs that behave similarly to mature organs.

The startup entered the mar-ket the hard way. «We wanted to win over the big pharmaceuti-cal companies first, since they are potentially our largest cus-tomers,» explains InSphero CEO Jan Lichtenberg. Decision-making processes in large orga-nizations are complex and

drawn-out, so this phase took somewhat longer. But now it has paid off, says Lichtenberg: «The pharmaceutical compa-nies have realized the benefits of our microtissue.»

In recent months, InSphero really stepped on the gas. The largely automated production operations were ramped up, the product portfolio was expanded to include other types of micro-tissues, new employees were hired and a new office was opened in the USA. Despite this rapid pace of growth, the start-up hopes to be in the black sometime next year. Stefan Kyora

founded: 2010; employees: 28;

www.insphero.com

Fiber instead of LEDL.E.S.S. Displays consume less power thanks to fibers made by this Lausanne-based startup.

Microtissue for the pharmaceutical industryInSphero Simulating organs with three-dimensional tissue samples.

4th place

5th place

Flatter screens thanks to Yann Tissot and

Simon rivier (from left).

On track for expansion: Jens Kelm, Jan Lichtenberg, Wolfgang Moritz (from left).

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renewable resources for aerospace? Thanks to Bcomp, this might soon be a reality. In early August, the Fribourg-

based startup won a tender involving the de-velopment of new lightweight materials for the aerospace industry.

Bcomp manufactures high-tech, flax-based materials. The flax is spun, woven and coated with a resin. The results are astoun-

ding: «Our material is as light as carbon but has better damping characteristics and is also essentially made from renewable re-sources,» explains Bcomp co-CEO Cyrille Boinay.

After the company was founded in 2011, the team tackled the sports industry. Before Bcomp, Cyrille Boinay and a busi-ness partner ran a ski company together

and gained experience and contacts in the industry.

Bcomp quickly convinced small, innova-tive ski and snowboard brands to use cores made of Bcomp materials. They are lighter than conventional wooden cores and damp-en vibrations better than the cores found in other high-tech skis. Today, Stöckli and an-other larger ski manufacturer make pro-ducts with cores sourced from Fribourg. American brands are to follow next year.

The number of applications is also in-creasing as a result of projects calling for custom solutions developed by Bcomp. For example, Bcomp is now working on a pro-duct for the luxury goods sector. The posi-tive development is also reflected in the figures. «Last year we doubled our sales,» Boinay reports delightedly. Stefan Kyora

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

SLAM Scan is the name of the underly-ing technology developed by Dacuda. SLAM stands for Simultaneous Local-

ization and Mapping. The internationally patented innovation offers mobile, real-time scanning, editing and archiving of text documents and images. The ETH spin-off has already taken hold in the computer mouse market. Several international brands, including phone titan LG, have product ranges that include mice equipped with Da-cuda scanning technology.

The next step was to adapt SLAM scan-ning technology for smartphones. In an ini-tial project, Zurich-based Crealogix integra-ted the SLAM scanning technology into its

software platform for banks and developed an app that can be used to scan deposit slips with smartphones. The Baselbieter and St. Galler Kantonalbank already use the tool.

But Dacuda’s founders are aiming higher still: SLAM scanning technology will not only be used for the app development, but will also become an integral component in mobile phone architecture. Negotiations with representatives from the smartphone industry are in full swing, says CFO and co-founder Michael Born. «We hope to con-clude our first agreements before the end of the year.» JoSt Dubacher

founded: 2009; employees: 23; www.dacuda.com

Natural growthBcomp The startup’s lightweight flax materials have already gained a foothold in the sports industry. New markets are now to follow.

Your mobile phone as a scanner Dacuda The scanning technology from Zurich has bright prospects in the smartphone industry.

Bcomp masterminds christian Fischer and cyrille Boinay (from left).

6th place

7th place

alexander Ilic and Michael Born (from left) are causing a stir in the smartphone industry.

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An online and personalized support service.We provide you with free checklists and workshops so that incorporating your company becomes a smooth process. Let us guide you step by step.

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The best startups Rankings

GetYourGuide has been online since 2009. In almost no time, the online booking portal has blossomed to be-

come the global market leader. The site cur-rently lists around 22,000 offers for over 2,100 destinations. These include tours, out-ings and sightseeing. The Zurich-based startup offers travelers a way to plan their excursions from home and even book tickets for certain attractions, so they can avoid standing in lines and make sure they don't miss out.

From the very beginning, GetYourGuide has focused on rapid growth. Starting out as a student project in a venturelab course at

ETH, the spin-off now has development teams as well as sales and marketing staff in Zurich, Berlin and Las Vegas.

In early 2013, investors poured USD 14 million of venture capital into the young company. «This round of financing repre-sents one of the largest investments a Euro-pean startup has ever received from U.S. venture capital groups,» says Pascal Mathis, who runs the company together with CEO Johannes Reck.

The new funds are being invested care-fully in further growth and expansion into new markets. The young entrepreneurs are not just focusing on organic growth but

rather expanding through acquisitions. Last April, GetYourGuide bought the Berlin-based peer-to-peer platform Gidsy. Just re-cently, the Swiss startup also acquired the platform IGottaGuide, which lists offers mainly for New York City, one of Get-YourGuide's key sales destinations. Claus NiedermaNN

Founded: 2008; employees: 110;

www.getyourguide.com

Acquisitions worldwideGetYourGuide The booking platform for tourist activities is focused on rapid growth.

8th place

GetYourGuide: Pascal Mathis wants to e xpand.

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anzeiGe



The speed of digital signal transmission has increased in recent years. This has also been accompanied by an increase

in the energy consumption needed for data transmission. Amin Shokrollahi, founder and CEO of Kandou, explains the startup’s technology: «By transmitting signals more

intelligently, we can greatly increase effi-ciency.»

At present, all that matters for the signal transmission is whether or not current is flowing through a wire connection. The Kandou method uses additional parameters to transmit data, allowing more data to be

transmitted without additional wires or en-ergy. «Our technology makes it possible to transfer data twice as fast and with a quarter of the energy previously required,» explains Shokrollahi. The technology pays off not only in mobile devices because it extends battery life, but also wherever bottlenecks in data transmission occur, for example, in the case of memory chips.

But this technology has so much more potential, and Shokrollahi has what it takes to make the most of it. He has already set up and sold a company in the USA. He knows the industry and has high-caliber contacts. And he’s certainly not lacking in entrepre-neurial ambition. Shokrollahi says: «My goal is for our signal transmission techno-logy to be used in every electronic device.» Stefan Kyora

founded: 2011; employees: 30; www.kandou.com

In the past, QualySense suffered from a tru-ly first-world problem: «We had to deal with too many leads,» CEO Francesco

Dell’Endice recalls. That’s why the startup decided to focus on large companies – to great effect. Today, international corpora-tions are testing the inspection robots made by the Zurich startup.

For quite some time, QualySense has been working with Geneva-based SGS, the largest inspection company in the world. «The announcement of the partnership a year and a half ago has brought us a great deal of credibility,» recalls Dell’Endice. Winning the trust of SGS was important be-cause QualySense is taking an entirely new

approach to the quality control of seeds, beans and grains. The company’s inspec-tion robots sort each individual grain or bean according to several criteria. Not only do they sort according to visible features; they can also determine protein content, for example – and they’re fast. The company’s first device, the QSorter Explorer, is capable of inspecting no less than 50 individual grains per second.

Now QualySense is gearing up to go com-mercial. Two representatives for Germany and Russia are working for the startup in highly appealing markets. Stefan Kyora

founded: 2010; employees: 10; www.qualysense.com

Faster dataKandou A new signal transmission method significantly reduces power consumption in all devices.

Cinderella the robotQualySense Inspection robots sort grains and beans, piece by piece – at a spectacular speed.

Founder amin Shokrollahi is also an energy saver.

9th place

10th place

partnership with SGS: Francesco Dell’Endice, cEO (center), with co-founders Olga Mykhailova and paolo D’alcini.

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Ranks 11 to 20 Rankings

20 handelszeitung StaRtup.ch 2013

11. Biognosys, schlieren

The technology developed by Biognosys allows hundreds of proteins to be identified simultaneously. The tests can be carried out independently with the company’s reagents and software or through the testing service offered by Biognosys. The company dou-bled its sales in 2012 and is well on its way to operating in the black.

www.biognosys.ch

12. Lemoptix, Lausanne

The micro projectors developed by Lemoptix are not only compact and inex-pensive to produce – they also require very little power. The head-up displays for cars that project information onto the wind-screen hold a great deal of potential.

www.lemoptix.com

13. ProteoMediX, schlieren

Today’s prostate cancer tests frequently trigger false alarms resulting in costly biop-sies. The new test from ProteoMediX chang-es all this. The technology from the ETH spin-off is also suitable for developing addi-tional cancer tests and for selecting treat-ments tailored individually to the patient.

www.proteomedix.com

14. Malcisbo, Zurich

Malcisbo, a startup specializing in vac-cines for animals, has announced a mile-

stone. At the end of this year, the spin-off from the ETH Institute of Microbiology is planning to start a three-month trial vaccine against the red twisted stomach worm, which mainly affects sheep.

www.malcisbo.com

15. sWissto12, Lausanne

SWISSto12 specializes in components used in the transmission of rarely used tera-hertz signals and reported good news this year. It won the De Vigier Prize, was awarded a contract for a CTI project and found a sig-nificant investor.

www.swissto12.com

16. aleva neurotherapeutics, Lausanne

The microelectrodes made by Aleva stimulate parts of the brain in patients with neurological diseases. The electrodes are manufactured using a technique taken from the semiconductor industry.

www.aleva-neuro.com

17. staff Finder, Zurich

Staff Finder provides employers with temporary staff who are available on short notice. In addition to the search process, the online system handles the contract and HR administration tasks to maximize efficiency. Staff Finder currently places thousands of jobs each month.

www.staff-finder.jobs

18. joiz, Zurich

joiz social TV began broadcasting TV programs in Germany from its Berlin loca-tion in August. As it has already done in Switzerland, joiz involves a fusion of web, mobile communications, social media and TV. It appeals predominantly to the 15 to 34 audience, which is a particularly attractive target group for advertisers.

www.joiz.ch

19. aïmago, Lausanne

The system developed by Aïmago helps with the reliable early detection of tissue with poor circulation. Last year, the ETH Lausanne spin-off was approved by the FDA in the U.S. and received U.S. patent protec-tion. The clinical benefit of system has also been documented.

www.aimago.com

20. faceshift, Zürich

faceshift CEO Thibaut Weise demon-strates his software without saying a single word. He installs a commercially available camera equipped with a motion and depth sensor to record the movements of his face. The faceshift software translates Weise’s fa-cial movements to the avatar’s movements on the screen in real-time.

www.faceshift.com

The eight industries in the rankings

Microtechnology, testing and measurement,equipment design

Medical devices

Internet

Cleantech

Biotechnology

Software

Products and services for consumers

Mobile: software and services for mobile devices

Medical devices

New companies in the fast laneThe top five medtech startups have made significant progress in recent months. Ale-va Neurotherapeutics (rank 16), for exam-ple, develops innovative microelectrodes that apply weak electrical shocks for deep brain stimulation, whereby areas of the brain can be stimulated or deactivated. The method is used for Parkinson›s and other neurological diseases. The Aleva electrodes emit shocks in a very targeted manner, thus minimizing side effects. At Bern Uni-versity Hospital, the electrodes have prov-en successful in an initial clinical trial, which yielded results that were better than ex-pected.

The top five medtech startups1. Abionic (rank 3)2. Aleva Neurotherapeutics (rank 16)3. Aïmago (rank 19)4. Compliant Concept (rank 34)5. Credentis (rank 35)

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Rankings Ranks 21 to 30

21 StaRtup.ch 2013 handelszeitung

21. park it, Zurich

The park-it app makes it possible to both rent and rent out parking spaces. Launched in January, the company has expanded to several Swiss cities, gained partners such as the SBB and Migros subsidiary m-way. Alongside the iPhone version, the company now offers an Android version as well.

www.parkit.ch

22. glycemicon, Zurich

Diabetes causes fat cells to stop respond-ing to the hormone insulin, which regulates blood sugar levels. The active ingredient in Glycemicon restores the responsiveness of fat cells and the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar. The active ingredient is to be sold as a «medical food» available on pre-scription.

www.glycemicon.com

23. adello, Zurich

Adello focuses on mobile advertising and launched operations in Germany, Poland, Austria, Hungary and the UK in recent months. In March, the company also launched ADCTRL, a technology that pro-vides real-time analytics for mobile adver-tising.

www.adello.com

24. BugBuster, Lausanne

BugBuster, an EPFL spin-off, developed a tool that automatically tests web applica-tions for websites and smartphones in order to reduce the effort required for testing by as much as 90 percent. This also improves the quality of the apps. The tool is currently in beta and available in a free, Software as a Service (SaaS) version in the cloud.

www.bugbuster.com

25. Trekksoft, interlaken

TrekkSoft offers providers of tours and activities a booking and payment solution that can be integrated into their websites. The Bern-based company recently caught people’s attention after completing a financ-ing round. Alongside institutional investors, TrekkSoft was able to get high-profile pri-vate investors on board, including the for-mer CEOs of Kuoni and Hotelplan.

www.trekksoft.com

26. Climeworks, Zurich

CO₂ also has its upsides. The gas is used as a protective atmosphere in the packaging of

foods, for example, or to accelerate the growth of plants. Using waste heat, Clime-works’ technology can produce the gas in a practically CO₂-neutral manner, since the systems extract it from the ambient air.

www.climeworks.com

27. Jilion, Lausanne

Jilion describes Horizon, the product it launched in late 2012, as a «video applica-tion framework». Customers can use it to develop customized video players that work in any browser and on any device, making it possible to build video players that perfectly match a company’s corporate identity.

www.jilion.com

28. gastros, Zurich

The Inductwarm system from Gastros is an innovative warming solution for upscale restaurants. The system uses inductive heat-ing elements and porcelain vessels with a special coating. Inductwarm gently heats the food and is energy-efficient the. Series

production is in the works and scheduled to begin in 2014.

www.gastros.ch

29. agilentia, Zurich

Statutory provisions generate a paper storm when it comes to organizing general assemblies. A team of lawyers and software engineers has developed a software plat-form called Sherpany that simplifies the sharing of information between companies, boards of directors and their shareholders.

www.agilentia.ch

30. THE ROkkER COMPanY, Widnau

The St. Gallen-based startup founded by Kai Glatt and Michael Kuratli has been com-bining the utilitarian with the fashionable in motorcycle outerwear since 2008. The com-pany’s specialty is a pair of jeans with a spe-cial interior fabric that protects motorcyc-lists in accidents and shields against wind and rain.

www.therokkercompany.com

Internet

Innovation with a capital IThe Internet is full of me-too products. But you would have to look hard to find any of these among the Swiss Top 100. The Swiss spirit of innovation and high quality stan-dards is manifested here as well. Take for example Viktor Calabrò›s startup Staff Finder, a platform for placing temporary employees (rank 17). Thanks to a specially developed piece of software and special-izations of internal employees, Staff Finder is more efficient and much faster than other agencies. What also makes it unique is that the desired number of temps are

ready within hours. Reviews for both em-ployers and employees ensure that the quality of the referrals is even better.

the five best Internet startups 1. HouseTrip (rank 1)2. GetYourGuide (rank 8)3. Staff Finder (rank 17)4. joiz (rank 18)5. Politnetz (rank 44)

Staff Finder: Founder Viktor calabrò.

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31. Limmex, Zurich

The patented emergency watch from Limmex can call for help at the push of a button. Last year, the startup was already awarded its first million-dollar contract in France. The market launch in Germany was also a success. To handle the company’s continuing expansion, Andy Rihs’ investors brought in an experienced CEO named Martin Reber.

www.limmex.com

32. Combagroup, Molondin

Environmentally friendly lettuce cultiva-tion thanks to a high-tech solution: A spe-cially developed robot generates a kind of foam in which the seedlings are planted. This growing method increases efficiency fivefold and significantly reduces environ-mental impact. A pilot system is planned for the fall.

www.combagroup.com

33. Mabimmune Diagnostics, schlieren

Mabimmune is developing a test and a drug to prevent heart attacks. In the past twelve months, founder Chad Brokopp was the proud recipient of two awards. Venture kick supported the startup with an invest-ment of CHF 130,000 and the company re-ceived an interest-free loan from the Volks-wirtschaftsstiftung.

www.mabimmune.com

34. Compliant Concept, Dübendorf

The Mobility Monitor developed by the EMPA spin-off is an electronic assistant for nursing staff at hospitals and nursing homes. The measuring instrument does not require body contact and identifies whether patients are moving adequately in order to prevent bedsores. Alongside the market launch at the beginning of this year, the company announced that it had successfully completed a financing round.

www.compliant-concept.ch

35. Credentis, Windisch

Dentists no longer need to drill early-stage dental cavities. Credentis has devel-oped a substance that helps damaged teeth remineralize themselves. A second product line covers the preventative market. In the spring of 2013, the company, which is based at Technopark Aargau, completed a round of financing and is now expanding its mar-ket presence in Europe and the USA.

www.credentis.com

36. Typesafe, Lausanne

Scala is a programming language de-signed for the development of the most cutting-edge software, including cloud computing applications. The language was developed by EPFL professor Martin Odersky, who is also a co-founder of Typesafe. The startup provides support, tools, training and consulting for the programming language. Customers include LinkedIn and Twitter.

www.typesafe.com

37. YouRehab, Zurich

Combining a computer game with the rehabilitation of patients with movement disorders sounds daring. Yet by concentrat-ing on the game, patients exercise more intensely. The products from YouRehab are used in many hospitals to treat patients who have suffered strokes, spinal cord injuries or have Parkinson’s disease or other move-ment disorders.

www.yourehab.com

38. newscron, Lugano

The app from Newscron gives nearly everyone access to the latest newspapers right from their smartphones. More than 11,000 articles from over 250 news sources in Switzerland, Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, Spain, England and Ireland are formatted each day, and more than two mil-lion articles are read each month. The Ticino-based company generates revenues through advertising.

www.newscron.com

39. actLight, Lausanne

Equipping small electronic devices with solar panels makes little sense. Normal solar cells are not particularly effective when they are small and used indoors. ActLight wants to solve this problem with solar cells that are several times more efficient under these conditions than the existing technologies.

www.act-light.com

40. sensima Technology, gland

Sensima offers completely new types of magnetic sensors. Last year, the company achieved several important milestones: Products underwent further development, the first major orders came in, and the com-pany recently completed a second round of financing. Sensima will use the money to ex-pand production facilities to generate further growth.

www.sensimatech.com

Best newcomers

obvious customer benefitsA new product might be elegant or stun-ning, but ultimately what counts is how it benefits the customer. The newcomers who made it onto the top 100 ranking for the first time understood this. The best example is faceshift (rank 20). The soft-ware made by the spin-off from ETH Lau-sanne detects human facial movements and translates them in real-time into an avatar›s facial expression. The process is much simpler than past «motion capture» solutions because the pre-processing phase is considerably shorter, for exam-ple.This saves the customer time and money. In November, the standard soft-ware version was launched and it is al-ready being used by major studios for the production of films, games and visual effects.

the five best newcomers1. faceshift (rank 20)2. park it (rank 21)3. Glycemicon (rank 22)4. BugBuster (rank 24)5. CombaGroup (rank 32)

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rankings Ranks 41 to 50


41. sophia genetics, Lausanne

Data from patients’ genome sequences is used to estimate the risk of disease, or to make choices about treatment options. The bioinformatics startup Sophia Genetics assists doctors, hospitals and the pharmaceutical industry with the analysis, visualization, storage and quality assurance of these kinds of data.

www.sophiagenetics.com

42. ampard, Zurich

Wind and solar energy production is on the rise. Decentralized electricity storage is the key to providing power to the right place at right time. Ampard works on these kinds of solutions and has developed control software that optimizes the capacity of such power plants.

www.ampard.com

43. smixin, Biel

Smixin is a cleantech company in the literal sense: The startup has developed a technology for environmentallyfriendly

hand washing. The system creates the ideal mix of soap and water, lowering water consumption by as much as 90 percent. A French company is already marketing the technology to professional kitchens.

www.smixin.com

44. Politnetz, Zurich

In March, the Swiss Council of States (Ständerat) decided to use electronic voting in the future. Politnetz provided the impetus behind this decision after the political platform discovered an incorrectly counted vote conducted by a show of hands. The ensuing debate generated a lot of positive publicity for Politnetz.

www.politnetz.ch

45. MindMaze, Ecublens

The motor activity rehabilitation after an accident or stroke is tedious and expensive. The neurotechnological platform made by the EPFL spinoff MindMaze – a combination of imaging techniques, 3D technology and virtual reality – speeds up the process because patients train themselves to a cer

tain extent. The product was launched in August 2013.

www.mindmaze.com

46. stemergie, geneva

To battle brain tumors, Stemergie offers a technology platform for developing drugs that target cells that trigger the growth of carcinomas. As this applies to other diseases as well, plans are also underway to expand to other areas.

www.stemergie.com

47. swisstom, Landquart

The technology from Swisstom makes it possible to peer into the hearts and lungs of living patients and monitor them in real time. After the company demonstrated the feasibility of its prototypes, it completed a second round of funding in January. The market launch is planned for October.

www.swisstom.com

48. Zurich instruments, Zurich

The Lockin Amplifier from Zurich Instruments tracks and filters out weak signals from the micro and nanoworld. Customers include hightech laboratories and industrial R&D centers. In March, the young company – a spinoff from the ETH Department of Biosystems – opened an office in France.

www.zhinst.com

49. HYT, Biel

In 2012, the startup launched a new product that stunned the watch world. The H1 mechanical wristwatch uses a colored liquid to show the hours. Two tiny pumps make this possible. In 2013, a second model using the same technology followed. HYT plans to manufacture 250 of the luxury watches this year and 500 in 2014.

www.hytwatches.com

50. swissLitho, Zurich

The NanoFrazor developed by SwissLitho makes it possible to create threedimensional nanostructures. This makes work easier, faster and less expensive for research institutes and companies in the electronics, medicine, life sciences and optics industries. The startup has been awarded several prizes.

www.swisslitho.com

Quick off the mark

a fast pace in all sectorsThe newest company in the Top 100 list is a biotechnology startup that is developing a product for diabetes. At first glance, it is astounding because biotech companies require a long time to bring a product to market. Yet Glycemicon (rank 22) is not working on a drug, but instead what is known as a «medical food.» It has also been extensively tested for safety and effective-ness, but there are fewer hurdles to over-come since the medical food is based on a substance that occurs naturally in the human body and in food. Glycemicon founder

Nadja Mrosek expects that development will take four to five years – about half the time necessary for a new drug.

the five newest companies 1. Glycemicon (rank 22)2. Newscron (rank 38)3. Amphasys (rank 98)4. Koring (rank 54)5. ParkU (rank 59)

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51. swissLeg, Lugano

Economic and social goals are not mutu-ally exclusive. The innovative and affordable prosthetic legs made by SwissLeg provide patients in the developing world the care they need. The company was backed with CHF 130,000 from the venture kick initiative and is the winner of the Swiss Social Entre-preneurship Award.

www.swissleg.com

52. saV-iOL, Hauterive

The insertion of lens implants for people with cataracts is a common surgical proce-dure. The Neuchâtel-based startup SAV-IOL has developed a polyfocal lens that remark-ably enhances patients’ vision. The product is approved in Switzerland and the EU and will soon be launched in the USA.

www.sav-iol.com

53. Qvanteq, Zurich

Constricted blood vessels are routinely expanded using what are known as stents. Qvanteq’s surface technology prevents the stent from integrating into the tissue, which would once again cause narrowing. In Feb-ruary 2013, the ETH spin-off received CHF 4 million for clinical trials and EU approval.

www.qvanteq.com

54. koring, Basel

Each year, 300,000 ostomies are implant-ed worldwide. After the surgery, abdominal hernias often form. Koring, an innovation developed by the Basel-based surgeon Philipp Kirchhoff, stabilizes the ostomy and prevents follow-up operations. In Novem-ber 2012, Kirchhoff won the Swiss Techno-logy Award in the «Inventors» category.

www.koring.ch

55. greenTEg, Zurich

greenTEG launched a highly precise and fast heat flux sensor for measuring heat loss in buildings. greenTEG’s vision is to produce high-tech films based on the sensor’s un-derlying technology. These films are de-signed to convert temperature differences into electricity.

www.greenteg.com

56. Cascination, Bern

Only one in five scattered liver tumors can be operated on using conventional methods. A navigation system for the con-trol and destruction of liver metastases pro-

vides much needed assistance. The system was developed by CAScination, a spin-off of the ARTORG Center for Biomedical En-gineering at the University of Bern. The market launch is complete and the market volume is estimated at 600 units.

www.cascination.com

57. Domosafety, Lausanne

The EPFL spin-off developed a residen-tial monitoring system for persons depen-dent on nursing care that uses wireless sen-sor technology. The system is already in use in the canton of Vaud. In July, DomoSafety completed a financing round for nearly CHF 1 million.

www.domosafety.ch

58. koubachi, Zurich

The ETH Zurich spin-off sells a sensor that notifies smartphone users when a plant needs water or shade. Two models are available for indoor and outdoor use. The sensor, which has won a design award, is in high-demand and one of the most

popular Apple product accessories in the United States.

www.koubachi.com

59. ParkU, Zurich

One earns money with their unused parking spaces; the other finds a parking space. After a successful launch in German-speaking Switzerland, ParkU has expanded its agency system to the Romandy region. The startup has been given a real boost, thanks to a partnership with mobile phone giant Samsung, which pre-installs the ParkU app on its new devices.

www.parku.ch

60. Logograb, Lugano

The LogoGrab app provides consumers with additional information about certain products. The app turns logos into links: users can photograph logos with their smartphones to access information, special offers or competitions.

www.logograb.com

CleanteCh

never out of breathThe systems made by Climeworks (rank 26) extract CO2 from ambient air – with a low process heat of 80-100 degrees Cel-sius. The extracted gas is then used to pro-duce synthetic fuels, for example. If green energy is used for the production, the fuels are carbon neutral. The eight-member Climeworks team is making progress, step by step, on this challenging journey. A pro-totype has been in operation at the company›s facilities at the Technopark in Zurich since December 2012. «The data is slightly better than expected,» revealed co-

founder and co-CEO Jan Wurzbacher. Now the ETH spin-off is making plans for the first industrial systems with pilot custom-ers. These projects for industrial clients have already generated the first revenues.

the best cleantech startups1. L.E.S.S. (rank 4)2. Bcomp (rank 6)3. Kandou (rank 9)4. Climeworks (rank 26)5. ActLight (rank 39)

climeworks: co-founders christoph Gebald and Jan Wurzbacher (from left).

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rankings Ranks 61 to 70


61. recommerce, Baar

Verkaufen.ch buys mobile phones, tablet PCs and iPods, refurbishes them and then resells them. The platform allows sellers to determine the value of their devices, ship them in for free and get paid. Internet insid-ers like Exsilia-founder Rouven Küng and former CEO of ricardo.ch Peter Oertlin are involved in Recommerce, the company behind verkaufen.ch.

www.verkaufen.ch

62. Designergy, Lugano

Transforming a roof from a cost into a source of income – that is the vision of the Ticino-based startup Designergy. The goal is to create a device with integrated thermal insulation and photovoltaics. If everything goes as planned, the first commercial pro-jects should be completed in 2014.

www.designergy.ch

63. searchbox, Lausanne

Searchbox provides search engines with a semantic search capability, including a cloud-based solution. The search engines make it possible to find, sort and filter all rel-evant information. The products obviously impressed Lausanne-based Debiopharm, which participated in a financing round in the fall of 2012.

www.searchbox.com

64. Winterthur instruments, Winterthur

The devices made by the multiple award-winning startup use a non-contact method involving light pulses to measure the thick-ness and quality of surface coatings. The technology can be used, for example, to inspect paint layers directly after they are applied. Waiting until the paint is dry is unnecessary. Winterthur Instruments is a spin-off from the Zurich University of Ap-plied Sciences (ZHAW).

www.winterthurinstruments.ch

65. Lotaris, Yverdon-les-Bains

Today, consumers can purchase up-grades from within apps. Buying virtual goods while playing smartphone games has benefits. Lotaris makes these kinds of trans-actions possible. The in-appCommerce platform is also available to independent developers, making Lotaris attractive to the big players in the industry as well. In August, Lotaris entered into a partnership with Pay-Pal.

www.lotaris.com

66. Optotune, Dietikon

Optotune took first place in the Top 100 list in 2011 and sixth place last year. Now the company is only an «also-ran» because, in the view of many experts, the Zurich-based company has long since grown out of its startup phase. The electrically moldable lenses made by the ETH spin-off are seen as the next big thing in the world of industrial optics.

www.optotune.com

67. iprova, Lausanne

Iprova is all about computer-aided inno-vations. The company has developed a soft-ware program that searches the Internet for information on emerging technologies. Based on the results, customers are able to generate patents much more quickly. Ipro-va’s product has impressed several large companies.

www.iprova.com

68. attolight, Lausanne

The device developed by Attolight com-bines an ultra-fast laser with a scanning electron microscope. This makes it pos-sible, for example, to film moving electrons. Applications include the quality control of computer chips and solar cells, which is a major area of interest for Asian com-panies and research institutions. Atto- light therefore delivered the first device to Asia.

www.attolight.com

69. nBE Therapeutics, Basel

The drugs developed by NBE combine antibodies with toxic substances that attack cancer cells, for example. The startup, which is based at Technologiepark Basel can look back on a positive first year. It completed a round of seed funding, registered two patents, built the necessary laboratory infra-structure – all while starting two funded research projects.

www.nbe-therapeutics.com

70. Pharmalp, Conthey

Probiotics are bacteria related to the microorganisms in the human intestinal flora. Based in the canton of Valais, Pharmalp develops probiotic supplements with scien-tifically and clinically proven efficacy for the digestive tract. Three products are regis-tered with the Federal Office of Public Health (BAG).

www.pharmalp.ch

Moving on up

Startups in the spotlightMany people talk about personalized medicine. Mabimmune (rank 33) has already made this a reality. The startup is developing a blood test as well as a drug for preventing heart attacks. The test makes it possible to identify people with a high risk of suffering a heart attack. The drug significantly reduces the risk of thrombosis in the identified risk group. The combination of testing and therapy promises not only to be especially effec-tive; it is also expected to have fewer side effects. After winning several awards from organizations such as venture kick and venture leaders, Mabimmune is now well and truly in the spotlight. It is there-fore no surprise that the company was able to climb 65 places in the rankings compared to last year.

The companies that improvedmost in the rankings1. TrekkSoft (rank 25)2. Mabimmune Diagnostics (rank 33)3. Adello Group (rank 23)4. Gastros (rank 28)5. Agilentia (rank 29)

Mabimmune: Founder chad Brokopp. brun

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71. suitart, Zurich

SuitArt creates made-to-measure cloth-ing. Last September, the startup caused a sensation when former Vögele CEO André Maeder invested in the company. The money allowed SuitArt to expand inter-nationally. Strong growth is expected again this year after sales increased by 50 percent in 2012.

www.suitart.com

72. Elmove, Zurich

Zurich-based Elmove develops and sells electric drive units for two- and three-wheeled vehicles. The company collabo-rates with one Italian and one German vehicle manufacturer. The sales and service network is currently in development. Inves-tors also include SVC Ltd. for Risk Capital for SMEs, a subsidiary of Credit Suisse.

www.elmove.com

73. Thelkin, Winterthur

Replacing an implant is costly. The mar-ket for tests is growing. Thelkin’s testing instruments are completely electronic, making them much more efficient than competing hydraulic or pneumatic prod-ucts. They are sold in Europe and overseas.

www.thelkin.com

74. Flatev, Zurich

Like Nespresso capsules – except the capsules contain dough, and the appliance is a tortilla machine. Ready-made tortillas are made at the push of a button. The main target market is North America. The startup completed a financing round in August 2013.

www.flatev.com

75. DistalMotion, Lausanne

Minimally-invasive surgical techniques speed up patients’ recovery and therefore are less expensive than conventional meth-ods. However there is room for improve-ment with regard to the translation of the surgeon›s movements outside the body into the maneuvers inside the body. The EPFL spin-off has built a revolutionary transmis-sion device that promises to deliver the ut-most precision.

www.distalmotion.com

76. andrew alliance, geneva

The pipetting robot made by Andrew Alliance fits on any lab bench, offers great

flexibility and is much cheaper than larger systems. The Geneva startup was awarded the CTI Startup Label in June this year.

www.andrewalliance.com

77. koemei, Martigny

At the heart of Koemei’s business is a software program that automatically tran-scribes videos. Based in the canton of Valais, the startup developed an all-in- one service that offers an online platform and a video player allowing users to share, edit, search and store videos. The service is used by clients such as the University of Geneva and the City University of New York.

www.koemei.com

78. Everdreamsoft, geneva

EverdreamSoft developed a trading card game called Moonga for smartphones. There are currently 500 different cards that can be collected and traded and also used for playing against other opponents. Moonga has been downloaded 250,000

times since the company was launched three years ago.

www.everdreamsoft.com

79. Celeroton, Zurich

Founded five years ago, the ETH spin-off develops and markets electronic drive sys-tems with speeds ranging from 200,000 up to the world record of 1 million rpms. The miniature turbo compressors are lightweight and compact. They are used in home appli-ances, high-tech machinery, heat pumps, ventilation systems and are sold worldwide.

www.celeroton.com

80. glass2energy, Yverdon-les-Bains

Solar cells made by glass2energy consist of glass, are transparent and are therefore easily integrated into buildings. The first panels were installed in the main building of the Geneva airport in April. After complet-ing a round of financing, the company looks set to expand.

www.g2e.ch

Top canTons

More than just Zurich and VaudFourteen cantons are represented in the rankings. Four promising companies including SwissLeg (rank 51) are from Ticino. The company produces innovative, affordable prosthetic legs. And there is huge demand: Millions of amputees, particularly in regions of conflict, do not have prosthetic legs. Funded by an intergovernmental organization, SwissLeg has established its first orthopedic center in Jordan. The startup has plans for twelve orthopedic centers in total.

SwissLeg: cEO Roberto agosta and cOO paulo Gonçalves (from left).

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Zurich45

Basel-Stadt 4

Bern 4

Ticino 4

Geneva 3

Neuchâtel 3

Vaud27

The seven cantons with the most top startups

Rankings Ranks 81 to 90


81. geosatis, Le noirmont

Time in prison is expensive and compli-cates the offender’s reintegration into soci-ety. The electronic monitoring system from the Jura-based startup Geosatis offers a so-lution. A software program with an alarm function combines a locatable ankle cuff, a base station and a device that keeps the criminals away from potential victims.

www.geo-satis.com

82. UrbanFarmers, Zurich

The spin-off from the University of Ap-plied Sciences Wädenswil has developed a greenhouse for the city. The world’s first aquaponic farm has been built at the loco-motive storage facility in Basel. Vegetables and fish are produced here and then sold at the nearby Migros supermarket. The goal is to sell entire production systems that can be monitored using an app.

www.urbanfarmers.com

83. numab, Wädenswil

Numab develops antibody-based drugs. The startup announced a milestone pay-

ment of over CHF 3 million from a collabo-ration with the pharmaceutical company Sucampo. In addition, the company is in-volved in a project that the CTI has funded with CHF 900,000.

www.numab.com

84. Pix4D, Lausanne

Aerial photos can be taken easily and in-expensively with drones and unmanned he-licopters. Pix4D, a spin-off from the Com-puter Vision Lab at EPFL, has developed a software program that assembles thousands of these images to create 2D maps and 3D models. Potential customers include mining companies, environmental agencies and di-saster relief organizations.

www.pix4d.com

85. sUsi Partners, Zurich

In collaboration with a Luxembourg-based investment fund manager, the in-vestment firm SUSI Partners is giving in-vestors the opportunity to invest in sus-tainable energy infrastructures. The funds managed by SUSI are invested directly in energy systems, energy storage and en-

ergy efficiency improvements to existing plants.

www.susi-partners.ch

86. iLanD green technologies, neuchâtel

The thin film technology developed by the Neuchâtel-based startup makes it pos-sible to produce collapsible, lightweight so-lar panels. Building upon this, ILAND green technologies has developed a range of portable power generators that can be used outdoors and in emerging coun-tries with insufficient electricity infrastruc-ture.

www.iland-solar.com

87. upicto, Zurich

The spin-off from the Computer Vision Lab at ETH Zurich has developed an algo-rithm that analyzes the content of videos, se-lects relevant segments and then presents them. The software is self-learning and in-tended for video surveillance firms.

www.upicto.com

88. DaHU sports Company, Fribourg

The idea is as simple as it is ingenious: a ski boot with a removable outer shell. When skiing, the boot is safely secured within the shell. To walk, simply remove the shell. In July, the startup completed a financing round for more than CHF 1 million. Produc-tion is now being ramped up and the ski boots are expected to be on retailers’ shelves before the end of this winter.

www.dahusports.com

89. 42matters, Zurich

The ETH spin-off is a pioneer for finding apps. It has launched two products: App-Aware, which uses app recommendations from a community, and Playboard, which lets users create and share topic-specific app lists for the purpose of recommending apps to others.

www.42matters.com

90. advanced Osteotomy Tools (aOT), Basel

The medical technology startup AOT is developing a device that improves preci-sion, safety and speed when cutting and re-moving bone. It consists of a robot with a laser cutter as well as a planning and naviga-tion system. The company is basing its inno-vation on research conducted by the Uni-versity Hospital Basel.

www.aot-swiss.com

Micro/nanotechnology

Swissness helps promote exports«We are now reaping the fruits of our labor,» says Benoît Dagon, CEO of the nanotech-nology startup Imina Technologies (rank 94). The company has launched the world’s smallest nano-manipulator, which allows very small objects to be moved easily and with precision. In the past twelve months, the company has established a worldwide distribution network and generated its first sales outside Europe. Now the startup is operating in the black, focusing on organic growth and expanding its team while at the same time doing something positive for

Switzerland’s image. «We like to point out that our suppliers come from the watch in-dustry,» said Dagon.

the top five micro/nanotechnology startups1. QualySense (rank 10)2. Lemoptix (rank 12)3. SWISSto12 (rank 15)4. Sensima Technology (rank 40)5. Zurich Instruments (rank 48)

Imina technologies: cEO Benoît Dagon and Guillaume Boetsch (from left).

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91. aeon scientific, Zurich

A year after Aeon completed its first fi-nancing round, a second followed in June of 2013. Private investors and the Zürcher Kan-tonalbank invested CHF 4 million to com-plete the development of the first product. Aeon is developing a device that can be used to more precisely control catheters during surgeries. The first area of application will be heart operations.

www.aeon-scientific.com

92. slyde Watch, Luins

Slyde wristwatches unite high-tech inno-vation with the fine art of Swiss watchmak-ing. The watches feature a high-end touch-screen that displays highly complex virtual clock mechanisms. The startup and its expe-rienced team are on course for global ex-pansion. In July, a flagship store opened in Beijing.

www.slyde.ch

93. aVk systems, Lausanne

The products made by AVK enable many different sporting events to be broadcast in HD audio over the Internet, on the radio or on TV. The 25-person company has also caused a stir internationally and was includ-ed in the Red Herring list of the 100 best European startups.

www.avksystems.com

94. imina Technologies, Lausanne

The nanomanipulator from Imina is not much larger than a sugar cube, but do not be fooled: «mibot» is a high-performance in-strument that allows nanometer-sized ob-jects to be moved with extreme precision under a microscope. It can be quickly put into action and is highly versatile – mibot can also be used easily in vacuum cham-bers, for instance.

www.imina.ch

95. Preclin Biosystems, Lausanne

The service provider Preclin Biosystems has positioned itself as a one-stop shop for preclinical testing for new drugs. It pro-vides information to pharmaceutical com-panies that are developing new drugs re-garding the effectiveness, side effects and target market of the drugs. The platform of the startup thus drastically speeds up the preclinical phase of drug development and saves money.

www.preclinbiosystems.com

96. Uepaa!, Zurich

Uepaa! makes it possible to place emer-gency calls even outside the mobile phone network. The app supports the alarm sys-tem at the Uepaa! Rescue Center, signifi-cantly increasing the safety of mountain-eers in both winter and summer. In early July, the app became available for CHF 2 for Android and iPhone. Sales got off to a bril-liant start.

www.uepaa.ch

97. Ethical skincare Company, neuchâtel

The cosmetics company combines luxu-ry with eco-friendliness to keep pace with the growing trend towards natural cosmet-ics. The products bearing the Zilooa brand name do not contain any of the water-pol-luting substances found in commonly avail-able creams. The startup currently makes a sunscreen and moisturizers for women and for men.

www.zilooa.com

98. amphasys, Root

The startup has developed a device that enables quick and easy analysis of plant, ani mal and human cells. The device is por-table, so analyses can also be performed outside the laboratory. For example, seed quality can be tested in the greenhouse, which was the motivation behind one Dutch seed company,s support for the startup›s product development activities.

www.amphasys.com

99. PumpTire, Zurich

Well-inflated bicycle tires are more effi-cient, improve riding comfort and extend the life of the tires. Tires constantly lose air and have to be regularly pumped up – a te-dious task for any cyclist. PumpTire has found the solution. The startup is develop-ing a bicycle tube that self-inflates while riding.

www.pumptire.com

100. Bluetector, Root

Bluetector combines wastewater remo-val with energy recovery in a system that fits inside a shipping container. Customers save up to 75 percent compared to what they paid in the past to dispose of highly contaminat-ed water. A financing round in early summer gave the startup the funds it needed to de-liver the first products to customers.

www.bluetector.com

Top indusTries

swiss fortitudeWhen it comes to medical devices, startups make good use of Swiss strengths and virtues. But other sectors, too, benefit from Swiss traditions. Take Uepaa! (rank 96), for example. The startup›s app transforms the smartphones of millions of outdoor enthusiasts into alpine tracking, alarm and rescue devices that work outside the mobile phone network. Here in Switzerland, Uepaa! combined forces with the likes of Rega, Mammut and Swisscom. Switzerland is also an ideal market for the product, which is why the Uepaa! app made its debut here last July. International expansion will begin before the end of the year.

uepaa!: cEO Ma-thias haussmann.

Consumer produCTs

entrepreneurial spiritThe Top 100 list includes more and more companies that develop consumer products, such as PumpTire (rank 99). The startup is developing a bicycle tube that selfinflates while riding. The market is enormous – the USA and EU alone consume 130 million bicycle tubes each year. PumpTire is now working on the industrialization of production and is seeking investors.

The five best suppliers1. Gastros (rank 28)2. The Rokker Company (rank 30)3. Limmex (rank 31)4. CombaGroup (rank 32)5. HYT (rank 49)

pumptire: cEO Benjamin Krempel.

Startups by industry

Medical devicesCleantechSoftware

Micro/nanotechnologyConsumer products

BiotechnologyMobileInternet

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The experTs


The experts on the sceneJury 100 experts have selected the top 100 startups, with each expert choosing and rating their ten favorites. The rankings list is based on the total of these scores.

ACarole Ackermann Zurich. President of Business An-gels Switzerland (BAS). CEO of Diamondscull, invest-ment company in the medical and environmental fields. www.diamondscull.ch

Flavio Agosti, St. Gallen. In charge of the venturelab program in German-speaking Switzerland as well as the 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 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 Affentranger Associates, a venture capital firm. Co-founder of various IT startups. www.aasa.com

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

Peter Balsiger, Zurich. Partner at aventic partners, executive management at AM-Tec Kredit, Foundation for Promotion of SMEs. www.aventicpartners.ch

Luc-Olivier Bauer, Zurich. Member of the Investment Advisory Committee at the venture capital firm Nano Dimension. www.nanodimension.com

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

Marc P. Bernegger, Zug. Founder of various companies including usgang.ch and Amiando. Angel investor. Part-ner at Next Generation Finance Invest. www.nextgfi.com

Christoph Birkholz, Zurich. Co-founder and Managing Director of the global community network Impact Hub. www.zurich.the-hub.net

Philip Bodmer, Dübendorf. Business angel. President of the Volkswirtschaft-Stiftung. Member of CTI Invest and StartAngels Network. Expert at the de Vigier Foundation. www.volkswirtschaft-stiftung.ch

Jan Bomholt, St. Gallen. Co-founder of the b-to-v (BrainsToVentures) business angel network. Founder of the MeinEinkauf portal. https://meineinkauf.ch

Silvio Bonaccio, Zurich. Head of ETH transfer/ spin-offs, member of the steering committee of the Venture Business Plan Competition at ETH Zürich. www.vpf.ethz.ch

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 the Romandie region. www.capitalproximite.ch

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

Peter E. Braun, St. Gallen. Active business angel. Founder/CEO of the Mountain Club investors network. www.mountain-club.ag

David Brown, Lausanne. Active business angel. found-er/co-founder of various startups including buy.at/Poken. Board of Directors SalsaDev. Member of Go Beyond. http://ch.linkedin.com/in/spacecubist

Peter E. Burckhardt, Basel. CEO of EVA – the Basel life sciences startup agency. CEO Basel Inkubator. President BioBac. www.basel-inkubator.ch

CHeinrich Christen, Zurich. Partner at Ernst & Young. Focus: medtech. Partner in Charge of Entrepreneur Of The Year. www.ey.com

Gert Christen, Zurich. CEO of BlueLion, incubator for ICT and cleantech companies. CEO of Startzentrum Zürich. www.bluelion.ch

Pierre Comte, Neuchâtel. Business Angel, focus: medtech. Founder/CEO of Sigma Professional. Lecturer at EPFL and IMD. CTI startup coach and venturelab trainer. www.venturelab.ch

Alexandre Coquoz, Neuchâtel. Associate Director of Innobridge. CEO of Jade Invest. www.innobridge.com

DAlberto De Lorenzi, Bioggio. Business angel with focus on ICT startups, partner at De Lorenzi & Partners. CTI startup coach. www.delorenzi.ch

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

FClaude Florin, Lausanne. Business angel. Founder/ president of the Association A3 Angels investor group, seed & early stage venture capital. Focus: medtech/ mobile telecom. www.a3angels.ch

Sébastien Flury, Delémont. Startup activist. Founder/blogger of startupolic. Founder/manager at Geeks of the Arc. www.startupolic.com

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

Patrik Frei, Zurich. Founder/CEO of Venture 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). Juror and coach for various startup competitions. www.businessangels.ch

GFrank Gerritzen, Lausanne. President of Business Angels Switzerland (BAS), Romandy. Board of Career-plus Group. Founder of the Swiss branch of the Wealth Peer Group. www.businessangels.ch

Eric Gisiger, Zurich. Founding member/chartered finan-cial analyst (CFA) at SVC Ltd. for Risk Capital for SMEs. www.svc-risikokapital.ch

Gabriel Gomez, Lausanne. Co-founder/President of the private equity/venture capital association DEFI Gestion. www.defigestion.com

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

Patrick Griss, Schlieren. Executive Partner at Zühlke Ventures. Focus: high-tech startups. Member of the Advisory Board of the Empa glaTec technology center. 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

HPeter Harboe-Schmidt, Schwerzenbach. Co-founder of various pharmaceutical companies including SpiroChem and Xigen Pharma as well as the ETH spin-off Glycemi-con, where he holds a seat on the Executive Board. www.glycemicon.ch

Reto Hartinger, Zurich. Serial entrepreneur and busi-ness angel (including search.ch, insider.management etc.). President of Erfa-Gruppe Internet Briefing. www.insi.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. www.tpw.ch

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

Nicole Herzog, St. Gallen. Attorney at Law. President of the Board of the shareholders platform Sherpany- Agilentia, Co-founder/Member of the Board at Haufe-umantis, Talent Management. www.umantis.com

Matthias Hölling, Zurich. Technology Manager – Group Director of Spin-offs of ETH transfer. www.vpf.ethz.ch/transfer

Markus Hosang, Basel. Venture Capitalist. General Part-ner at BioMedinvest. Focus: life sciences. www.biomedvc.com

Patrick Hug, Zurich. Deputy Head of Startup Finance at Zürcher Kantonalbank ZKB. www.zkb.ch

The experTs

30 handelszeitung Startup.ch 2013

J

Michel Jaccard, Lausanne. Founder/Partner at the law firm id est avocats. Experts in corporate finance, new technologies and media. www.idest.pro

Mario Jenni, Schlieren. Co-founder/Director of BIO-Technopark Schlieren, life sciences center for the Zurich metro area. Co-founder of glaTec. www.bio-technopark.ch

KKilian Kämpfen, Flamatt. Chief of Business Develop-ment at Ringier Digital, a leading Swiss 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

Cédric Köhler, Zurich. Venture Capitalist. Partner at Creathor Venture. Focus: IT, telecom, media, new media. www.creathor.ch

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

Pius Küng, St. Gallen. Founder of the business and mar-keting consultancy Dr. Pius Küng & Partner and the In-stitute for Young Entrepreneurs. Trainer for venturelab. www.kueng-partner.ch

Stefan Kyora, Lucerne. Managing Editor of startupticker.ch. Co-owner of Journalistenbüro Niedermann. Business journalist. Focus: high-tech startups/corporate finance. www.startupticker.ch

LJean-Philippe Lallement, Lausanne. General Manager of Science Park EPFL. President of Swiss-Parks.ch. Busi-ness angel. www.parc-scientifique.ch

Dr. Hervé Lebret, Lausanne. Manager of Innogrants EPFL. Former Principal at Index Ventures, venture capi-tal firm. www.epfl.ch

Peter Letter, Baar. Business Angel. Co-founder/Princi-pal at paprico, experts for private equity capital & com-panies. www.paprico.ch

Hansruedi Lingg, Root-Längenbold. CEO of Tech-nopark Lucerne. www.technopark-luzern.ch

M Pascal Marmier, Shanghai. Executive Director/Vice Consul General at swissnex China. Co-organizer of ven-ture leaders in Boston, USA. www.swissnexchina.org

Davide Mauri, Lausanne. Vice President of Technologies Médicales – Eurofin Ventures/Polytech Ventures. www.eurofinventures.com

Dominique Mégret, Bern. Manager at Swisscom Ven-tures. 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

Jordi Montserrat, Lausanne. Business officer XO3. Oversees management of venture kick and venturelab. www.venturekick.ch

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

NMichael Näf, Zurich. Business angel. Founder/CEO of online scheduler doodle.com. www.doodle.com

Alain Nicod, Zug. Business angel. Founder/Co-founder of various startups including LeShop.ch. Founder/Man-aging Partner at VI Partners venture capital firm. Focus: ICT/life sciences. www.vipartners.ch

Peter Niederhauser, Zurich. Serial entrepreneur/busi-ness angel. General Partner at Redalpine Venture Part-ners venture capital firm. www.redalpine.com

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

OMagne Y. Orgland, Teufen. Business angel. Managing Partner at Norga Capital. Board member of 1741 Asset Management. www.1741am.com

Markus Oswald, Schwyz. Venture capitalist. CEO of the Foundation for Innovation of KB Schwyz. Coach for CTI Startup. www.szkb.ch/innovationsstiftung

PAlexandre Peyraud, Lausanne. Venture capitalist. Fo-cus: IT, cleantech. Private Equity Manager at Debioman-agement (Debiopharm Group). www.debiomanagement.com

Peter Pfister, Zurich. Active business angel since 2001. Involved in the StartAngels network. www.startangels.ch Eric Plan, Sion. General Secretary of CleantechAlps, Cleantech Cluster western Switzerland. www.cleantech-alps.com

Jim Pulcrano, Lausanne. Executive Director of IMD – International Institute for Management Development, oversees the IMD Startup Competition. www.imd.org

Erika Puyal Heusser, Zurich. Manager of Startup Finance/Pioneers, Zürcher Kantonalbank. Board member of «Go! Ziel selbstständig». www.zkb.ch

RJost Renggli, Zurich. Co-founder/Partner at Venture Valuation, investment ratings agency for high-tech startups. Focus: life sciences. www.venturevaluation.com

Balz Roth, Zurich. Business angel. Management team of Go Beyond, business angels network. www.go-beyond.biz

Jan Rothenberger, Zurich. Former Head of startwerk.ch, new community specialist at news magazine 20minuten. www.startwerk.ch

SBeat Schillig, St. Gallen. Founder and Managing Partner of the Institute for Young Entrepreneurs (IFJ), Business Angel of the Year 2012. www.ifj.ch

Michael Schmitt, Zurich. Angel investor. Formerly em-ployed by Google as a Lead Engineer, now at the early investor Go Beyond and a juror for venture kick. www.go-beyond.biz

Christian Schütz, St. Gallen. Partner of the b-to-v Part-ners business angels network. Jury member of venture leaders. www.b-to-v.com

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

Peter Seitz, Zurich. Serial entrepreneur. Managing Direc-tor of the ETH Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab (ieLab). www.ethz.ch/research/ielab

Michael Sidler, Zurich. Business angel. General Partner at Redalpine Venture Partners. Partner at Intro Interna-tional. www.redalpine.com

François Stieger, Yverdon-les-Bains. Several-time angel investor. Co-founder of Eurofin Ventures. Board member at Lotaris. www.lotaris.com

Pierre Strübin, Plan-les-Ouates. Technical Director at Fongit – Fondation Genevoise pour l’Innovation Tech-nologique. Vice President of Fongit Seed Invest. http://wpfsi.fongitseedinvest.com

TJean-Philippe Tripet, Zurich. Co-founder of various biotech companies including Glycart and Cytos. Found-er, Managing Partner and CFA of Aravis, venture capital firm. Focus: energy/life sciences. www.aravis.ch

VPaul-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 «sei», Swiss Social Entrepreneurship Initiative. www.grstiftung.ch

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

WLucian Wagner, Zurich. General Partner at EuroUS Ven-tures, Investing for US Growth. Co-founder/President of Launch in US Alliance. www.eurousventures.com

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

Josef Walker, Chur. Head of Entrepreneurial Manage-ment at HTW Chur. Committee member at E-Tower. Technical Advisory Board for Entrepreneurs in Eastern Switzerland. Member of the Band of Angels. www.fh-htwchur.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

ZRoland Zeller, Binningen. Business angel. Co-founder/longtime CEO of the online travel agency travel.ch. Board member at GetYourGuide. Shareholder at Crearis, operator of various online shops. www.crearis.ch

Jürg Zürcher, Zurich. Partner/Biotechnology Leader for EMEIA (Europe, Middle East, India, Africa) at Ernst & Young. www.ey.com

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