A unicorn on a solid base

Dear reader

In December last year, NBE Therapeutics was acquired for more than EUR 1 billion, followed in January by the sale of Arvelle Therapeutics at a similarly high valuation. In February, the next Swiss start-up to achieve unicorn status arrived: Nexthink has completed a USD 180 million funding round on a valuation of USD 1.1. billion.

In a LinkedIn post, Nexthink CEO Pedro Bados comments that for him fundraising announcements not as interesting as the announcement of achievements, such as business growth. In fact, in the case of Nexthink, investor money is not the basis of its sales. It is precisely the other way around. The latest financing round follows a year of strong revenue growth that passed the USD 100 million annual recurring revenue (ARR) threshold.

Although in a different league, other start-ups also recorded strong sales growth last year; for example, Bontique, a platform for employee gifts, and weinclub.ch. The success of Koa is also remarkable: the start-up, which has found a way to use cocoa pulp, has won Lindt & Sprüngli as a customer.

Partnerships are an effective means of growing a start-up. When it comes to partner acquisition, it helps that Switzerland is increasingly able to position itself as a centre for certain verticals, including cybersecurity. Our article gives four examples of start-ups in this sector that have found a well-known partner.

The Internet of Things is another area in which Switzerland is well positioned. Venture capital firm Momenta Ventures focuses on IoT and Industry 4.0, and is now domiciled in Switzerland. It has just launched its third fund, together with a Taiwanese IT company, that will invest USD 50 million in early growth stage companies. Hemex was also able to follow up on a financing round: the company supports life sciences start-ups with advice and investments on their way from laboratory to market. The five start-ups that attracted investors this week, alongside Nexthink, can be found under our ‘Investments’ tag.

The Swiss Entrepreneurs Foundation’s UpScaler programme is all about growth. Our article describes the eight companies supported in the programme, the results the support has generated and the typical starting points for improvement in terms of growth.

Speaking of tips, two books have just been published that aim to help founders build their own businesses. The first is by Dominik Tarolli, who himself co-founded and successfully sold a deep-tech start-up. The second book comes from business law firm Kellerhals Carrard, which has been in the start-up sector for many years; it explains the legal framework marking all stages of a company’s life.

Finally, a reference to three awards, the deadlines of which are the end of February: the Swiss Medtech Award, the IFAS Innovation Award for start-ups with innovations for the healthcare sector, and Venture Leaders Mobile.

Have a cozy weekend.
Stefan Kyora

Editor in Chief, Startuprticker.ch