November 24, 2017
Revenue is queen
Dear reader
Women are a minority in the start-up ecosystem. Harvard Business Review has found that only 2% of venture capital invested in the US goes to female founders. These are the facts – one can speculate on the reasons. Many believe that women are not willing to take risks: they see the problems first, before the opportunities. Perhaps. But the other way around may be true too: women prefer to deal with the customers of today rather than distant future scenarios.
A good example of this is Zurich-born Dorina Thiess, who founded Piavita In mid 2016. A year later, her sensor system for horses was ready for the market, and the first series sold out even before the official launch.
A similar picture emerges with the three finalists of Prix Veuve Clicquot. The three women are making good sales with good ideas: a global awards programme, crèche operation and publishing.
Of course, making money is not only women’s business, as the founders of the two life science companies Legacy Healthcare and Oviva demonstrate: Lausanne’s Legacy Healthcare develops herbal medicines and cosmetic products. Two science backed cosmetic products are already on the market, generating revenue. And Oviva in Zurich supplies more than 20,000 customers with nutritional tips.
To further accelerate growth, Oviva has also gone through a round of financing, and last Tuesday it announced that well-known international venture capital investors had provided $12 million. Legacy Healthcare posted an investment in excess of CHF2 million. It was not the only major round of financing this week: Bioversys closed its Series A2 round on Wednesday, bringing in CHF5 million. In addition, Go Beyond, Tradeplus24 and Simedis attracted investors.
The first IPO Day will take place in Zurich next week. At the event, organised by Swiss Startup Invest, 15 high-tech companies will present themselves to investment bankers and consultants. So far almost 100 participants have registered and at least 50 one-to-one meetings will take place.
I would also like to draw your attention to two events that will provide information on the CTI’s transformation to Innosuisse. The first event takes place at EPFL on 30 November; the second event at ETH Zurich is scheduled for 6 December.
Have a good weekend.
Stefan Kyora
Editor in Chief, Startupticker.ch