Sought-after start-ups

Dear reader

Even though Höhle der Löwen is primarily an entertainment programme, the show, which is broadcast on TV24 every Tuesday evening, provides some insights into start-up investment. For particularly promising companies, competition from investors can be intense. This is what happened with Yokoy, still seen on the show under its former name Expense Robot, and Carify. Our article tells you what happened and also how things continued after the broadcast six months ago.

VectivBio seems to have no worries when looking for investors. In January, the biotech company received USD 35 million, and now it is completing another financing round of USD 110 million. The success factors: a team that was able to realise a major exit with Therachon and a first drug in the pipeline at an advanced clinical test phase.

Things also went well for another biotech company in terms of investment. Araris Biotech has completed a remarkably large seed round of more than CHF 15 million, with the involvement of several Swiss venture capitalists.

Solutions from Swiss start-ups are also in great demand with customers and users. Depsys has won new customers all over the world – for example, in Ukraine and Germany – with its solutions for the digitisation of power grids. Innovation 6 is celebrating success with its app that helps patients manage their medication, and Starmind, whose solution makes an organisation’s knowledge accessible to employees, doubled its number of users during the lockdown.

Competitions demonstrate the breadth of the basis from which such successes arise and how well the pipeline is filled. For the first time, Switzerland Innovation’s Tech4Impact initiative has selected six deep-tech projects with a focus on sustainability and is supporting each with CHF 85,000. Robotics start-up Bota Systems and cleantech company SmartHelio prevailed at Venture Kick and received CHF 150,000 each. Swiss Startup Challenge awarded five projects, with medtech start-up Aseptuva in first place. And anyone who wants to contribute to the selection of a start-up for a prize can do so at the Startup Battle at Swiss Digital Days. The public voting started this week, with 15 young Swiss technology companies to choose from.

Start-ups are currently eligible to apply for many major awards and accelerator programmes. The deadlines for Baselaunch and the ESA-BIC programme for start-ups with a space connection are imminent – our awards list provides an overview. Start-ups can also apply for the next Venture Day from Startup Invest.

Have a pleasant weekend.
Stefan Kyora

Editor in Chief, Startupticker.ch