Since 2000, the EPFL has seen the establishment of 293 spinoffs, of which, 23 were create in 2019 mainly in the fields of Medtech and Biotech. Financially, the startups were able to raise CHF285 million in the previous year.
The École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) is one of the leading research institutes in Switzerland dedicated to promoting knowledge and technology transfer enabling students to transform their research projects into real businesses. Consequently, EPFL’s ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship has been flourishing; 293 spin-offs have been created at EPFL since 2000 of which 116 are currently located at EPFL Innovation Park and 31 startups are being developed in the La Forge co-working space.
Last year was particularly a successful year for the EPFL; 23 startups in 2019 were created, an indication that EPFL’s entrepreneurial ecosystem is flourishing. While the majority of the spinoffs are focused on Medtech and biotech, 2019 saw a growing number of spinoffs in other sectors such as engineering, cleantech (Energy) and Micro and Nano-technology. A few startups specialise in fintech and software.
Promising financial prospects for EPFL spinoffs
The same year also saw the second-highest number of investment ever raised by the EPFL Spinoffs. In 2016, the spinoffs raised a total of CHF 397 million and CHF 285.8 million in 2019. Remarkably, three startups each raised more than CHF 20 million last year; Kandou Bus, the specialist in very low-power connectivity, attracted the most investment of raised CHF 56 million. Anokion, which focuses on the treatment of autoimmune diseases, raised CHF 40 million, and Cellestia Biotech, developing innovative first-in-class cancer drugs, attracted CHF 20 million. Seven other companies raised more than CHF 10 million each, and another four raised between CHF 5 million and CHF 10 million.
A strong and growing ecosystem
The EPFL accredits its success to the various programs initiated by the EPFL entrepreneurial ecosystem, which supports researchers who are aspiring to start a business. The programs include support for participation in events such as CES in Las Vegas and Bits&Pretzels in Munich.
Other offers from the ecosystem include; the Innogrant program which has supported 145 spinoffs since 2005 and 11 new ones in 2019 and the XGrant program, designed for EPFL Bachelor’s and Master’s student-projects, awarded 13 grants in 2019 and a total of 30 since it was created in 2017. The YGrant and PlayGrants were launched in 2018 to fund initiatives that have a positive social or environmental impact: YGrants, for Bachelor’s and Master’s students, and PlayGrants, for EPFL researchers. In 2019, six YGrants and five PlayGrants were awarded.
The EPFL plans to launch several new initiatives in 2020 to strengthen the entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem in Lausanne, as stated by Marc Gruber, Vice President of Innovation at EPFL in the EPFL article.
(Press release/ran)
Photo: Olivier Bruchez, Flickr
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