Better get used to it

Dear reader

The Covid-19 crisis continues. When there will be a ‘new normal’ and what it will look like is not yet known, but it can be assumed that travel restrictions will persist for some time and that the sectors that have been badly affected will recover only slowly. It is therefore encouraging to see the successes that Swiss start-ups have achieved under these circumstances. We reported on three companies – neon, Loanboox and Oxygen at Work – in our article about sales growth during the crisis. DAC System has concluded an important partnership with a US company and even had a visit from the US ambassador for Switzerland. Involi is working on a Canadian pilot project for the secure integration of drones into the airspace, and apparently has made such a good impression that the Lausanne-based company has entered into a commercial partnership with a Canadian partner. Cleantech start-up Tyre Recycling Solutions attracted US company Trinseo not only as a partner, but also as an investor. In addition, a number of Swiss start-ups have won international awards.

Start-ups are also pursuing their growth plans. Agetech company CARU, which was recently awarded the Innosuisse certificate, is working on expanding into Germany. Alver is building a production facility for its ‘superfood’ in St-Aubin, Fribourg, which will enable the planned rapid growth. GetYourGuide secured a convertible note of EUR 114 million and is now in a position to acquire suitable takeover candidates in the ailing travel industry.

Swiss corporations are also making progress. UBS announced this week that it plans to invest USD 200 million in start-ups in the fintech environment. And a lot is also happening in the fight against the virus: Novartis has entered into a partnership with Molecular Partners to further develop and commercialise the two drug candidates from the Zurich-based biotech company.

At least start-ups can rely on a functioning supporter landscape. Venture Kick alone paid out more than CHF 700,000 to start-ups this month, with most recently 4iLabs receiving CHF 150,000. Companies can receive an additional CHF 150,000 in the Venture Kick process from the Gebert Rüf Foundation’s InnoBooster programme. Read our article to find out which nine start-ups have benefited from this recently. The winners of MassChallenge Switzerland were also announced on Thursday; they received a total of CHF 400,000.

Swiss Digital Days take place from Sunday and I am particularly excited about the start-up battle. Voting is still open for your favourite. I would also like to point out that Global Entrepreneurship Week runs from 16 to 22 November.

Applications are still open for the next Virtual Venture Day and for several important awards and support programmes, including the F10 Accelerator programme, the IMD Startup competition, the Swiss Fintech Awards and First Ventures for members of universities of applied sciences with entrepreneurial projects.

Have a sunny weekend
Stefan Kyora

Editor in Chief, Startupticker.ch