From a successful IPO to a failure

Dear reader

Monte Rosa Therapeutics emerged in 2018 from the Basel-based incubator of Versant Ventures. After two rounds of financing of almost USD 100 million, the company, which is now active in Basel and Boston, went public this week on the Nasdaq. The IPO was successful – after the first day of trading, Monte Rosa was valued at USD 900 million.

Two Swiss companies also made an exit via a trade sale: Fribourg AR start-up Vidinoti went to Bigtincan, which is headquartered in Australia. Hemp cigarette manufacturer Koch & Gsell, better known under the brand name Heimat, was bought by Canadian company Flora Growth.

As important as the exits are in order to position Switzerland as an interesting market for international investors, they show that there is still a need to catch up in terms of financing and implementation of the growth of start-ups in Switzerland.

Growth was also an important topic at Startup Days. The event, which took place as a pilot event on Tuesday and Wednesday in Bern, finally offered an opportunity to exchange face-to-face with representatives of start-ups, investors, corporates and support organisations. Find out more in our article.

Speaking of the start-up scene, more and more founders are becoming involved in other start-ups; for example, Agora Care, which closed a pre-seed financing round this week, has gained Sophia Genetics CEO Jorgi Camblong as chairman of its board of directors. IMburse’s most recent investor also has a well-known name – Accenture has joined the fintech company.

Digital health start-ups were remarkably successful this week: Resmonics was a winner at Venture Kick, Magnes announced a bridge financing and Dividat is in a successful expansion phase. Read more articles on start-ups in this area via our Digital Health tag.

In addition to the reports of success, there was also some negative news today: Bestmile will be closed. As unpleasant as this news is, it at least shows that Swiss start-ups are now ready to take greater risks, which naturally can also lead to failure. In any event, I pay tribute to the Bestmile team for its courage.

In terms of deadlines, I would like to mention the Swisscom Startup Challenge again, which this year focuses on the topic of security. And start-ups can apply for the newly launched Open Innovation Challenge from the Diabetes Center Berne (DCB) until 30 June.

The International Mobile Startup Pitchfest takes place this coming Wednesday in Barcelona, with virtual participation open to everyone. A day later at the Tech4Eva roadshow, the 30 start-ups in the accelerator programme will introduce themselves. A Female Founders Speed Dating event, which connects female founders with potential co-founders and investors, takes place on 29 June.

Have a sunny weekend
Stefan Kyora 

Editor in Chief, Startupticker.ch