Fundraising as an ongoing task

Dear reader

Start-up unique, founded by serial entrepreneurs Manuel Grenacher and Andreas Hauri, has integrated Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service and GPT-3 into its solutions, enabling customers to create meeting summaries, automate CRM entries and find information more quickly. Use cases are currently being evaluated together with existing customers. Incidentally, unique mentions in its press release on GPT-3 that it has raised additional money from investors: the seed round has been increased from USD 12 million to USD 16 million.

Wearonize has also secured an investment: the Lucerne-based company, which has developed an all-round solution for paying with a wearable, will receive CHF 1.9 million. The financing round is described officially as the “first part of a pre-Series A round”.

Such terms and the example of unique show that the neat division into different series of financing rounds is becoming obsolete. Economic uncertainty means that rounds are getting smaller and financing is thus becoming a continuous task for start-ups.

The money can also come from partners rather than classic VCs. Assaia has launched a Strategic Partner Community, in which members not only provide strategic and tactical advice but also participate in Assaia. The first community members include International Airlines Group (IAG), operator of, inter alia, British Airways and Iberia.

Crowdinvesting has established itself as another option and crypto start-up SwissBorg shows that large sums can be raised here. The Lausanne-based company has secured more than CHF 20 million.

in addition, Swiss start-ups are now able to attract highly specialised funds worldwide. Atanis Biotech, a spin-off from the University of Bern, works in the field of allergy diagnostics and has now gained US-based AllerFund, the first and only venture capital firm to focus on social impact in the food allergy space, as an investor.

For investors, on the other hand, the professional and continuous search for money by start-ups means that they have to be clearly focused if they want to convince both attractive start-ups and backers. An example of a fund with such a strategic positioning is the Tenity Incubation Fund, which announced its first closing this week.

I would like to point out one winner and more than a dozen finalists. New work start-up Vamoz was able to secure CHF 150,000 from Venture Kick. The WA de Vigier Foundation has announced the top 15 start-ups in this year’s award. And the three finalists were chosen for the ZKB Pionierpreis Technopark.

Startup Days will take place in Bern on 25 May. The organisers announced the programme this week, with visitors able to choose from about 50 practical sessions.

You can meet my colleague Eugène Schön at SICTIC Investor Day in Lausanne next week. Technopark Winterthur’s event on the topic of quantum computing also promises exciting information.

Have a good weekend.
Stefan Kyora

Editor in Chief, Startupticker.ch