Hard times open doors

Dear reader

At the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis, the Swiss crypto scene was once again declared dead. Well, this prediction turned out to be wrong. This week, we reported on financing rounds from three blockchain start-ups: atpar, Fyooz and Centi. What is remarkable about Centi is that it was entered in the commercial register during the lockdown and has retailers as its target market. Nevertheless, it has attracted investors, including the founder of Zurich’s MoneyMuseum.

For a strong and traditionally innovative economy such as that of Switzerland, it is crucial that established players and start-ups work together. Progress appears to be slow on this point. However, we reported on a joint project involving live telepresence applications between the virtual reality start-up Imverse and Logitech. Incidentally, Imverse also works with Microsoft and has now been included in the Microsoft start-up programme.

The incubator and accelerator F10 has been bringing Swiss and international start-ups together with corporates since 2016. This week, the names of the 15 participants in the current batch became known and there are some interesting Swiss newcomers.

In contrast, the location of the Switzerland Innovation Park Basel Area on the Novartis Campus is brand new. Seven Swiss start-ups are currently on site and some have already benefited from the proximity to the pharma company.

Existing companies can also be found among other investors in Swiss start-ups. Technis’ lead investor is the Geneva-based m3 Groupe, which will also act as a sales partner. And the lead investor in Bloom Biorenewables, the Japanese Yokogawa Group, has secured the rights to commercialise Bloom’s products.

Rakuten Medical also has Japanese roots and it has acquired Medlight – one of EPFL’s first spin-offs.

Next week you can meet us at the Female Innovation Forum and at Technopark Talk Plus at Technopark Luzern. In addition, some online master classes will be provided by Startup Invest’s Startup DAYs – they are listed in our training directory. By the way, start-ups can register for the Seif Impact Academy until 31 August.

I would also like to point out the awards ceremony for the Top 100 Swiss Startup Award on 9 September. Everyone can follow the evening via the live stream and discover the current top 100 start-ups.

Have a refreshing weekend
Stefan Kyora

Editor in Chief, startupticker.ch