Investors, corporates and SMEs rely on start-ups

Dear reader

Intersys and Bitforge are typical Swiss IT SMEs that have been making money for years with services for well-known B2B customers. This week, Bitforge took over the virtual reality start-up Weavr and Intersys participated in the blockchain start-up Trustwise. It is remarkable that two SMEs are relying on start-ups in order to open up new business fields. It shows just how seriously start-ups are being taken today.

This applies not only to established companies, but also to investors. “Start-up investments have become mainstream,” says investiere CEO Steffen Wagner in our interview. He also talks about the strong growth of investiere, the greater interest of corporates and explains why he wants a higher failure rate of Swiss start-ups.

The basis for the great interest is usually the pioneering technology of the start-up company. This was clearly evident at the awards ceremony of the >>venture>> competition in Lausanne. EBA-Med, awarded for the best business plan, is developing a non-invasive therapy for cardiac arrhythmia. Instead of penetrating into the heart with a catheter to ablate the tissue, EBA-Med uses a proton beam that penetrates to the heart from the outside to accomplish the same task. This not only avoids a complicated procedure for the patient, but also saves a lot of time and money. Find out more in our article on the awards ceremony (in German and French).

Cutiss won at >>venture>> two years ago; now the medtech start-up has concluded a Series A financing round of more than CHF 7 million. Basel biotech company NBE Therapeutics has obtained CHF 20 million through Danish investor Novo Holdings. And Inthera, a third life sciences start-up, has been able to attract investors and generate CHF 5 million.

However, good ideas with potential not only come from the life sciences. Food start-up Yamo has also received support from investors, and its fresh baby porridge will be available in Coop stores and in the German dm-drogeriemarkt in the future.

Next week, SECA’s Private Equity & Corporate Finance Conference will take place in Zurich on Wednesday. I would also like to highlight ESA-BIC Switzerland’s information event on 5 July in Biel, and two blockchain events from TechCrunch. Tickets are still available for the Ethereum Meetup on 7 July.

Have a good summer weekend.
Stefan Kyora

Editor in Chief, Startupticker.ch