Reasons to be confident

Dear reader

Venture capital is the fuel that drives start-ups and the supply is still flowing. This week we reported on financing rounds that brought in well over CHF 100 million in total, with biotech companies realising the largest amounts: ImmunOs Therapeutics received CHF 71 million and CHF 24 million went to BioVersys.

The conclusion of financing rounds is usually made public only after some delay, so it cannot be assumed that the VC market will not be adversely affected by inflation, rising interest rates, falling share prices and general conditions, such as the war in Ukraine and supply chain difficulties. In my opinion, a cool-down is inevitable, but Swiss start-ups have reasons to be confident.

They are used to looking for investors worldwide; young companies, such as Zitadel, have been able to attract US investors and already have paying customers. Alpine White had already become the Swiss market leader in dental whitening strips before experienced business angels were brought on board. Tech support platform Mila also had strong revenue growth before closing a pre-series A round. This ability to achieve success in the market without large funding rounds gives start-ups the flexibility they need to continue to grow, even if less venture capital becomes available.

In addition, start-ups in the very early stages have access to funds from support organisations. Recently, cleantech start-up Biosimo and augmented reality start-up Almer Technologies each received CHF 150,000 from Venture Kick. Droople, which improves water management with its solutions, secured a Tech Growth Loan from the Foundation for Technological Innovation (FIT) of CHF 500,000. Innosuisse projects are another way of driving innovation: our article features four start-ups with projects funded by Innosuisse.

For information on how investors are reacting to the changing conditions, see my LinkedIn post, which is based on discussions at the Swiss Economic Forum and the SEF.Founder Conference. There I also met Vivek Ramaswamy, best known in Switzerland as the founder of Roivant Sciences and who has now founded an investment company. He explains the background and has tips for ambitious founders in our interview.

Next week, you will be able to meet us at Swiss Medtech Day, Swiss Fintech Investor Day and at the Seif Tech4Impact Awards ceremony. I would also like to highlight Showcase2030 in Lausanne, where 30 impact start-ups from home and abroad will present themselves.

Speaking of cleantech, Venturelab is running a Venture Leaders programme for start-ups in this sector for the first time ­– applications are open until 12 July. The deadline for the IFAS Innovation Challenge, which is looking for start-ups that want to gain a foothold in the Swiss healthcare system, expires on 17 June, and applications for Venture Leaders Biotech close on 19 June.

Have a sunny weekend
Stefan Kyora 

Editor in Chief, Startupticker.ch