Riding the wave of sustainability

Dear reader

In addition to the commitment, innovativeness and acceptability of start-up solutions in the market, various players in the background, such as business angels, are fuelling their achievements. This week, the Swiss Private Equity & Corporate Finance Association (SECA) named David Studer the 21st Business Angel of the Year. Studer founded ICT start-up Xovis and is an angel investor in numerous Swiss start-ups and venture capital funds, as well as a board member of several start-ups, including those that contribute to a sustainable environment.

The WA de Vigier Awards 2023, one of Switzerland’s most prominent start-up competitions, went to five start-ups, with each receiving CHF 100,0000. Alongside two life sciences start-ups, the remaining three are developing solutions to transform agro-waste into reusable ingredients, for recyclable floor slabs and colour-optimised solar modules that combine energy and crop production.

Cleantech venture capital pioneer Emerald Technology Ventures and other investors have injected CHF 12 million in bNovate Technologies; the start-up is contributing to a sustainable world with its portable device that can monitor water and detect microbial contamination in only 20 minutes. TreaTech also raised CHF 9 million in its series A financing round to transform waste streams into valuable resources. To enable industries to tackle emissions, Distran develops and commercialises portable ultrasonic cameras to detect gas leaks: the ETH spin-off has secured CHF 8.3 million to boost growth. Noriware closed a smaller pre-seed round of CHF 1 million, which will accelerate development of its algae-based packaging material.

Start-ups follow different strategies to sustain growth after reaching maturity. Some opt for acquisition by another company, as with Lunaphore, which has joined global company Bio-Techne to become the largest spatial biology player in the market, and SaaS start-up Contactify, which has been acquired by mesoneer. And scale-ups take over other companies to expand their market reach: Frontify has acquired a real-time image and video processing service with Paris-based company TwicPics to become the one-stop shop for brand management.

Artificial intelligence and how it shapes the technology landscape across all sectors is a hot topic. To foster new developments, Merantix has joined forces with Basel-based venture studio Metaporta, a global centre for AI solutions in the life sciences and healthcare, to establish an AI campus in Allschwil. As with Merantix’s Berlin campus, various events on AI will be organised in the Basel pop-up over the next few months; the next one – ‘Investing in AI’ – takes place on 30 June.

Further events coming up include SICTIC Investor Day on 27 June, the UK-Swiss Life Sciences Innovation Forum on 29 June and conference and career fair ‘Working on and for the Lab of the Future’ on 3 July.

As the summer break nears, don’t forget to apply for the Sino-Swiss Business Incubation Competition, Watt d’Or, Future of Health Grant and the i4Challenge.

Have a relaxing and sunny weekend.

Ritah Ayebare Nyakato
Duty Editor, Startupticker