Why we talk about exits

Dear reader

The second Swiss Startup Radar has just been published, with a focus on exits. Co-author Michael Rockinger and I evaluated data on 5,000 Swiss start-ups and 250,000 foreign start-ups. We identified 450 exits from Swiss companies, and learned the sales price or valuation after the IPO of more than 120. The data clearly shows one thing: it’s feasible to set up a start-up in Switzerland and sell it for more than CHF 100 million within a few years.

The data also showed why exits are so important for the ecosystem’s dynamics. After the sale, more than 50% of CEOs continue to engage with start-ups, whether as a serial entrepreneur, investor or adviser and board member. In addition, a comparison with Israel shows that there is a clear correlation between an increase in exits and an increase in start-ups. Swiss Startup Radar can be downloaded from startupticker.ch free of charge.

The pharma and biotech sector dominates exits of more than CHF 100 million, with companies in this area responsible for almost half of these large transactions. So it’s not surprising that biotech start-ups are able to attract money and highly reputable investors. The most recent example is ImmunOs Therapeutics, which works in the field of cancer therapies. The company raised CHF 15 million in a Series A financing round, with BioMedPartners and Pfizer Ventures among the lead investors. ImmunOs has also been able to gain former Novartis boss Daniel Vasella as a director.

Vasella is already involved in another biotech start-up, Numab from Wädenswil. This company has attracted Chinese pharmaceutical company Sunshine Guojian, which is entering into a development partnership with Numab and simultaneously investing CHF 15 million.

Zurich start-up ph., which is behind the hangover remedy Kaex, has also secured prominent support for its expansion into Germany. It has been selected by ProSiebenSat.1 for a media-for-equity investment, and several family offices have also participated in the start-up. Overall, just under CHF 5 million has gone into ph.

Clearspace, on the other hand, does not benefit from investment, but from ESA funds. CEO Luc Piguet reveals in our interview why a Swiss start-up is leading an important ESA project, what the challenges are and how the project should be managed. Clearspace is far from the only Swiss company in the emerging space economy; at the New Space Economy Expo Forum in Rome this week, 13 start-ups presented themselves at the #SwissTech Space Pavilion.

Have a good weekend and a stimulating read of Swiss Startup Radar.
Stefan Kyora

Editor in Chief, Startupticker.ch