More than CHF 75 million went to Swiss start-ups this week. What was striking was that several of the young companies that attracted investors have a pivot behind them.
Dear reader
This week, the Swiss start-up scene was once again recognised worldwide, thanks to Beekeeper. The Zurich-based company, which enables companies to communicate easily with employees who do not work at desks, was able to conclude a growth financing round of USD 45 million.
Beekeeper was not alone. Biotech start-up Versantis generated CHF 16 million and digital health company GenomSys CHF 9 million. In total, we mentioned 10 financing rounds this week in which more than CHF 75 million was invested in Swiss start-ups. And the investors were noteworthy too, with eBay founder Pierre Omidyar’s investment company taking part in Picterra’s financing round.
Two things struck me: first, during their history several of these start-ups have changed their product or business model; for instance, Beekeeper started as a flirting app, and cleantech start-up Cleveron initially addressed private homeowners and now successfully targets administrations and schools. Second, Swiss investors today are significantly more active and involved in much larger rounds than just a few years ago. Our list of investors provides an overview.
The number of accelerator programmes is also increasing in Switzerland. This week, the new programme Tech4Trust announced the names of the start-ups in the first cohort. One of the pioneers in Switzerland is the fintech and regtech accelerator F10, which this week launched a programme for advanced start-ups.
Speaking of fintech, next Tuesday the 10 start-ups in the Venture Leaders Fintech Team 2019 will present themselves at the Startup Champions Event at ETH Zurich. In addition, you can now apply for the Venture Leaders Mobile 2020 and win a business development trip to the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Start-ups can also register for the Swiss Pavilion at the fair until the end of September.
Political ideas, wishes and requests can be entered in the Challenge launched by National Council candidates Judith Bellaiche and Andri Silberschmidt. The application deadline for the ZKB Pionierpreis Technopark runs until Sunday. Start-ups that want to meet large companies at two scale-up bootcamps have until 6 October to apply.
Have a good autumnal weekend.
Stefan Kyora
Editor in Chief, startupticker.ch
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