International plans – Swiss investors

Dear readers

The week’s financing rounds show how diverse the topic of digitalisation is. Five of the investments went into start-ups that digitise processes. The goals are the same: to save time and money, usually through execution of processes and creation of transparency. Archlet has developed a guided sourcing platform, where start-up customers can save between 3% and 15% of their order volume. Backbone operates a platform for professional images and not only connects clients and photographers, but also makes work easier for the latter. Archilyse’s tool makes the quality of architecture and real estate digitally measurable, and Largo’s software-as-a-service helps filmmakers make predictions about the success potential of a film before and during filming. Finally, Viselio digitises the visa application process.

All start-ups are very ambitious, and some already have international customers or intend to use the new funds to target foreign markets. However, all companies found investors in Switzerland – a clear sign of the development of the local investor scene.

This development was palpable at an event organised by the Swiss ICT Investor Club SICTIC in Zurich this week, where eight companies pitched in front of about 150 investors. The club also announced that ZKB and Tomahawk Ventures will work as new preferred co-investors with SICTIC Angels in the future. Business Angels Club Switzerland released figures for 2019 this week: last year, members invested CHF 2.8 million in start-ups.

There was a financing round with foreign participation this week: Skypull, a start-up that aims to collect wind energy with the help of a drone, received money from Shibumi, the venture capital arm of a Turkish heavy industry group.

Speaking of foreign countries, Venture Leaders enables business development trips for start-ups to different parts of the world. With Venture Leaders Mobile, the organisers of Venturelab were faced with a challenge: the cancellation of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona due to the corona virus meant a central element of the trip was eliminated. How Venturelab then developed a solution and how and where one of the winners found an investor can be found in our article. By the way, registration is open until 8 March for Venture Leaders Life Sciences, which will travel to Boston.

Next Wednesday you can find me at the Startup Champions Event at ETH Zurich, and on the same day the IFZ Fintech Conference, with a presentation of the IFZ Fintech Study, takes place in Rotkreuz. I would also like to draw your attention to the swissnex and Innosuisse Startup Roadshow, which stops in Basel, Lausanne and Zurich between 9 and 13 March.

Have a relaxing weekend.
Stefan Kyora

Editor in Chief, Startupticker.ch