Intrepid founders just carry on

Dear reader

The travel sector has been badly affected by the Covid crisis. Nevertheless, we were able to report this week on two successes from this vertical. Neuchâtel start-up Travizory has won the Seychelles as a customer; its software will help the Pacific state to reopen its borders safely. And Dragonback Innovation has secured bridge financing; its IoT solution for hotel data-based management ensures more efficiency.

Out-of-home catering is also in crisis due to the upswing in home working and eating, but there is good news to report in this area too. Prognolite’s forecast tool for restaurants has attracted not only customers but investors too, and Invenda, a start-up that digitises vending machines, has won two top-class managers from industry leader Selecta as senior executives.

Swiss founders are usually considered risk-averse, but a completely different picture has emerged during the crisis. They have not gone into hiding, but are sticking firmly to their expansion path. The key to this are tools that offer clear, tangible benefits to B2B customers.

At the same time, there is good news from the life sciences sector, where many start-ups that have no direct link with the Covid issue have been struggling with delays. Polyneuron has secured CHF 14 million from Swiss investment company HBM Healthcare Investments, which normally invests in more advanced companies.

And those start-ups that benefit directly from current trends are also making progress. The best example this week was provided by young e-bike supplier EGO Movement, which has secured CHF 3 million from investors and the Technology Fund.

Heliot concluded a form of financing that is unusual for Switzerland. The IoT start-up based in Lausanne, and which is only three years old, won a billion-euro infrastructure fund as the majority owner. Thanks to the investment, Heliot has in turn taken over an 0G network for IoT applications in Germany and is thus able to offer network and software services throughout the DACH region.

This week, the 10 winners of Venture Leaders Fintech were announced. In addition, Sylke Hoehnel from SUN bioscience won the Prix Strategis, endowed with CHF 50,000. Start-ups can apply for the ZKB Pionierpreis Technopark until 28 September. The application deadline for the Startup Battle at the Swiss Digital Days is two days later. 

Next week, Swiss Medtech Day will take place on Monday in Bern, and Startup Night on Friday in Winterthur. The Convergence in Oncology Summit on Thursday will be purely digital.

Startup DAYS will take place both digitally and on-site this year; we will be there in Bern on 5 and 6 October.

Have a relaxing weekend
Stefan Kyora

Editor in Chief, Startupticker.ch