February 24, 2017
Thinking Big
Dear reader
GreenMotion intends to build a comprehensive network of charging stations in Switzerland by 2019. The money is coming from China. Green Motion CEO François Randin explains in our interview how the deal with its Chinese partners came about.
Fintech start-up bexio also chose an unusual tactic for a Swiss start-up in January. It took over a young company in Berlin and expanded its range of services and regional footprint. Investors appeared to like this: only a few weeks after the expansion, bexio finalised a financing round of CHF 7.5 million.
And support offers also have a bigger dimension today. The new Healthcare Accelerator in Basel is looking for start-ups: it has already found well-known international partners from the pharma industry – Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson Innovation and the Novartis Venture Fund. The Accelerator offers selected young companies not only access to the Basel life sciences ecosystem, but also financial support of up to CHF 250,000.
These are just three examples of the fact that bigger thinking is slowly becoming more important in Switzerland today – an indispensable prerequisite for global success.
Anyone who wants to grow fast has to start quickly. A particularly good example was given this week by Flyerbee, a software company that builds SaaS platforms for advertising networks. It not only concluded a second seed financing round, but has also welcomed Hans-Peter Rohner, former chairman and CEO of PubliGroupe, as a board member.
The new Zurich incubator BlueLion now offers tailor-made support for fast starters. You can find out more in our article and at an open day on 2 March.
There are also changes to this year’s edition of the WA de Vigier Award. Among other things, the prize takes into account that ultimately the team decides the success of a start-up – so all CEOs will undergo a leadership assessment. The names of the 16 nominated start-ups were announced by the de Vigier Foundation this week.
Deadlines for other important awards are approaching, including venture leaders China, venture leaders in life sciences, Boston, and the START Summiteer.
Next week’s start-up events all take place on 2 March. In addition to BlueLion’s open day, the Salon STIL will be held in Lausanne, a Startup Champions Event with Philippe Gaydoul and the 10 venture leaders in technology will take place in Zurich, and also in Zurich Society3’s Accelerator Demo Day and 75th Pitch Event.
Have an exciting carnival weekend.
Stefan Kyora
Editor in Chief, startupticker.ch