Swiss StartCup Challenge crowns first winners

The first Swiss StartupCup Challenge attracted considerable interest. A total of 270 ideas were submitted for the competition. On Monday, the winners in the categories of startups, SMEs and students were chosen, and an additional jury favourite prize was awarded. The three winners will receive prize money of CHF 20,000 each to implement their innovative idea, as well as a mentoring programme from B Lab Switzerland.

Category Startup: Terra Preta 
The startup enables farmers in Latin America to transform agricultural waste into charcoal, which can then be used as fertiliser. Terra Preta has developed the necessary technology and supports the farmers with training. In addition, the farmers receive financial support. Using plant carbon as fertiliser removes C02 from the atmosphere, and the startup sells the resulting carbon credits to global companies. 

Category SME: RedElec
RedElec, founded in 2007, has developed an electrochemical reactor, i.e. a machine that finds metals in waste, extracts them and makes them available for production. On the one hand, this purifies waste from metals that are harmful to the environment and, on the other, reduces the need for raw materials.

Category Students: ZipBack
In their ZipBack project, a team of students from the School of Management in Fribourg has developed reusable packaging for online retail. The mailing bags are made from recycled cement sacks. After receiving their goods, the end customers fold the bag and put it in the nearest letterbox to send it back to the retailer.

Jury's favourite award: Légumes Perchés
Incorporated in 2020, the company supports urban farming projects. The services range from the design to setting up the structures with regional and sustainable suppliers to securing the project in the long term with workshops for local residents and support for cultivation.

Chosen by the public

As a first step, the StartCup jury selected nine finalist projects from the numerous entries. Subsequently, a public vote decided on the winners. In total, the public cast more than 16,000 votes.

Jean-Luc Valleix, Director of Nespresso Switzerland and jury member, comments: "The ideas submitted demonstrated sustainable solutions in very different areas. Nespresso has been committed to the circular economy for over three decades. I am delighted that Nespresso Switzerland is helping to strengthen this further and support these ideas with this initiative."

"Our core values at B Lab are networking and collaboration. This is why we have also become involved in the StartCup Challenge. I look forward to meeting the winner:s soon at a mentoring session in preparation for B Corp certification. Together we want to continue the StartCup adventure and develop solutions to the social and environmental challenges that are becoming more pressing every day," said the founder and CEO of B Lab Switzerland and jury member, Jonathan Normand.

(Stefan Kyora)