The end of the beginning

Dear reader

The end of a start-up’s journey takes different forms, such as going public, selling out to a large corporate, or a merger or acquisition. This week the exit of two Swiss start-ups was announced. Amal Therapeutics, which began its journey in 2012 as a spin-off from the University of Geneva, specialises in the development of new vaccines against intestinal cancer and brain tumours based on its technology platform KISIMA. The potential of Amal’s platform attracted Germany’s giant pharma company Boehringer Ingelheim (BI), which, after two months of collaboration with Amal, has now fully purchased all its shares in a transaction worth EUR 325 million with additional milestone payments of up to EUR 100 million. In the other deal, iKentoo has been acquired by Lightspeed, a Canadian company also specialising in point-of-sale systems – terms of the deal have not been revealed. Nonetheless, iKentoo has recorded great achievements over the years since its inception in 2011, including expansion to more than 14 countries, an investment of CHF 6.8 million and the acquisition of prominent customers.

While Amal and iKentoo bid farewell, other start-ups continue to climb the ladder – some in the project stage, such as the new cohort of the Gebert Rüf Stiftung’s First Ventures Programme. Others are at the pilot stage, including Caulys, which has now installed 18 of its sustainable indoor farm modules. Already reaping the fruits of an ongoing pilot is AirBie, which has sparked great interest among Zug residents with its crypto-bike-sharing model, resulting in 1,500 rentals. At an advanced stage is the agritech start-up Gamaya, which has raised CHF 12 million in a Series B financing round, and Nanolive, which has just launched the world’s first microscope for automated live-cell imaging.

Financial and non-financial support plays a significant role in a start-up’s development, which is why ever-more services are on offer. Swibrace, which is developing an orthopaedic splint to replace surgical treatment, and Mobbot, which develops 3D concrete printing systems, have both obtained CHF 100,000 – from Fri Up and a FIT seed loan, respectively. Further start-up support comes from the corporate side: this week Bühler and Givaudan, two of Switzerland’s largest companies, joined forces to provide start-ups in the food sector with a platform, access to technology and networks, and their expertise. This step shows the continuing recognition of the significance of collaboration between corporates and start-ups. Kickstart Innovation is already fostering this trend with its open innovation programme. We talked to Katka Letzing, co-founder of the initiative, who confirms the growth of the corporate/start-up relationship but also emphasises the need to break away from silos and begin to collaborate.

Apropos, further support comes from Innosuisse, which launched a new call for non-technology based projects, and Klimastiftung Schweiz. The Boldbrain challenge is coming to the end of the application phase – the deadline expires on Monday, 22 July.

In a few weeks, the Top 100 Swiss start-ups will be revealed and the start-up that wins the public vote will be honoured. Currently, more than 7,200 individuals have voted for their favourite start-up – use the remaining weeks until the end of July to participate in the public voting.

Have a good weekend

Ritah Ayebare Nyakato
Editor, Startupticker.ch