With the CE Approval of Carevix by Aspivix, more women now have access to less painful procedures during Intrauterine Device placement and other gynaecological procedures in the US and Europe. Ambassadors across 12 institutions in Europe and the US are already using the product.

In response to growing market imperatives for pay equity and transparency, beqom has acquired PayAnalytics, a cutting-edge pay and workplace equity software provider based in Iceland. This strategic move integrates advanced pay equity analytics with core compensation processes, enabling companies to create a culture of fair pay while complying with global wage fairness regulations.

Vandria SA, a Swiss biotech at the vanguard of mitochondrial therapeutics developing first-in-class small molecule mitophagy inducers, today emerged from stealth with the announcement of its successful Series A fundraise. The USD 20.6M (CHF 18M) round was led by ND Capital together with a small syndicate of HNW private investors.

With TESSA (Thermal Energy System Simulation Assistant) Planeto has developed an innovative software that digitises district heating and cooling planning, accelerating the adoption of renewable energy sources in cities. The startup was awarded CHF 150,000 by Venture Kick, winning the third stage of the program.

TotalEnergies has just acquired Predictive Layer to help accelerate its development in the electricity sector. The Swiss AI startup benefited from the TotalEnergies On acceleration program at STATION F in Paris. The success of the collaboration and the tests carried out during their participation in the program led the French energy company to negotiate its acquisition and integration into the business unit with which it collaborated.

Die IT-Dienstleisterin CONVOTIS Schweiz akquiriert InnoFind. Das Thuner Startup wird nahtlos in CONVOTIS integriert und dessen KI-Tool für stilbasierte Webshop-Suche ergänzt das Dienstleistungsportfolio.

The Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) has invested $4.2M to accelerate the development of GliaPharm’s lead compound through investigational new drug (IND)-enabling studies to gain approval for clinical testing in Alzheimer’s disease.

Zurich-based CDR-Life has dosed the first patient in the Phase 1 trial of BI 771716, licensed to Boehringer Ingelheim, to treat geographic atrophy (GA). This milestone brings the startup into the clinical stage.

The jury of the IMD Startup Competition has chosen 11 startups to collaborate with the Executive MBA classes and 18  to work alongside the MBA participants. The cohort in this latest edition offers various solutions for diverse industries such as energy, finance, food and healthcare.

Rejsekort & Rejseplan A/S, responsible for the operation of Rejsekort on behalf of the Public Transport Authorities in Denmark, has chosen Fairtiq as the preferred partner for developing an advanced mobile PAYG (Pay-as-you-go) national public transport ticketing solution for Denmark. The phased roll-out will commence in 2024.

CompPair Technologies Ltd. announces the closing of a funding round to strengthen company activities, foster growth within the composites industry and expand the team. Complimentary funding from public entities, InnoSuisse and Eurostar, positions CompPair as a global solution provider within the industry. The funding round, led by existing shareholders and completed by new investors, highlights and supports the company’s growth phase in the composites sector.

The ten selected connectivity startups for the Venture Leaders Mobile program offer diverse solutions ranging from drone deliveries to cybersecurity, blockchains and artificial intelligence. As part of the one-week roadshow, they will attend the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February 2024 to present their solutions to international investors and leading telecommunications companies.

Frisches Geld für den Lagerflächen-Marktplatz von Storabble: Das St. Galler Startup hat von Löwe Roland Brack ein Investment von rund 100'000 Franken erhalten. Das nachhaltige Sportmodelabel Kiani und das Aargauer Startup Kaffiabo hingegen gehen die nächsten Wachstumsschritte ohne Löwen-Investments an.

With the launch of its virtual event platform, Veertly transformed digital interactions in Switzerland and beyond. The company has joined the Swisscom Broadcast family, tapping into a new growth phase. This acquisition also opens avenues to advance the technology further.

Aesyra, an Ecublens (VD) based medtech startup pioneering oral appliance technologies to improve sleep, has raised $3 million in a seed financing round led by Supermoon Capital (USA), the world’s first fund focused on sleeptech, and deep tech investor Creadd Ventures (Switzerland) with participation from existing investor Zürcher Kantonalbank.

Unlike electric or hydrogen propulsion, Metafuels' drop-in sustainable aviation fuel promises better cost and environmental performance and does not require any redesign of aircraft or aviation infrastructure. The Startup has closed its first institutional investment round, raising $8 million from prominent climate VCs Energy Impact Partners (EIP) and Contrarian Ventures. 

From a pool of 15 excellent startups, machineMD made it to the top five finalists of the DayOne Health 4.0 Accelerator. The medtech startup will receive support for another three months, including 1:1 mentoring, expert-input and introductions to relevant stakeholders in healthcare.

N-Dream, a Zurich-based startup pioneering a cloud-based in-car game aggregation platform, has secured a strategic investment of €3 million from KPIT, a global partner to the Automotive Industry and Mobility Ecosystem for making software-defined vehicles a reality. Building on the successful launch of in-car games with BMW, this investment and partnership with KPIT will allow the startup to scale the technology and strengthen its market position.  

Zwei Startups gewinnen anlässlich der ersten Verleihung des Age Innovationspreises. Ebenfalls zwei Jungunternehmen werden von der Agglomeration Freiburg ausgezeichnet. Und drei Startups werden ins genisuisse-Coachingprogramm aufgenommen.

BioVersys, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company from Basel, has received orphan-drug designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its novel treatment against tuberculosis. This designation comes with benefits for the ongoing Phase 2a clinical trial of the lead candidate alpibectir in the context of the bEto-TB Project.

By significantly improving production efficiency, REMA enables the widespread adoption of green hydrogen, supporting global sustainability goals in the transition to clean energy. The startup was awarded CHF 150,000 by Venture Kick to accelerate its development.

The results of a three-year project featuring Norwegian company Heimdall Power and Meteomatics, a St. Gallen-based startup offering weather and climate data to monitor and forecast the real-time capacity of high-voltage power bring hope to the renewable energy sector. With Meteomatics’ data integrated into its technology, Heimdall Power is powering a 30% increase in utilities’ transmission capacity on average.

Cortexia conclut avec succès un nouveau tour de financement sursouscrit de CHF 2.35 millions afin d'accélérer sa croissance internationale et le développement de nouveaux domaines d'application. En plus des investisseurs existants Remondis Digital Services et Capital Risque Fribourg, Cortexia a gagné de nouveaux investisseurs solides avec Bloomhaus, Kurrant Ventures et Spicehaus.

Juries in six award competitions held in Switzerland, France, London and other regions awarded Swiss startups in recognition of their innovative solutions addressing challenges in the digital health, energy and mobility sectors. The Swiss Games Awards has also revealed multiple winners.

EPFL spin-off DemoSquare conceived an AI-powered platform that offers in-depth insights into Switzerland's parliamentary record and was awarded with a Digital Seed loan from the Foundation for Technological Innovation (FIT). StudyBud has come up with a tailored learning platform to match students and tutors, and Me Uni develops a solution to visit universities in the metaverse. Both startups have received FIT Digital Grants to refine their technology.

Zurich-based startup 4QT has closed a CHF1.9 million pre-seed funding round led by Unruly Capital. 4QT is now setting the stage for the first commercial demonstration of high-performance, carbon-neutral drives for the hard-to-abate construction industry and heavy machinery.

Founded in 2022, Rflect is pioneering a scalable solution to integrate personal development seamlessly into existing university study programs. With over 12 universities already on board, the startup strives to accelerate the solution. Closing its CHF 550,000 pre-seed funding round gives it the financial stability to achieve this goal. Renowned business angels participated in the round.

Amputees in low- and middle-income countries in East Africa now have access to inexpensive, stylish, and locally-made prosthetics developed by Zurich-based Circleg. Following several years of development, the startup has entered the commercial phase with 30 amputees already equipped.

The 2023 edition of the Boldbrain Startup Challenge concluded with the traditional evening event dedicated to the winners’ announcement yesterday. 500 people attending the event in-person saw Foldcast taking home the first prize as well as the audience award. Foldcast develops a sustainable, cardboard-based formwork to cast concrete.

In addition to its prominent investor board, which includes FIFA World Champions and professional coaches, Coachbetter has attracted Knife Capital I GmbH and Bogen & Partner Wealth Managers to join its seed Plus round. With a total of €4 million raised, the German-Swiss sports tech startup is set for further growth.

Les entreprises lauréates ont été annoncées à l’issue de la finale du concours de pitch public organisé par GENILEM, qui s’est tenue le 6 décembre au Musée Olympique à Lausanne. Les 7 projets finalistes en lice ont pitché leur projet pendant 151 secondes pour convaincre le jury et le public venu en nombre.

Das St. Galler Netzwerk für Innovationsförderung hat in diesem Jahr wiederum individuelle Förderpakete für Startups aus der Region vergeben. Knapp die Hälfte davon ging an Teams, welche ihr Startup noch nicht offiziell gegründet haben.

Swiss deeptech INAIT just left its mark at the Swiss Insurance Awards 2023 by winning the first prize. On this occasion the insurance industry experts of the jury acknowledged the innovativeness and business potential of Lausanne’s insuretech groundbreaking product, Bumpt.

Das Aargauer Startup AYMA Clothing hat nach Swiss International Air Lines eine zweite Schweizer Fluggesellschaft als Partnerin gewonnen und im Vergleich zum Vorjahr den Umsatz bereits um 170 Prozent gesteigert. Nun fokussiert sich die Gründerin auf die Prozessoptimierung und das weitere Wachstum in der Schweiz.

SUIND, an Indian-Swiss startup, has secured around half a million Swiss francs (INR 5 crore) in a seed financing round led by India’s leading venture capital firm Sunicon Ventures. A pioneer in autonomous crop analysis solutions to promote sustainable farming practices, the startup will use the funds to advance its AI-driven crop protection platform.

The Biospectal OptiBP app uses the built-in camera lens on a smartphone, proprietary algorithms and optical signal analysis methods to measure blood pressure. The app will be available first in Switzerland, Germany, Austria and France via Google Play starting in early 2024.

PriceHubble has welcomed back its founder to the team as Chief Executive Officer while Madiha Derouazi, known from AMAL Therapeutics, joined AC Immune as its new Chief Scientific Officer along with the promotion of Christopher Roberts to Chief Financial Officer. Memo Therapeutics has a new CEO and South Pole is undergoing leadership changes, with John Davis as Interim CEO.

On November 28th, the Prix Strategis Jury selected its 8 semi-finalists for the ongoing edition. The startups in competition were judged on the basis of the quality of their innovation, their growth potential and operational management. To support sustainability, a new distinction, the "Prix Durabilité" will be awarded at the closing ceremony on May 22nd 2024 . 

Swiss-Ghanaian start-up Koa raises US$ 15 million in equity in a Series B round to finance its business growth. The closing comes just a few months after the inauguration of its new cocoa fruit factory in Ghana and allows Koa to finance its ongoing scale-up while simultaneously expanding the cocoa fruit upcycling and spearheading a shift to regenerative and climate-smart agriculture.

YouHodler, the Swiss Web3 platform with over 1 million registered users that provides innovative fintech solutions that bridge fiat and crypto financial services, has announced a strategic partnership with Ledger, the global platform for digital assets and Web3. The collaboration is designed to open up new avenues for Ledger Live App users, providing seamless access to the dynamic world of crypto-currency trading and investment.

HoliYou is the 11th startup selected for the Biopôle Vanguard Accelerator. To take on the drastical decline in fertility in many parts of the world, the Vaud startup led by Eugénie Vellieux is developing a novel AI care app designed to enhance daily support and monitoring for individuals before, during, and after Assisted Reproductive Treatment (ART). The aim: to boost success rates.

The new list of startups benefiting from the Technology Fund loan guarantee is out, comprising ten startups offering a diverse set of solutions, ranging from connected devices to energy-efficient systems and sustainable textile materials. This financial boost allows startups to secure bank loans to accelerate their development.

Der Kanton Luzern unterstützt in Zusammenarbeit mit der Hochschule Luzern Startups, Unternehmen, Organisationen oder Gemeinden dabei, Pilotprojekte in den Bereichen Klimaschutz, Klimaanpassung oder Energie zu initiieren und umzusetzen. Die Fördersumme für das Jahr 2024 beträgt insgesamt 300'000 Franken. Bewerbungen werden ab Januar bis Ende Mai 2024 entgegengenommen.

Basel-based startup Scailyte has raised USD 8 million in their series A financial round. The funds will enable the medtech startup to expand U.S. partnerships in immuno-oncology and to promote the discovery of new clinically relevant biomarker signatures.

Brightside AI, a SaaS platform to help teams combat social-engineering cyberattacks that are enabled by mass adoption of genAI, announces the successful completion of a USD 1M deal with Social Links, a technology investor in OSINT infrastructure. As part of the collaboration, Brightside will have access to the Social Links platform next 5 years to train LLM models of its artificial intelligence-based human data search engine, making them more effective through the use of real-world examples.

ETH Zurich and EPFL are launching the “Swiss AI Initiative”, whose purpose is to position Switzerland as a leading global hub for the development and implementation of transparent and reliable artificial intelligence (AI). The new Alps supercomputer based at the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS) provides the supporting world-​class infrastructure.

Swiss startups developing software solutions that leverage artificial intelligence technology are invited to submit their applications for the newly launched Microsoft for Startups AI Tech Accelerator. Commencing from 12 February to 5 March 2024, selected startups will benefit from unparalleled technical support, including exclusive access to cutting-edge OpenAI models. This accelerator program is poised to significantly boost the development of their solutions.

In der zweiten Förderrunde 2023 spricht die Klimastiftung Schweiz 1,7 Millionen Franken für 11 Projekte und Technologien. Zusammen mit der Unterstützung aus der Fördervergabe Frühjahr 2023 vergibt die Stiftung in diesem Jahr damit 2,4 Millionen Franken für total 17 Projekte, welche einen wertvollen Beitrag zur Lösung der Klima- und Energieherausforderung beitragen.