Mobile goes deep tech

The Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona is the worldwide most important trade fair in the fast-growing mobile communication sector and generated last year 108’000 visitors from 209 countries. The next MWC will take place in Barcelona from 25-28 February 2019. The industry focus of the Mobile World Congress includes App/Mobile Services, IoT, Network Technology, Big Data/Analytics, Device Hardware, Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Services, Marketing/Advertising, Enterprise & Business IT and Smart Cities.

Thirteen Swiss start-ups will be present in Barcelona. Six of them are supported by Innosuisse. They will exhibit there products at the Swiss Pavilion, organised by Switzerland Global Enterprise, Innosuisse and AlpICT.

Hivemind, Zürich, IOT
To develop and deploy Internet of Things applications faster and easier than ever before, Hivemind provides a scalable IoT platform. It reduces time-to-market and enables rapid roll-out of feature-rich applications globally and at large scale. 

Guuru, Hünenberg ZG, Apps
Guuru offers cloud based services that enable brand ambassadors to provide live-chat support to new and prospective customers of a company. The solutions enable companies to outsource customer service and sales support.

Insightness, Zürich, Industrial Vision
Insightness builds spatial AI solutions (Vision Chip & Software) that allow mobile devices such as drones to understand the structure of their environment, how things move and where they are located.

Biowatch, Lausanne, Security
Biowatch has designed and developed a wrist veins biometric reader that functions as a security/authentication solution. It can replace traditional badges, cards, keys, passwords, PIN codes and biometrics. 

Shift Crypto, Zurich, Security
Shift Crypto’s flagship product, BitBox, is sold and enjoyed by customers in over 100 countries. This unique hardware wallet equips individuals to easily store, protect, and transact cryptocurrencies with an exceptional high standard of security.

Gmelius, Plan-les-Ouates, CRM
Gmelius is a lightweight and collaborative CRM that adapts email to the modern workflow and reinvents your inbox to build valuable customer relationships. Gmelius seamlessly integrates into existing email clients and counts today more than 150,000 daily active users.

Five start-ups have been selected for the first Venture Leaders Mobile program:

aiCTXn, Zurich, Hardware
AiCTX, whose investors include China’s biggest search-engine company, develops ultra-low power and ultra-low latency neuromorphic processors and smart sensors, for internet-of-things devices and edge-computing. Applications include for autonomous robots, always-on embedded devices and wearable healthcare systems.

Dotphoton, Zug, Software
As technology shrinks high-powered cameras into more devices, storing and transferring the large data files becomes difficult. Dotphoton uses technology based on quantum physics to compress large image files by a factor of ten without losing quality, whether for human social sharing or scientific analysis by computers.

greenTEG, Zurich, Wearables
GreenTEG offers the first sensor for continuous, non-invasive core body temperature measurement. Core body temperature is an important vital parameter and its accurate measurement helps understand a person’s health. The compact sensor is ideal for the integration into wearable devices.

INVOLI, Renens, Drones
As the drone industry becomes more automated and develops bigger devices to transport goods and monitor the earth, so does the need for safety in the air above our heads. Involi’s hardware and software provide the critical, real-time data needed to keep drone flights safe in mid-air. The company is looking to use telecommunication companies' existing infrastructure to house and power its air-traffic devices.

Komed Health, Zurich, Digital Health
Miscommunication in hospitals can have life-threatening consequences. After working with doctors and building on experience gained with Nokia and Deutsche Telekom, the company's communication software is used by Swiss hospitals.

Female founders are in the majority
The Venture Leaders Mobile delegation consists of three female and two male founders. The start-ups were chosen from 60 applications, after pitching their start-ups to a jury of experts and investors in Zurich. Switzerland doesn't have to hide-away in Barcelona, said Stefan Steiner, co-managing director of Venturelab. "The team's expertise reflects Switzerland’s strong drive for innovation, and shows we develop startups that are in demand worldwide.”

In addition, two other start-ups will be present at the Mobile World Congress

Kido Dynamics, Lausanne, Data Intelligence
Kido Dynamics uses data provided by telco operators, and applies social physics and quantum computing techniques to very accurately analyse and predict human mobility patterns. Its technology is private by design, and fully complies with European GDPR. 

Katia, Martigny, Security
Katia's solution defeats nuisance and criminals calls and is available for telecom operators, large businesses and developers.