Top 10 finalists of Swisscom StartUp Challenge have been chosen

208 start-ups submitted an application for the Swisscom StartUp Challenge this year in the categories of IT, Web and Software, Hardware and FinTech, E-Commerce, AdTech and Big Data as E-Health, Smart Home and Security. More than 90% of all of the young, participating companies come from Switzerland.

An internal jury, consisting of innovation and product managers as well as top management representatives, has selected the top 10 start-ups. During the selection process, the jury took a close look at the general potential of the start-ups whilst evaluating their chances for cooperation or implementation of the respective technology. The jury was particularly impressed with the following ten start-ups: Advanon, Biowatch, Catch Eye, Fashwell, Lykke, Nanolive, qipp, Qumram, xorlab, Xsensio.

The top 10 startups in the Swisscom StartUp Challenge are:

Advanon: Enables SMEs to pre-finance their outstanding invoices easily, quickly and transparently. SMEs can have their customer invoices pre-financed by investors on the Advanon online platform and receive their cash within 24 hours. Companies can thus customise their short-term financing according to their business needs and avoid long waiting times, while investors receive access to a new asset class.

Biowatch – Developed biometric watch that recognises its wearer from the pattern of their veins and therefore provides clear, secure authentication. Via Bluetooth and NFC, the watch enables users to make online payments, unlock their car, automatically log into their accounts or access buildings.

Catcheye:The start-up has developed a video conferencing add-on that enhances video chat picture quality and enables participants to make eye contact. It uses software to optimise images in real time in order to make conversations more personal and improve communication.

Fashwell: An app that enables users to find and buy their favourite fashion products online thanks to an image analysis algorithm based on machine learning.

Lykke: An online marketplace based on decentrally structured blockchain technology that offers immediate settlement of transactions and much lower transaction costs.

Nanolive: Is a new type of technology that enables scientists to conduct 3D microscope-based exploration of living cells without damaging them. In particular, it supports breakthroughs in medical research, such as by making it possible to test the effects of medicines on living cells.

Qipp: The Basel based startup has created Allthings, an app that enables property managers and owners to bundle digital services and enhance the relationships between owners, managers and tenants. Allthings includes a whole range of digital services such as a house-moving service, smart home solutions and marketplaces for tenants.

Qumram: A Zurich-based start-up dedicated to a market with a very bright future – big data. Qumram is a big data platform on which any online data can be entirely and lawfully captured and subsequently retrieved at any moment.

Xorlab: An ETH spin-off that has developed software for the early detection and prevention of client-side attacks.

Xsensio: Founded at the EPFL in Lausanne, the startup has developed a wearable that uses biochemical information on the surface of our skin to provide real-time information about our state of health and well-being in a non-invasive way.

Pitch at the EPFL on 16 August
Swisscom, together with its partner venturelab, has invited the top 10 start-ups to take part in the ‘Pitch’ at the campus of the Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), which will take place mid-August. This is where Swisscom and the EPFL are establishing a competence centre for digitisation within the scope of their strategic partnership. Here the start-ups will need to impress the highly qualified jury, which includes Roger Wüthrich-Hasenböhler (Chief Digital Officer Swisscom) and Adrienne Corboud (Vice President EPFL), to name a few. The five best start-ups will fly to Silicon Valley in autumn.

(RAN)

Picture: pixabay.com, derwiki