Three Swiss companies among WEF’s Technology Pioneers

The World Economic Forum Technology Pioneers of 2020 are 100 of the most promising early to growth-stage companies that are shaping industries from agriculture to healthcare, while also working on sustainability issues and much more. This year’s cohort selection marks the 20th anniversary of the Technology Pioneers community. Throughout its 20-year run, many Technology Pioneers have continuously contributed to advancement in their industries, while some have even gone on to become household names. Past recipients include Airbnb, Google, Kickstarter, Mozilla, Palantir Technologies, Spotify, TransferWise, Twitter and Wikimedia.

Three growth companies from Switzerland made it to the exclusive group:

Akselos (Lausanne) brings the first simulation technology to the market that is powerful enough to create holistic, real-time digital twins of large, complex assets such as drilling platforms or wind energy plants. The sensor-enabled digital twin responds in real time to reflect the asset’s current condition, enabling active control of asset integrity and operations. Used throughout the asset lifecycle, Akselos technology enables a digital thread, a data-driven architecture that links information generated from across the asset lifecycle enabling a step-change in design and operations.

Climeworks (Zurich) is one of the global leaders in carbon dioxide removal. The company’s patented technology captures CO2 directly from the air using clean energy, thereby offering a truly pure carbon dioxide removal solution. Current customers include established businesses and organizations worldwide, all with ambitious climate targets, and a growing community of private people inspired to take pioneering climate action with Climeworks.

Energy Vault (Lugano) provides utility-scale storage of clean energy. Energy Vault’s specially designed crane uses proprietary technology and machine vision software to autonomously orchestrate the lifting and lowering of massive composite bricks made from locally sourced soil or waste materials. Able to connect directly into national utility grids or to directly support off-grid renewable generation, the storage systems are deployed by energy providers such as utilities and other large industrial energy consumers. The company’s first utility-scale, commercial demonstration unit is under final commissioning in Switzerland and will be directly connected to the Swiss national grid in order to demonstrate full charging and continuous power discharging capabilities.