Mask on – let’s talk about innovation

Dear reader

With or without the corona crisis, Startup DAYS has become one of the most remarkable highlights in the Swiss start-up ecosystem. This year, the event again delivered two days of intensive exchange among start-ups, investors, supporters, corporates and representatives of large companies. Although Startup Invest very efficiently exploited the opportunity of a hybrid event, the presence of more than 600 visitors on-site clearly demonstrated the significance of face-to-face interaction. Panel discussions, keynotes, 1:1 meetings and networking remained vibrant throughout.

Among other issues, speakers at Startup DAYS emphasised the essence of diversity, and indeed there has been some progress: three of the 10 finalists of the Startup Battle ­– and two of the seven winners – have female CEOs.

Nevertheless, is this enough, and why has the gender gap in the start-up scene remained so wide? The results of a study by FHNW and start-up Future.preneurship indicate that women assess their creative and entrepreneurial skills significantly lower than do men with comparable qualifications. A possible solution would be to create more platforms where budding female entrepreneurs can interact with successful ones.

Talking of success, a good number of start-ups have completed their financing rounds, including proptech start-up Swiss Immo Lab. It now has the support of Berner Kantonalbank alongside its existing partners, and aims to accelerate innovation in the construction industry. This week we also reported on the arrival of PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel to the Swiss start-up scene. He participated in the series A financing round for electric car start-up Piëch Automotive, which concluded in May this year. The start-up has now launched a series B round in order to raise EUR 150 million.

Further funds also came into the country following the acquisition of digital banking pioneer Avaloq by NEC, provider of digital finance software and domain knowledge. The CHF 2 billion acquisition should be completed by April 2021.

However, more and larger investments are still required to drive innovation and help build Swiss companies into global companies. Wingman Ventures has finally closed its Fund 1, raising a total of CHF 76 million; so far, it is the largest fund in Europe dedicated to seed-stage start-ups. The VC team will provide both entrepreneurial expertise and investment to 30 early-stage Swiss tech companies over the next 10 years.

Finally, I would like to draw your attention to the upcoming SECA event Swiss VCs on Stage, for which the registration deadline expires on 14 October. Swiss Diagnostics Days, Startup Forum Aargau and Smart Water 2020 will also take place next week.

Have a great autumnal weekend

Ritah Ayebare Nyakato
Duty Editor, Startupticker.ch