Scale Up Vaud attracts record number of new scale-ups and investment

Scale Up Vaud marked its fifth anniversary in 2021 and has already helped scores of local startups grow their business. The initiative is run by Innovaud, the innovation and investment promotion agency for Vaud Canton, and now counts 43 scale-ups. Eleven companies were admitted to join the group in 2021. These include:

Akenes (Exoscale) (ICT) – Provides cloud-hosting services with an emphasis on simplicity, scalability and safety for SaaS companies and web applications.

CleanGreens Solutions (agritech) – Supplies farmers and the farm industry with innovative mobile aeroponic solutions for growing environmentally friendly, nutrient-rich vegetables.

Distalmotion (medtech) – Distalmotion’s surgical robot Dexter combines the best of both worlds – laparoscopy and robotics – to make sense of robotic surgery.

Ligentec (engineering) – Manufactures photonic integrated circuits for high-tech applications such as ground and space communications, quantum technology, LiDAR systems and biosensors.

MedAlliance (medtech) – Develops innovative drug-eluting balloons for patients suffering from life-threatening coronary and peripheral arterial disease.

Metaco (fintech) – Helps financial institutions capitalize on the digital asset economy. From cryptocurrency custody and trading to tokenization, staking and lending, Metaco’s platform seamlessly connects institutions to the new world of DeFi.

ONWARD Medical (medtech) – Develops innovative therapies to restore movement, independence and health in people with spinal cord injury.

Technis (engineering) – Supplies non-intrusive systems for measuring foot traffic in public and private areas, monitoring air quality and evaluating patient comfort and safety.

Unit8 (engineering) – Helps non-digital-native companies turn data into value with a mix of data science, analytics and AI, operating at the crossroads of business and technology to assist customers at every step of their data and AI journey.

Vanguard Internet (Batmaid) (ICT) – Delivers hotel-class cleaning services while combating illegal employment practices across Europe.

Vizerra (Revizto) (ICT) – Provides the Revizto building information modeling (BIM) collaboration platform for 3D and 2D workflows, which enables users to work and communicate with all project stakeholders in a unified software environment.

To be eligible for the Scale Up Vaud program, a company must meet various criteria including 20% annual growth in headcount or revenue over the past three years. Meeting the criteria was particularly difficult in 2020 due to the pandemic-related restrictions and uncertainty; many businesses had to put a freeze on hiring, for instance. However, job offers flourished once again in 2021. The 43 members of Scale Up Vaud created 800 jobs in Switzerland in 2021 and nearly 6,000 jobs globally since the firms were first established. Together they raised more than CHF 850 million in capital in 2021. Three companies (Astrocast, Onward Medical, Sophia Genetics) went public.

You can meet this year’s new scale-ups at the upcoming Scale Up Connect: Investor Relations event hosted by Innovaud. It will take place at the Aquatis Hotel (Lausanne-Croisettes) at 5:45pm on 15 March, 2022. Registration required.