Sparks IPO Academy prepares new cohort for next move

The Sparks IPO Academy is an initiative of the SIX Swiss Exchange designed to prepare startup founders for a potential Sparks IPO, providing them with tailored support, and access to Switzerland’s leading capital markets specialists and connecting them to leaders from listed companies, potential investors, and peers on the IPO journey. This initiative, in particular through the Sparks listing segment, aims to provide companies with the necessary resources for a successful transition to the public markets in line with their sustainable business growth.

The third edition of the six-months program has kicked off with 14 new high-potential Scale-ups and SMEs. They are:

Aptissen | 2013, Plan-les-Ouate, Geneva – is a leading-edge musculoskeletal expert providing life-changing orthobiologic solutions for joint disorders. Its hyaluronic acid injectable, SynolisTM, reduces the pain and discomfort caused by osteoarthritis while Cartylis, a daily drinkable food supplement, promotes collagen synthesis to boost the joints. Founded in 2013, the company’s products are distributed through a worldwide distributors network in more than 50 countries.

Betterview | 2021, Winterthur – provides fixed-price laser eye treatments. Owing to its fast-paced growth, the ophthalmology startup has opened seven clinics in Switzerland and most recently in London, marking its first foreign market.

Daphne Technology| 2017, Saint-Sulpice, Vaud – developed a proprietary technology to solve the Greenhouse Gas challenge in tough-to-decarbonise industries. It sproduct SlipPure, is a game-changing after-treatment system that substantially reduces methane emissions in the exhaust of natural gas-fuelled engines. This innovative solution has received “Approval in Principle” from esteemed organisations such as Lloyd’s Register (LR) and DNV, underscoring its effectiveness. PureMetrics™ is an advanced system that directly measures and reports real-time GHG emissions, ensuring utmost accuracy and compliance with crucial regulations.

QualySense | Ferrum Group | 2010, Opfikon, Zurich – is a pioneer in high-speed analytics and sorting solutions for seeds, grains, and beans. Its QSorter, packed with features that deliver impressive accuracy and consistency in the measurement of quality parameters, is the most advanced and AI-powered technology for automated quality inspection and fine sorting various grains from 30 to 3’000 per second.

Gentwo | 2018, Zurich – the fintech startup developed a proprietary platform solution, GenTwo PRO, to empower investment professionals to create unlimited, white-labelled investment solutions.

Greenstate | 2021, Winterthur – the Swiss-American company is developing modular hardware and software solutions to facilitate indoor/vertical precision agriculture, modern greenhouse practices, and artificial intelligence. The GreenState modular farming units can also be supplied with solar panels to achieve maximum sustainability.

Pointspay (Loylogic Holding) |2013, Erlenbach (Zurich) – developed the world’s first global mobile wallet and mobile payment solution, allowing customers to earn and spend loyalty points directly at checkout at thousands of merchants. The company is used by over 10 million customers and thousands of merchants across multiple categories.

Medyria | 2012, Winterthur – a leader in blood flow velocity sensing, Medyria most recently launched the development of PyCath, a novel microcatheter for the invasive diagnosis of ischemic heart conditions. The device is positioned as the only device on the market with pressure and blood flow velocity sensing, with superior usability and reliability, allowing the device to rapidly become the best-in-class device for full physiological assessment.

Onward Therapeutics | 2020, Epalinges – pursues a buy-and-build strategy to identify and develop innovative medicines for cancer treatment. The company’s pipeline currently has two candidates, NK-001 (OT-C001), aimed at treating cancer, and OT-A201, a bispecific antibody for immuno-oncology to treat cancer patients.

Positrigo | 2018, Zurich  - developing nuclear medical imaging devices to advance functional brain imaging. Its product NeuroLF, is an ultra-compact brain Positron Emission Tomography system offering functional brain imaging to everyone at a fraction of today’s cost. Starting with dementia diagnostic in general and Alzheimer’s disease in particular, the technology is applicable for the diagnosis of numerous brain-related disorders.

Rocketvax – founded as a subsidiary of Swiss Rockets AG, uses its proprietary molecular biology technologies to develop novel vaccines for infectious diseases like COVID-19, cancer, and auto-immune disorders. Several vaccine candidates in the pipeline – such as the original live, single-cycle virus vaccine, live-attenuated vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, and a vaccine candidate against cancer – are being developed.

Swiss Marketplace Group (SMG) | 2001, Zurich – founded by the TX Group, Ringier AG, La Mobilière and General Atlantic, SMG  is a pioneering network of online marketplaces and cutting-edge European digital company that simplifies people’s lives with innovative products.its portfolio includes Real Estate (ImmoScout24, Homegate, Immostreet.ch, home.ch, Publimmo, Acheter-Louer.ch, CASASOFT, IAZI), Automotive (AutoScout24, MotoScout24, CAR FOR YOU), General Marketplaces (anibis.ch, tutti.ch, Ricardo) and Finance & Insurance (FinanceScout24).

Vereign | 2017, Zug – is a provider of Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) solutions, the first internet native identity layer, and crucial for security, confidentiality & privacy, enabling all kinds of use cases for the future digital economy. It offers open-source/free software products built on open standards, available as fully supported commercial products, including guaranteed security updates and assured response and resolution times.

Aqilion AB | Sweden – develops innovative new therapies for diseases caused by chronic inflammation and dysfunctional immune reactions.

Application for the Sparks IPO Academy 2024/25 is open for application. 

(RAN)
Image: graystudiopro1, Freepik