Time100 Next list features two Swiss startups

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30.09.2022

Every year, TIME publishes the TIME100 Next, which recognises 100 rising stars from across industries worldwide. The founders of Climeworks and Proton were nominated to the list in the categories Innovator and Leaders, respectively, for their contribution to addressing environmental and privacy issues. 

Inspired by its TIME100, TIME100 Next list includes 100 individuals that are shaping the world and defining the future through their efforts. TIME’s journalists have selected various personalities, including musicians, medical professionals, government officials, movement leaders, high-profile whistle-blowers and top CEOs. 

Two Swiss startups scored a spot on the list.

Climeworks’ Christoph Gebald and Jan Wurzbacher have been nominated for the 'Innovators' category. Founded in 2009, the startup introduced the world’s first commercial carbon removal technology. Its direct air capture and storage solution removes CO2 from the atmosphere to supply to customers and unlock a negative emissions future. Last September, Climeworks set a foundation for the world’s largest direct-air carbon-capture plant in Iceland that, over the course of a year, can pull the equivalent of 870 cars’ annual emissions from the air. Within two years, the company plans to open another facility that will be nine times as large. In April, the company raised $650 million and won long-term partnerships. Microsoft and PWC Switzerland have signed 10-year and nine-year agreements to remove atmospheric CO2. As noted by TIME, carbon removal is still controversial among environmentalists for its potential to distract from the urgent need to cut global emissions, without which carbon-sucking machines cannot possibly make a difference in averting catastrophic climate change. “People think if we’re successful, they can skip [emissions] reduction,” says Gebald to TIME. “This does not work.”

Andy Yen, cofounder of Proton, was nominated in the category 'Leaders' for his contribution to data privacy and internet security. Through Proton, he developed ProtonMail an encrypted email platform, Proton Drive and ProtonVPN, the company’s virtual private network. Since its founding in 2014, the company has attracted over 50 million people from over 180 countries that have signed up to use Proton products. Andy’s passion for building alternatives to today’s world and his advocacy for policy changes to protect people carves a practical and sustainable path to a more ethical online world. According to Tim Berners-Lee who wrote a short portait on TIME.com, Andy is always willing to use his voice to start conversations imperative to the way we could and should live, and his actions and creations offer solutions that disrupt the status quo. "Andy is truly a luminary among the next generation of tech leaders."

(RAN)

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