Silicon Valley accelerator Plug and Play has revealed the elite group of startups accepted into their Fall 2017 batches. Plug and Play only accepted 3% of the qualified startups that applied to this latest cohort. Two startups in the fintech programme are representing Switzerland.

The Stevie Awards are a well-known, world-wide business awards program. This year, the award received entries from more than 60 nations and territories. Among the winners are MySky, Yerra Solutions and Sherpany.

Ten selected startups and SME have the opportunity to pitch to multinational enterprises such as RUAG, SAAB, MAN, Siemens, ABB, Sandvik and GE at an event in September in Neuchâtel. The goal is to generate new industrial partnerships and market oriented research projects with funding available from EUREKA/Eurostars.

PapayaPods is joining forces with Departiculares.com, Spain’s main online rental property website. The company, founded in Lausanne, is gathering momentum in Spain's and Switzerland's fast evolving rental markets. 

A Swiss start-up with plans to deploy 64 cubesat-class spacecraft by 2021 to support Internet of Things applications has raised an initial $3 million funding round.

Zum ersten Mal gibt es beim Top 100 Startup Award ein Public Voting. Derzeit führt TestingTime. Im Interview gibt CEO Reto Lämmler einen Einblick in das Marketing des Unternehmens und erklärt, wie die Content- und Inbound Marketing-Strategie für das Gewinnen neuer Kunden eingesetzt wird.

Creative Business Cup is an international competition and support programme for creative entrepreneurs. Creative Hub has recently become a national partner of the Creative Business Cup so that Swiss startups are now eligible to apply. Deadline for the competition is 27 August.

The third edition of GoodFestival brings together innovators from around the globe in Lausanne to get insights on the topic “The future of sustainable innovation”. The five-day event offers participants the chance to network, raise funds and win the Good100 Medal.

The Blockchain Competition has received 80 entries from teams and startups using the blockchain for the insurance industry. The competition will continue to accept late applications until 22 September.

Roivant Sciences today announced a $1.1 billion equity investment led by the SoftBank Vision Fund. The global headquarters of the biotech group and its subsidiaries are in Basel.

Software startup SkeletonCAD, developing in Computer-Aided Design and Simulation software, announced its first deployment of a SkeletonCAD-Beta licence. This milestone marks the startup’s debut in making its novel engineering software commercially available for test and evaluation purposes to selected industry partners.

Allein in Deutschland haben eine halbe Million Gamer innerhalb weniger Monate die aktuelle Version des Landwirtschafts-Simulators von GIANTS Software gekauft. Dafür gab es nun einen Award vom deutschen Bundesverband Interaktive Unterhaltungssoftware.

4-Check konnte bereits mehrere Grossunternehmen als Kunden für seine Checklisten-App gewinnen und ist heute in mehreren Ländern aktiv. Mit sensorgesteuerten Checklisten gehört das Basler Startup nun auch zu den Pionieren der Industrie 4.0.

In the coming autumn startups, entrepreneurs, developers, and enthusiast have the opportunity to participate in either the 54-hour Startup weekend or 48-hour hackathon to develop new ideas for a selected theme. These events provide an opportunity to test ideas, get feedback and meet future co-workers. Registration is open.

Adventures-Lab, la startup edtech valaisanne, vient de lancer Karting-Mat, un jeu de course déjanté en réalité augmentée. Ce jeu complète l’offre déjà riche d’activités proposées par l’application développée pour le tapis de jeu Adventures-Mat lancé avec succès ce printemps au World VR Forum de Crans-Montana.

Nestpick has presented findings of the Startup Cities Index 2017 as basis for individuals to make informed decisions about the best cities to settle in as a startup professional. Zurich ranks 7th with the best score in safety followed by gender equality and healthcare quality.

EyeFitU, a shopping App that allows users to find their right sizes, continues to gain momentum. Since establishment the App has generated more than 230'000 downloads. Online shopping enthusiasts can look up clothes in their sizes from over 50 online stores in the UK, Germany, US and Switzerland. Isabelle Ohnemus CEO and founder provides more insights.

Gestartet ist Novamem mit Wasserfiltern für den Outdoor-Bereich. Nun geht das ETH-Spin-off mit einem neuen Produkt den milliardenschweren Markt für aufschraubbare Wasserfilter für den Homebereich an.

Die Energiedienst Holding AG beteiligt sich an der Oberwalliser winsun AG. Das 2011 gegründete Unternehmen fokussiert sich mit ihren 70 Angestellten auf die Projektentwicklung, das Engineering sowie den Vertrieb und Marketing von Photovoltaikanlagen.

Zwölf Teams wurden für das nationale Finale von ClimateLaunchpad ausgewählt. Die Palette reicht von Velorahmen aus Bambus bis zur Speicherung von Luftqualitätsdaten auf Basis der Blockchain.

Elanix announced today the treatment of the first patient in a Phase I/II clinical trial with TWB-103 in adults with skin graft donor site wounds. The study is being conducted in Taiwan and Japan with partner Transwell Biotech. TWB-103 is a novel gel formulation developed by Transwell Biotech, using skin fibroblast progenitor cells provided by Elanix.

Rewired, based in Lausanne and London, announced the launch of its robotics venture studio and fund. To start, the company is investing $100 million in applied science and technologies that advance machine perception. Advisors of Rewired include Thomas Estier, co-founder and CEO of Rovenso.

The EU has granted CHF 1.7 million to the new project called 3BrainScreen-, which complements a Swiss project of CHF 1.5 million and will be coordinated by 3Brain, the Swiss brain-computer company.

Nach einer gründlichen Marktrecherche hat das amerikanische IT Security Unternehmen Lynx Technology Partners LUCY-Server in sein Produktportfolio aufgenommen. Das Produkt des Schweizer Startups Lucy Phishing ermöglicht die Simulation von Cyberattacken.

Kevin Mamalis, Alexandre Grillon et Clément Gabry viennent de remporter avec le projet Nextep le Prix Innogrant / FitGrant 2017 décerné par la HEIG-VD. Leur projet consiste à développer des technologies réduisant drastiquement le coût des prothèses sur mesure, permettant aux personnes ayant été amputées d’un membre inférieur d’accéder au confort des meilleures prothèses.

Three Swiss startups have been nominated among the Top 16 finalists of the Digital Marketing Innovation World Cup. The finalists will pitch their ideas before the audience of more than 50’000 visitors at the 2017 dmexco trade fair in Cologne, Germany. The winner will be announced and crowned as the “Digital Marketing Hero”.

Der Schweizer Cloud-Speicher «SecureSafe» wächst kontinuierlich. Im Juli 2017 hat der Dienst die Grenze von einer Million Nutzern durchbrochen.

Bei den beiden Awards werden Firmen ausgezeichnet, die das Potential aufweisen die Industrie in den Bereichen Banking und Versicherungen nachhaltig zu verändern. Das Thema der diesjährigen Ausschreibung lautet: Finance Customer Journey – k(l)eine Irrfahrt. Die Bewerbungsfrist endet am 1. September.

The Swiss Finance + Technology Association (SFTA) and Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), an International Financial Centre established by a UAE Federal Decree, have formed a new alliance to advance FinTech activities and strengthen each other’s FinTech ecosystem. The two will foster mutually-beneficial opportunities that support the growth and deployment of innovations in both markets.

Globus Medical, a leading musculoskeletal solutions manufacturer, announced that the acquisition of KB Medical SA, a robotic developer based in Lausanne, closed during the second quarter of 2017. KB Medical offers a complete robotic assistance system, providing innovative and highly precise surgical solutions.

Seit knapp zwei Jahren ist der Berner Astrophysiker Thomas Zurbuchen Forschungschef der NASA. Zuvor baute er an der Universität von Michigan das Center for Entrepreneurship auf und begleitete hunderte von Startups. Wir haben uns mit Zurbuchen über Elon Musk, die Stärken der Schweiz als Produktionsstandort und die Ziele von Entrepreneurship-Kursen unterhalten.

Depuis près de deux ans, l’astrophysicien bernois Thomas Zurbuchen dirige la recherche à la NASA. Auparavant, il fut fondateur du Center for Entrepreneurship à l’Université du Michigan, rôle dans lequel il accompagnait des centaines de start-ups. Nous avons eu l’occasion de discuter avec lui d’Elon Musk et de questions, telles que les points forts de la Suisse en tant que site de production et les objectifs des cours d’entrepreneuriat.

Five months after the closing of a CHF31 million financing round, Prexton Therapeutics announces the initiation of phase II clinical testing of its investigational drug candidate, Foliglurax, in Parkinson’s disease (PD). The clinical study will evaluate 165 patients in sites across six European countries.

Launchpad Meetups give startups the opportunity to connect with large corporations and to solve innovation challenges the latter are facing. Startups also have the opportunity to pitch their solution and to build new partnerships. The first Launchpad meetups in Switzerland have been scheduled with Generali, Hypothekarbank Lenzburg and SIX from 2nd to 4th October. Registration is open.

Saphetor will provide its proprietary platform for analyzing next-generation DNA sequencing data to Supratech Micropath. Supratech based in Ahmedabad, India is a reference and diagnostic lab with significant experience in clinical next-generation (NGS) DNA sequencing.

During summer several blog posts and articles about the Swiss Startup ecosystem were published – by outsiders as well as by insiders. They provide a lot of insights and raise thought-provoking questions: Are Swiss founders not ambitious enough? Should more Swiss startups leave the country?

Kuros Biosciences has concluded an overallotment option granted to Zürcher Kantonalbank. In total, the company raised CHF 16.9 million from the sale of 1,351,606 shares in the rights and share offering. These sale was based on the issue price of CHF 12.50 per share. The funds will be used in preparation for the commercialization of Kuros’ products in the US and in Europe.

ESA has launched a series of kick-start Activities, a new funding scheme, to support startups and SMEs in designated fields including fintech, Activities will be funded at 75%, with ESA providing up to €60,000 per contract. The first call is dedicated to the theme Fintech. Registration is open.

The Basel Based startup Pocket Solutions AG has developed a free app mAsk, which allows users to ask questions and receive answers from verified users. The startup capitalizes on mechanisms and the advantage of human swarm intelligence to allow people to ask and respond to questions anonymously. 600 downloads have already been made.

The Swiss Developers Game Association has published a list of playable Swiss video games that have been released and those yet to be. While 225 games have already been released, 48 games are still under development. By 2016,  210 Swiss games were already on the market.

Die Aduno Gruppe baut ihre Beteiligung am Schweizer Fintech Start-up Contovista aus. Die Angel Investoren verkaufen ihre Anteile an Aduno. 30 Prozent der Anteile verbleiben im Besitz des aktuellen Managements, das weiterhin für das operative Geschäft verantwortlich bleibt.

LuckaBox is an innovative city-logistics start up revolutionizing the way urban e-commerce shoppers experience delivery. The startup provides on-demand urban bike delivery services to online retailers via a state-of-the art data-science-driven and customer-centric web platform. Aike Festini CEO and co-founder of LuckaBox shared the progress of LuckaBox.

Ein Joint Venture mit der E.ON-Tochter e.kundenservice Netz (EKN), diverse Projekte mit DigiKoo, einer 100 %-igen innogy-Tochter, und eine neue Partnerschaft mit einem Smart-City-Spezialisten: Das auf Data Analytics spezialisierte Unternehmen enersis suisse AG etabliert sich zunehmend auf dem Markt für innovative Softwarelösungen für die Energiebranche.

Comme annoncé il y a deux semaines à sa clientèle, Cronodeal a plié bagage ce lundi 31 juillet. Pendant près de 4 ans, le site de vente en ligne établi à Bussigny a proposé des offres exclusives à un prix qui diminuait tout au long de la journée. Si le concept original et ludique a séduit en Suisse romande, les membres de la Cronofamily sont arrivés à la conclusion, après mûre réflexion, que les investissements ne se justifiaient plus à long terme.

Die Tübinger SHS Gesellschaft für Beteiligungsmanagement steigt bei CoreMedic ein. Das Start-up entwickelt minimalinvasive Reparatursets zur Behandlung von Herzklappenerkrankungen, für die bisher eine Operation am offenen Herzen nötig war. Mit den neuen Mitteln wird die technologische Weiterentwicklung sowie die sowie die klinische Verwendung der Produkte vorangetrieben.

Polyphor received a first 0.6 mCHF milestone payment from the Wellcome Trust under a Seeding Drug Discovery Award of total up to 2.3 mCHF granted in February 2017. Neurotune was selected for a Wellcome Trust Pathfinder Award.

Software startup iRewind has delivered personalised finisher video clips for the junior athletes participating in the 2017 UBS Kids Cup. Over 1800 clips were produced each day. The startup will again deliver a video clip for each participating kid in the Swiss final.

Every Quarter Swisscom publishes a market overview of different startups in the fields of Regtech, Fintech, and now for the first time, Artificial intelligence (AI). 100 Swiss AI startups have been identified on the map.

EPFL spin-off nViso has reached agreement with ePAT to provide a perpetual license for use of its artificial intelligence software. ePAT’s mobile application uses artificial intelligence to analyze facial expressions to determine pain. In addition nViso takes a strategic stake in ePAT.

Die Berner Innovationsagentur be-advanced holt gemeinsam mit dem Schweizer Programm «Innov-Entrepreneurs/ Graines d’Entrepreneurs» und dem Effinger den Junior Startup Day in die Deutschschweiz. Durchgeführt wird der Event für Jugendliche von 10 bis 18 Jahren am 26. August im Effinger Bern. Mithilfe von Trainern und Unternehmern erleben die Junior Teams die ersten Schritte ins Unternehmertum.