Founded by three serial entrepreneurs and former founders of Movu (acquired by Baloise), Holycode develops innovative projects for international startups and scale-ups. With the acquisition of EtonDigital, the company has strengthened its position, acquired new resources and expanded its team to support its next growth phase.

ASPIVIX SA, a medical technology company focused on improving gynaecological and fertility care, completed its ADVANCE Women study for Carevix, a non-traumatic, gentle approach to reduce pain and bleeding in multiple transcervical procedures, including IUD insertions. With 100 women involved in the study, Aspivix received positive results, which also got published in the health journal Contraception.

Covalo accelerates beauty product development through its comprehensive search platform that connects beauty brands with suppliers. Its supports formulators from more than 5,000 brands, such as Lush, L’Oréal or Drunk Elephant, across 140 countries. The investment round with High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) as a lead investor will drive its expansion to food.

Maerki Baumann & Co. ist eine Kooperation mit Redalpine eingegangen. Kunden der Privatbank können in den Redalpine Summit Fund investieren. Darüber hinaus haben die beiden Unternehmen ein «Tech Advisory Board» etabliert, das Firmenkunden ermöglicht sich zu den Themen Wagniskapital, Technologieinnovationen und Blockchain auszutauschen.

Der Solothurner Cleantech-Startup Librec hat mit dem deutschen Rohstoffkonzern Aurubis, der Galliker Transport AG und einem Schweizer Family-Office eine Finanzierungsrunde abgeschlossen. Der Deal ging bereits im letzten November über die Bühne. Die Rede ist von einem niedrigen zweistelligen Millionenbetrag.

Oculis AG,  has completed the enrollment for its Phase 3 OPTIMIZE trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of once-daily OCS-01, a novel, high concentration, preservative-free, corticosteroid for treating inflammation and pain following cataract surgery. The trial brings OCS-01 an important step further on the regulatory path to approval.

ACE & Company has become one of the most active investors in Switzerland. The venture capital firm plans to launch a new €150 million fund to advance the Swiss Tech ecosystem and diaspora across the globe. Steve Salom, the former General Manager of Uber for France, Switzerland, and Austria, is joining ACE & Company as a Partner to co-run its Venture Capital arm and launch the new fund.

Chevron is joining the ranks of Flyability strategic investors, along Cargill and Dow. The American oil and gas giant works since 2016 with the Swiss Startup. The new investment is an extension of the C Series Round of CHF 15M announced last year.

Altkimya has raised CHF1.2 million over the past few months mostly from private investors. The funds enabled the start-up to increase the capacities of its data factory, develop a first universal connector and create unified Security and Observability solutions for IT professionals.

SICTIC once again saw a slight increase in the number of members and financing rounds in which these members participated. The 518 SICTIC investors were involved in 106 rounds.

SICTIC, the largest Swiss Angel Investors Club, presented its investment report yesterday. We asked SICTIC President Thomas Dübendorfer how the valuations have developed, where new investors are coming from and what makes start-ups VC-ready.

Founded in 2020 as a spinoff of the ETH, lino Biotech is a leading biosensor company and the world’s only provider of Focal Molography – a new method for measuring molecular interactions in living cells or crude biological samples. Following its acquisition by Miltenyi Biotec, the startup will remain at its headquarters in Zurich.

Since March 6th, 11 Swiss startups have been exploring the US market through the Swissnex Startup Bootcamp, held in partnership with Innosuisse. The two-week program will also enable them to learn from local experts and meet with investors and potential partners in Boston and New York.

Support from experienced industry leaders in the local and international markets plays a crucial role in driving a company’s commercial success. Foodetective has attracted a former Coca-Cola HBC executive to join its team, while Piomic Medical and Loft Dynamics have established a US team to support their expansion. For Cosmetics startup Abhati Suisse, entrepreneurship runs in the family: the new co-founder is the CEO’s daughter.

Swiss Biotech VectiveBio, in partnership with Asahi Kasei Pharma Corporation, have started a Phase 1 Study of Apraglutide. The single-dose study aims to assess pharmacokinetics, pharmacological activity, safety and tolerability in healthy Japanese men and women. The study plays a key role in applying for marketing authorization in Japan.

2023 has started strong for three Geneva based startups that have been awarded the Fongit Innovation Fund (FIF). This time one growth loan, one seed loan and one grant have been awarded to Plair, Endotelix, and Dr Beat Walpoth respectively for their incredible innovations.

Invenda Group AG, the provider of automated retail technology, has completed its series B round, raising $19 million led by Point Break Capital Management and an existing investor, Mutschler Ventures AG. The capital will support the development of Invenda’s automated retail cloud-based solutions and accelerate commercial and geographic expansion in the United States.

Ob Lösungen für smarte Gebäude, effizientere Bauprojekt-Kollaboration, Stürzprävention in Pflegeeinrichtungen oder einer Navigationshilfe für Menschen mit einer Sehbehinderung: Überall steckt digitale Technologie von Schweizer Startups drin. Diese Lösungen konnten sich nun kürzlich an internationalen und heimischen Wettbewerben beweisen.

The Foundation for Technological Innovation (FIT) has chosen to support the two start-ups with a 50’000 CHF Digital Seed loan for Aequaland and a 20’000 CHF Digital Grant for Stacksync. Aequaland built a gamified educational platform for kids ages 4-9 and Stacksync offers real-time syncing between data warehouses and CRM systems.

Nexoya has been automating and optimizing advertising budgets across channels for digital marketing since 2018. In 2022, Nexoya tripled its revenue and enjoyed stable growth of 12.5 percent month-on-month. The fresh capital from the Series A round will secure further growth in Switzerland and Germany and enable Nexoya to expand into new markets such as Italy and the UK.

Building on the success of its first two years, Tech4Eva, a unique international accelerator in Switzerland, has announced its new cohort at the 3rd edition kick-off organized in Kaiseraugst near Basel, in partnership with Roche. This year, Tech4Eva has attracted 147 projects from 40 countries, an increase of 18.5% with respect to the 2nd edition and 33.6% compared to the first. Interestingly 80% of the start-ups were once again created by women. Four Swiss startups are part of the new cohort.

Verity AG, creators of the first commercially successful inventory tracking solution powered by fully autonomous indoor drones, today announced completion of a 30M CHF Series B funding round led by A.P. Moller Holding. This funding allows Verity to quickly scale up operations to address the growing backlog of deployments with systems already installed in 30 sites across 13 countries on 3 continents. 

Seven early-stage startups have been selected for the 10th edition of the Tenity Incubation program, held in Switzerland. With two companies hailing from Switzerland, each participant will receive an initial CHF 50k investment from the Tenity Incubation Fund I.

EPFL spin-off Senbiosys developed a smart ring providing users with a comprehensive picture of their health and wellness. Their crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter is very successful. More than 2000 backers have already committed more than CHF500k.

Swiss startups have been at the forefront of the cleantech sector and the NetZero agenda with new technologies designed to accelerate the transition towards a sustainable world – from food to energy production and assets management. Eight startups have received recognition, with two obtaining funding to advance their solutions.

Amiable, Bikkou Genève, MakeMyMask et Miros font partie du programme d’accompagnement de GENILEM. Porteuses d’innovation et futures créatrices d’emplois, ces quatre entreprises remportent jusqu’à trois années de coaching pour accélérer le développement de leur projet.

The next edition of SwissGames Showcase features eight-game studios. The cohort will benefit from direct support and guidance from industry experts to advance their projects and attend international events. Four of the selected studios will attend the Game Developers Conference next week in San Francisco.

The sale of tokenised participation certificates has brought Code41 CHF 1.2 million. With the funds, the Lausanne-based watch start-up wants to open up new markets, develop the physical sales channel, strengthen its innovation power and shorten delivery times.

Following the in-licencing of mavoglurant from Novartis, STALICLA has signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with US National Institute on Drug Abuse. The agreement covers the clinical development program of mavoglurant to treat patients diagnosed with cocaine use disorder, including a Phase 3 study.

Due to the close interconnectedness of the US and Swiss venture markets, the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank is also relevant for the Swiss start-up scene. In the meantime, the US administration has repeatedly declared that all depositors are fully protected. In addition, a bridge bank has been launched. This has prompted relief for the time being. This article will be updated regularly. Update 13 March – 4 pm

Australian regulatory authorities have approved the pilot clinical trial for CaverSTIM in patients undergoing prostatectomy. This will be the first long-term implantation clinical trial of CaverSTIM.

Selfrag raised 9.3 million CHF of equity provided by the company’s core shareholders. In addition, 5.0 million CHF of long-term debt have been secured through the Technology Fund and UBS. This major capital injection will allow the company to further fund and accelerate the expansion of its Waste to Value activities.

SONIX, the Swiss startup formerly known as TYXIT creates an ultra-low-latency software and app that meets the demands of pro gamers, made its U.S. debut by providing its technology to one of the largest scholastic gaming events in the USA. This first use in the U.S follows successful partnerships in France and Switzerland

New CEOs take over at Technopark Winterthur and Park Innovaare. And Raphaël Conz has been appointed Head of the Department for the Promotion of the Economy and Innovation of the canton of Vaud.

Venture Kick awarded CHF 150,000 to the biotech startup metaLead Therapeutics, which is developing a potent treatment for metal poisoning. The startup was founded by Dr. Michal Shoshan, who leads a research group in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Zurich.

After a difficult year with a declining number of companies and stagnating employee levels in 2021, growth prevailed again in 2022. However, the companies are already facing tougher fundraising conditions.Insights into the dynamic financial technology market are provided by the results of this year's FinTech study by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts.

Matchspace Music spannt mit der KPT Krankenkasse zusammen. Ab sofort können sich Zusatzversicherte einen Förderbeitrag sichern, wenn sie Musikstunden über Matchspace buchen. Und eine Partnerschaft von Pocket Bitcoin und Shift Crypto ermöglicht es Investoren Bitcoin direkt auf ihre BitBox, die Hardware-Wallet von Shift Crypto, zu kaufen

Knapp 200 Weinerlebnisse auf Schweizer Weingütern oder in Vinotheken sind auf der Plattform winemap.ch von Dominik Inal bereits buchbar. Das Interesse daran wächst merklich: Über den Winter sind weitere 50 Gastgeber hinzugekommen und im ersten Quartal 2023 hat das Startup bereits mehr Buchungen verzeichnet als im gesamten letzten Jahr.  

Forbes has published its newest 30 under 30 Europe list. The Financial Times has ranked the fastest-growing companies in Europe. A total of nine Swiss start-ups and scale-ups made it onto the lists.  

The startup incubator and accelerator Tenity (formerly known as F10) and UBS have entered into a strategic partnership. At the same time, UBS’s strategic venture and innovation unit, UBS Next, is investing in the Tenity Incubation Fund. The aim is to strengthen innovation in the fintech sector and to help shape the future of the Swiss financial center.

Highly complex brain interventions and procedures are now made easier with realistic planning and training by SurgeonsLab simulators that are patient-specific and personalized. Driven by strong market traction on three continents, the Swiss startup led by Dr. Fredrick Johnson Joseph is set to deliver a milestone Workshop for Intracranial Aneurysm Microsurgery on April 4-5th at Bern’s Inselspital.

Founded in 2021, Bearmind is helping high-impact sports teams control the number of concussive hits athletes receive, thus reducing the risk of long-term brain damage. The startup just closed a CHF 1.3 million seed round to consolidate its efforts on pursuing clinical validation and establishing lasting collaborations in the Swiss National League.

Aisot Technologies AG (aisot), a spin-off from ETH Zurich developing AI-powered portfolio insights for equity and crypto markets, received CHF 1.8 million in seed funding in a round led by Haute Capital Partners. The proceeds will be used to expand the team and accelerate the development of an AI-powered interactive self-service platform for asset and wealth managers. 

Thirteen high-tech companies have joined the Scale Up Vaud program this year. A total of 50 Vaud-based firms are now part of the program, and together they raised more than CHF 525 million in capital in 2022. Since they were founded, they’ve created nearly 3,500 jobs in Switzerland and some adittional 4,900 jobs abroad.

AICA aims to make robotics accessible to companies of all sizes by using Artificial Intelligence to automate manufacturing processes that are complex and hard for people to accomplish. The CHF 1.2 million round will allow the company to bring its robotics software into production during 2023 and expand its activities internationally.

In 2022, start-ups with a female CEO closed more financing rounds than ever before. The amount raised was also higher than in 2021, but female-led startups still only accounted for 9.4% of financing rounds and received only 3.1% of the total capital invested in Switzerland.

With its solution to transfer heat and cold with efficient networks for high-density urban areas, ExerGo contributes to the decarbonisation of cities. The existing investors have made a further million euros available to the Yverdon-based start-up.

Noema Pharma, a clinical-stage biotech company targeting debilitating central nervous system (CNS) disorders, has closed an oversubscribed Series B financing round led by Forbion and Jeito Capital. The proceeds will be used to advance Multiple Phase 2b trials in orphan and mainstream CNS indications.

In their quest to make hybrid work a great experience for everyone, the UK software provider Common Surface and the Swiss workplace management company deskbird have decided to team up. Common Surface’s customers will transition to the deskbird solution. Sam Tucker, Common Surface’s CEO and co-founder, will join the deskbird team to ensure a smooth transition period.

Als Hauptpartnerin der Top 100 Swiss Startup Awards markiert die Credit Suisse seit Jahren Präsenz im Innovations-Ökosystem. Jetzt hat sie ihre Aktivitäten im Bereich der Finanzierung von stark wachsenden Startups neu formiert.