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Top 1ooThe besT swiss sTarTups of 2011

excepTional The Top 100’s recipe for success esTablished an interview with sensirion’s ceo, felix Mayer adapTable More and more young engineers are taking the leap into entrepreneurship enThusiasTic logitech founder daniel borel on true entrepreneurial spirit

Publisher: ifj institut für jungunternehmen, 1st edition, October 2011www.startup.ch

3Top 100 | Start-ups 2011 | www.startup.ch

I M P R I N T

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Date of publicationOctober 2011©IFJ and Journalistenbüro Niedermann GmbH

Page 6

The recipe for success when starting a spinoff. More and more young Swiss engineers are taking the leap and developing their own products.

The winnersOptotune founders Mark Blum (left) and Manuel Aschwanden: their deformable lenses are revolutionizing optics.

Page 23

A woman with infl uenceSought after in the pharmaceuticals industry: Bettina Ernst, founder and CEO of Preclin Biosystems.

Pages 22 to 31

Rankings #11 to #100Rankings, companies and sectors: a fascinating insight into the boundless creativity of the young Swiss economy.

Page 38

What fascinates Daniel Borel about Silicon Valley? What characterizes a true entrepreneur? Read this commentary by Logitech’s founder.

Page 10

Sensirion is setting the pace on the international sensor market and will soon be ready to go public. An interview with founder and CEO Felix Mayer.

ContentsTiny Switzerland takes center stage once again

For the fi rst time in Switzerland,

the 100 best startups of the year

have been selected. The founders

of these 100 entrepreneurial

companies represent the future of

our country because they are the

young, dynamic fi rms that, with

their power of innovation, are

causing a sensation internationally

and are creating jobs. With their

innovations, they are bringing

a breath of fresh air into Switzer-

land’s industrial landscape.

When it comes to the startup scene, Switzerland can jus-

tifi ably boast of its accomplishments – even though

the country, with fewer than 8 million inhabitants, is not

even half as large as cosmopolitan cities such as New

York, London or Shanghai. “Each year, Switzerland creates

10 to 20 startups with world-class technologies,” says

Alain Nicod, who has started multiple companies and

is a close observer of the scene, in which he also invests

as a business angel. Is Nicod’s claim correct? It would

seem so, based on what you can read on the following

pages and on the Internet at www.startup.ch. That’s

because the best Swiss startups are indeed world class!

Claus Niedermann,Project Manager Top 100 Startups

Page 14

We kick for the World CupNothing against our Nati, but when we’re talking about innovative high-tech start-ups, then we’ve already qualifi ed for the European fi nals long ago and that isn’t even the beginning of it. Switzer-land is among the world’s top players concerning innovation.

We at venture kick make sure that it stays this way by supporting entrepreneurial projects at Universities with up to CHF 130’000 in prize money. Since 2007, 190 start-up projects have been supported to the tune of CHF 7 Mio. in seed capital and coaching. As a result, 140 innovative com-panies totaling by far more than 1000 new jobs have been created.

www.venturekick.ch

Stemergie Biotechnology, ranked 19th in the TOP 100, supported by venture kick


One hundred experts, all extremely well networked in the Swiss startup scene, have played the role of kingmaker and have selected the current 100 best startups in Switzerland.TEXT: CLAUS NIEDERMANN

THE SELECTION OF THE TOP 100 STARTUPS FOR 2011

Insiders and their “stars”

The concept for the selection of the Top 100 Startups for 2011 is simple and trans-parent: 100 expert insiders vote for the 100 best recently formed companies in Swit-zerland. For this purpose, startups must be the result of people establishing their own companies; in other words, true pioneer-ing efforts. Spinoffs from existing compa-nies were excluded during the selection. In addition, the startups must have been established in 2006 or later. If a company changed its legal status during this time, such as by converting a GmbH into a stock corporation, it was also not considered for the Top 100 selection.

But who should have the task of select-ing Switzerland’s best 100 startups, espe-cially considering that roughly 30,000 new companies are founded here each year? Not an easy undertaking at all! Nonethe-less, there are indeed some high-fl ying young companies that, with their inno-vations and technological advances, have caused a sensation not only in domestic markets but internationally as well. These are frequently spinoffs from universities and technical colleges. In order to start marketing their innovations, which come

predominantly from the high-tech sector, these entrepreneurs often need the assis-tance of sector insiders, support agencies, technology transfer offi ces, business an-gels and professional investors. So it be-came clear that these very experts, who help emerging companies deal with their problems on a daily basis, would be the best people to determine the top 100 start-ups. Through their clients and activities, these 100 experts represent virtually every business angel network, investor platform, business incubator, technology park, train-ing and coaching program for startups, and business plan competition (such as venture kick, venture, W. A. de Vigier, etc.). One concern during the selection was also that the experts needed to take into consid-eration a wide range of business sectors and regions of the country (see the list of all the experts on pages 32 and 33).

These 100 extremely well networked experts have voted and come to a com-mon decision. Each of them put together and submitted a personal ranking of the 10 startups that impressed them the most. The list starting on page 14 presents the re-sults of consolidating all of this input.

The experts who determined the Top 100 named a total of several hundred companies. Despite this large number, the fi rms on the experts’ radar screens are only a small subset of the more than 200,000 companies that have sprung up in Switzerland since 2006.

Even so, there’s a high probability that the next Logitech has made it on to the list since these investors, supporters and other experts focus on young technology companies with excellent management teams and exceptional products. Compa-nies that slipped through this net are like-ly to be operated by entrepreneurs who have avoided contact with the communi-ty of Swiss supporters and investors.

This ranking represents a snapshot of the present moment. At the top are those companies that have been able to report signifi cant recent successes. At the fast pace set by the founders of the top startups, this ranking would surely look somewhat different if compiled just two months later.

Multiple emerging companies are at-tempting to complete a round of fi nanc-ing or negotiate key contracts with sales partners or customers. For this reason, it will be worthwhile to keep tracking these 100 Top Startups – a few of them are sure to be making headlines soon.

T H E TOP 10 0 S TA R T U P S P R O J E C T

The initiatorsThousands of startups struggle day after day to get capital, orders and customers. To make their daily ef-forts somewhat easier, these emerging com-panies need a plat-form that gives them higher visibility. One of the initiators of this project is Beat Schillig (top), Managing Part-ner of the IFJ Institut für Jungunternehmen (Institute for Start- ups), which has been actively supporting new companies since the 1990s. Next is Jordi Montserrat (above), who together with Schillig is responsible for the venturlab training program conducted under the auspices of the Swiss Federal Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI). In addition, Schillig and Montserrat also manage venture kick, an initiative to supply seed capital to university spin offs. A co-initiator is the businessman and journalist Claus Niedermann. The project’s ideals and fi nancing are supported by CTI, the Gebert Rüf Foundation, the Swiss trade promotion organization OSEC and Ernst & Young.

TOP 100 Background

O U T S I D E T H E E VA LU AT I O N

Top spinoffsThe list does not contain spinoffs from major corporations. You can’t really consider these former departments that subsequently become independent entities as true newly established companies. Even so, because these young companies also have considerablepotential, we would like to highlight three in particular that were named by the experts. They are CeQur (www.cequr-corp.com), a spinoff from Danfoss that has developed an insulin pump; Okairos (www.okairos.com), a spinoff from Merck that specializes in vaccines; and Selfrag (www.selfrag.com), a mecha-nical engineering company with roots in the Ammann Group in Langenthal.

L I S T I N G O F T H E TO P 10 0

100 selected from more than 200,000

played the role of kingmaker and have selected

“stars”“stars”“

predominantly from the high-tech sector, these entrepreneurs often need the assis-tance of sector insiders, support agencies, technology transfer offi ces, business an-

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6 Top 100 | Start-ups 2011 | www.startup.ch

The Computation of Linear Speed for Vi-sual Flight Control in Drosophila mela-nogaster–thiswasthetitleofNicolaRohr-seitz’sdoctoraldissertationattheInstituteofNeuroinformaticsatETHZurich,whichhesubmittedinautumn2009.

Init,Rohrseitzprovesthatthecommonfruit fly is able to precisely measure itsspeed inflight,andhealsoexplainshowtheflydoesit.Thesolutiontothepuzzleisinthefly’swide-angleeyes.This“fisheye”structure allows the fly to correlate thespatialandtemporalchangesinitsfieldofvisionandtousethatinformationtocalcu-latehisspeed–“onboard”andwithoutanyrotatingaxis.

Itsoundsquiteacademicbutit’sreallynot–theflyusesonly100,000nervecellstoaccomplishwhataFormula1engineerneedsconsiderablecomputingpowerandexpensivecamerasystemstodo.

Takingthis“fisheye”structureasamo-del,Rohrseitzdevelopedafilteringmethod

for temporalandspatialdata,filed itasapatent and founded ViSSee (#34) shortlyafter getting his PhD.The company’s pur-poseistodevelopandmarketasemicon-ductor-based optical speed sensor thatsellsforjustafewSwissfrancs.

Intensive support for the entrepreneurThings have progressed at a rapid pacesincethen.AnarticleintheUSengineeringjournal IEEE Spectrum drew General Mo-tors’attentiontotheTicinostartup.Sincethen, Rohrseitz has been to the US fourtimes.Asystem-on-a-chipthatcanbeputinto industrial production is in develop-ment.

ViSSeeisnoisolatedcase,asalookatthelistofthebestSwissstartupsshows.Asolid two-thirdsof thecompanyfoundershave a university background and havecommercialized knowledge that they, to-

getherwiththeirprofessors,havecreatedinuniversitylaboratories.

Thisbrain-to-braintechnologytransferishighlyefficientandisbeingintensivelysupported in Switzerland. The Swiss Fe-deral Commission for Technology and In-novation (CTI), for instance, offers com-prehensivecoachingforentrepreneurs.Inaddition,CTIfinancesthe“venturelab”–aprogram where potential entrepreneurslearntoputtogetherabusinessplan,makeaconvincingpresentationtoinvestorsandconquermarkets.

Sincetheprogrambeganin2004,ven-turelabhasconducted2,400daysofcours-es at various universities and technicalcolleges. In the process, this modularlydesignedofferhasreachedroughly19,000people in institutions of higher learningandpotentialcompanyfounders.

This situation contrasts starkly withthatinthepast.Intheearly1990sSwitzer-land was among the countries in Europe

Daring to launch a product: ever more university graduates are founding high-tech companies and aiming their sights at world markets.TexT: JoST DubaCher

An economic fountain of youth

Top 100 In Focus


withtheslowestgrowth.Whileemerginghigh-techfirmsintheUSsuchasMicrosoftor Intel were causing an internationalsensation, in thiscountry therewas littleresembling any kind of dynamic entre-preneurial scene – with the exception ofthe W.A. de Vigier Foundation’s entrepre-neur prize and Technopark Zurich, whichwasstillsmallatthetime.Theyearoftheturnaround was1996.The McKinsey con-sulting company, together with ETH Zu-rich, created a business plan competitioncalledVenture,andinBern,CTI launcheditsentrepreneurinitiative,CTI Start-up.

Sincethenthere’sbeenafundamentalchangeinthemindsetatuniversitiesandcolleges. For young engineers and scien-tists,apositionintheR&Ddepartmentofa large corporation is no longer their topprofessionalgoal.

“Startingacompanyhasanexception-allypositiveimageamongstudents,”con-firmsMarjanKraak,whoisresponsiblefor

technology marketing at ETH Zurich. Thenumbersconfirmwhatshesays.Inthelast10 years alone, the number of spin-offsat her university has more than doubledtoinexcessof20peryear.Andthetrend,accordingtoKraak,willcertainlycontinue.

That’s not something you can alwaystakeforgranted.ThomasA.Gutzwiller,Di-rectoroftheExecutiveSchoolofManage-ment,TechnologyandLawattheUniversityof St.Gallen, draws on knowledge frombrainresearchwhenhedescribestheleapfrom developer to a successful high-techentrepreneur.Duringengineeringstudies,theanalytical lefthalfof thebrain ispre-dominatelyused.“Ontherightside,there’salackoforganizationalenergythatcanalsobe transferred to others.” In other words,universitycoursesdon’tadequatelyaddresswhat’scriticalforsuccessfullybuildingupagrowth-oriented company, specifically is-suesdealingwithpersonnelmanagement,salesordealingwithinvestors.

However, today’s generation of entre-preneursislearningfast.Theyplacegreatvalue on the awareness of organizationaldynamics and social skills. “A managerdoesn’t have to prove every day that he’sthe best development engineer on theteam,”explainsDorianSelz,CEOoftheIn-ternet company Nektoon (#40). A trainedbusinessITspecialist,Selzheadsupthede-velopmentofthesearchportallocal.ch.Heknowsthatagoodbusinesspersonisalsoamotivatorandcoach.

Entrepreneurs must quickly become customer-orientedAtthesametime,ahigh-techentrepreneurmust have a feel for customers and mar-kets.ZurichresidentStefanTuchschmidisan internationally recognized expert inthe interfacebetweenmedicineandsoft-ware.HiscompanyVirtaMed(#30)devel-opsandmarketssimulatorsforendoscopicprocedures. “Ouroriginaltargetmarkets,”relates Tuchschmid, “were hospitals andmedicaltrainingcenters.”Then,however,hestartedseeinganincreasingnumberofinquiries from a totally different area;manufacturers of endoscopic equipmentrecognizedthattheVirtaMedunitwasex-ceptionally well suited as a tool for salessupport.Tuchschmidquicklymodifiedhisbusiness model. Instead of a standardtrainingsimulator,todayhebuildscustom-er-specificdemonstrationunits.

“For young entrepreneurs, learning toorient their efforts towards customer re-

quirementsofteninvolvesasteeplearningcurve,”statesWalterSteinlin,PresidentofCTIandthusthepersonwiththemostre-sponsibility in the country for promotingstartups.Headds that thecoachesatCTIStart-upthushaveaclearphilosophy:“Theonlypeoplewhoareultimatelysuccessfularethosewhonotonlysellaproductbutwho also work with customers to put to-getherapackageofservices.”

OnewaytoimplementthisguidelineisillustratedbyCeleroton(#17).Thecompa-ny founded by CEO Martin Bartholet isamongtheworld’s technology leaders forsmall electric drives. “Originally,” recallsthefounder,“wewantedtooperateonlyasanOEMsupplier.”Experiencesoonshowed,though,thathecouldexpandthecustomerbasebypushingfurtherbackintothevalueadded chain. Today Celeroton also makescompletecompressors.

EntrepreneurssuchasBartholet,Tuch-schmid and Selz speak the language ofpurchasing agents and managers. That issomethingpotentialinvestorsliketohear.In addition, a dynamic scene of venturecapitalists, business angels and lawyers

has also emerged around the universityspin-offs;thesepeoplespecializeinmeet-ingtheneedsofgrowingtechcompanies.

Even the notorious bottleneck in ob-taining seed capital has been eased. The“venture kick” initiative, which is spon-soredbyprivatefoundations,providesse-lected spin-offs with as much as CHF130,000ingrants.Sinceitwasestablishedin 2007, more than CHF 7 million has al-readyfounditswayintothisyouthfulsec-toroftheSwisseconomy.

Besides the change in mindset andanincreasinglyprofessionalenvironment,there’s another reason for the boom inspin-offsfromSwissuniversities.Technol-ogies,semi-finishedproductsandperson-nel resources are easier to procure fromacrossnationalbordersasa resultofglo-balization – even for unknown startups.Moreandmorecompaniesare“bornglob-al”andoperateintheworldwidenetworked

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Walter Steinlin, Pre-sident of the Swiss Federal Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI), plays a critical role in Switzerland’s innovation scene.

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economy as if it were the most naturalthingintheworld.

An example of this is the scannermouse developed by Michael Born, co-founderofDacuda(#2),andhispartners.Asafabricationsite,onlyAsiawasconsid-ered. Thus, Born made trips to potentialpartnersinTaiwanandKoreaassoonasaprototype was available. “The doors werewideopen,”recallsBorn,“evenatthebig-gestnamesintheelectronicsindustry.”

Nowadaysevenmarketingcapacitycanbecreatedorexpandedontheinternation-almarket.Forinstance,HouseTrip(#8),aninternationaltourismplatform,marketsitsservices from metropolitan London. Thedecisivefactorintheselectionofthissitewas the availability of trained personnel.

“Today’s high-tech entrepreneur pullstogether financial, technological and per-sonnelresources,”saysCTIPresidentStein-lin.Theoriginoftheseresourcesdependsonthevalue-addedchaintheyareaddress-ing.Thebusinessmanasalonewarriorisathing of the past; the future belongs tothosewhonetwork.

High rate of success with young technology firmsApproachingabusinessasaproject,withthe goal of generating optimal customerbenefitwithinaspecifictimeframe,alsoin-creases the survival rate. Of the 130ETHspin-offs established between 1997 and2007,nearly90percentarestillinbusiness.

Conversely,aclear-eyedprofessionalat-titudetowardfoundingabusinesshasre-sultedintheemergenceofanewtypeofca-reer–the“serialentrepreneur.”NektoonisnotthefirstcompanythatDorianSelzhasfounded;similarly,BrunoOeschatMalcis-bo(#9),EdouardLambeletatpaper.li(#7)andMichaelFriedrichatAïmago(#10)allhavepriorexperience.

Friedrich, who received a PhD in mi-crosystemsengineering,tookhisfirststepsas an entrepreneur while still in highschool. As the co-founder of Berne ByteBears,hestartedaprice-comparisonplat-formformobiletelephoneratesthatheandhispartnerslatersoldtoComparis.

Today with Aïmago − which emergedfromtheParcScientificatETHLausanne−heissellingacamerasystemthatperformsnon-contact visualization of tissue bloodcirculation. He has pushed into interna-tional markets and won CTI ’s MedtechAwardin2011.Still,hesays,“Idon’tthinkI ’llstayinmycurrentpositionforever.”

Many business angels and venture capitalists are convinced that compared with their counterparts in other coun-tries, Swiss high-tech entrepreneurs place too little emphasis on sales. as a result they are likely to pass up oppor-tunities for growth. Indeed, the typical reserved character of the Swiss may sometimes restrain them, but business-men such as herbert bay are helping them get up to speed.

While working at the eTh Computer Vision Laboratory, bay developed SurF, a faster, more robust algorithm for recognizing image content. The techno-logy allows the linking of a physical object or its image with supplemental digital information. This innovation has been marketed since 2007 by the spin-off Kooaba (#16).

“ We’re addressing both companies and private individuals,” says Ceo bay. For individuals, SurF applications are available as mobile phone apps dis-tributed for free because the most im-portant thing here is creating awareness of the technology. Kooaba generates revenue and profit in the b2b sector through oeM customers that have inte-grated the image-recognition technology into their own products, as well as through companies in the publishing and advertising sectors that want to link their print and online activities.

It’s a tough business in these times as advertising revenues continue to shrink, but bay has adapted to the situation. he hired his first experienced sales person after the first round of financing in april 2008. That person had previously worked for one of his custo-mers and made an immediate impact.

“In retrospect I’ve got to call that a true stroke of luck,” admits bay. of 100 people applying for a sales position only a handful are usually viable, while some flops can hide behind excellent resumes. If a businessman doesn’t weed these out right away, things can get expensive.

The reason: in the b2b sector it often takes longer than three months to close a deal, so it’s virtually impossible

to evaluate a sales person within the legal trial period. he must be per- manently hired and, if later let go, continues to be paid for at least three months, during which he’s likely to be unproductive. Then there is another search for a successor and that new person must learn the ropes at his new company.

For this reason, bay developed a multi-stage selection process. The high-light is what is known as a case study, which involves the candidate selecting an object that he must then sell to Kooaba’s top man. The second decisive interview follows only when this first hurdle has been overcome.

These steps alone, though, aren’t enough with a new hire. bay places con-siderable value on how well someone integrates. That curbs the star allure of the very top salespeople, while also preventing those who are less success-ful from blaming their lack of sales closings on product shortcomings.

“Managing a sales team takes plen-ty of time,” notes the 37-year-old, but he enjoys doing it. he’s not one of those engineers who is overly con- cerned with status when making a sale. he learned to overcome that while a student, working part time as a tele-phone salesman and doing store promotions to pay for his education.

Top 100 In Focus

b e S T P r a C T I C e

A culture of sales without exploding costs

A role model when it comes to sales: Herbert Bay, Kooaba.

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venturelabis trained by

The swiss national start-up team

ojektmanager/in

eer!

Since its beginnings in 2004, about 20 000 people, passionate about star-

tups have benefited from venturelab training. From introductory events to

semester long power workshops, we have it all. The 20 best – the venture

leaders – fly every year as the Swiss national start-up team to Boston to

pitch to international industrials and investors. www.venturelab.ch

The same is true for most of the TOP 100


Mr. Meyer, Sensirion doesn’t publish any corporate performance fi gures. Even so, is there any way you can express your company’s success in hard numbers?Felix Mayer: Atthemomentwehave250employeesandinthelastfewyearshaveexperiencedrapidgrowth.In2009theratewas34percent,in2010itwas60percent,and in the current year we expect a cur-rency-adjustedincreaseinsalesof20per-centormore.Double-digit growth in sales during the worst economic crisis since World War II – how ever do you do it?Thesecrettooursuccessistheuniquenessofourproducts.Wemanufacturesensorsformeasuringhumidityandtemperature,theflowofliquidsandgases,andpressuredifferential. And to date we are the onlycompanythatcanintegratethesesensorsalongwiththenecessaryelectronicsonasinglemicrochip.True, but within the fi eld of microsystems engineering, haven’t people been working on the “system on a chip” concept for years?Hereyouhavetodrawadistinction.Thees-sentialpointwithasensor is theconver-sion of a specific physical parameter intoananalogvoltage.Thenthiselectricalsig-

nalisconvertedintoadigitalonethatcanbeprocessedbyacomputer.Somephysicalparameterscanbeconverteddirectlyintoan electrical signal by silicon, and lightwavesareoneofthese.Thecamerachipinyourmobilephoneisbasedonthisproper-ty.Watermolecules,incontrast,donotin-teractwithsilicon.Ifyouwanttomeasurehumidityyouhavetorefinethechip;youmustadd thesensorcircuitry to thechipinmultipleprocesssteps.Ourtechnologyplatformallowsustodoexactlythat.Sensirion was founded in 1998 with the intention of commercializing the techno-

logy platform you just mentioned. Now we’re in 2011. It’s astonishing that nobody has yet tried to copy what you do.Well,itcertainlyhelpsthatwehaverough-ly60internationalpatentsinourportfolio.I would also like to emphasize, though,thatwearenotjusttechnologyleaders;inthepremiumqualitysegment,wearealsonumberoneintermsofvolume.How are your competitors reacting to all this?Some have become our customers andhave integrated our products into theirown. Others live from their sensors fromthe period before Sensirion. Certain pro-ductshavealonglifecycleandweredeve-lopedbeforeoursensorsexisted.Is it fair to say that you’ve not only taken over the market but have virtually revolu-tionized it?Yes,youcouldsaythatwithoutexaggera-tingatall.Despite this strong market position, half of your employees are still active in R & D. You invest roughly 20 percent of revenues in innovation.Sensorscontinuetobecomesmaller,morereliable,morepreciseandmultifunctional.Today,forexample,agoodgasflowsensoralsomeasuresthegastemperature.

“Satisfi ed customers are the best way to fi ght off competition”

“Nothing is tougher than the automotive sector”

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Sensirion CEO Felix Mayer has been successful where many others have only dared to dream. Together with his partner, Moritz Lechner, he has built an enterprise that is setting standards around the world. INTERVIEW: JOST DUBACHER


What role do customer requests play in your R & D?Anabsolutelycentralrole.Satisfiedcusto-mers are the best way to fight off com-petition. Here I take a certain amount ofpride in being able to say that Sensirionhasnotlostasinglecustomerinthepast13years.Sensors are considered the sensory or-gans in computers. Along with computers, sensors have become ubiquitous in the last few years. In which sectors is demand the strongest?Weareveryheavilyrepresentedinmedicaltechnology.Apatientinanintensivecareunitismonitoredaroundtheclock.Ifapa-tientisventilated,forexample,agasflowsensormeasureshowmuchoxygenisac-tuallygettingthroughthetube.WearealsoheavilyinvolvedintheHVAC(heating,ven-tilationandair-conditioning)sectoraswellasintheautomotiveindustry.That last phrase brings something to mind. If you read business plans from technology startups, the word “automotive” comes up again and again. In your opinion, is that market actually as lucra- tive as everyone seems to think?Carsaretechnologicalmarvelsandthey’remanufacturedinlargenumbers.Inthatre-gard,itisindeedagreatthingforanycom-panytobecomeasupplierinthismarket…But…?At thesame time it’sanextremely toughsectortodobusinessin.Therequirementson quality, reliability and price are enor-mous all the way down to the very lastpartssupplier in thechain.Thatsector ismature,andsupplierrelationshipsarewellestablished. For a new company withoutany track record in other industries, it’spractically impossible to gain a foothold.

That is somewhat sobering. What can a startup do to at least get a bit closer to achieving that significant goal?Asanewcomeryouhavetostudytrendsinthe sector and, at just the right time, bereadywithaproductthatcreatestruead-dedvalue.How did that work for you back then?Weenteredthatmarketin2006–thatwaseight years after the company was foun-ded, when we already had 50 employeesandhadbuiltupourownproductioncapa-bilities.Westarteddiscussionsbecauseofahumiditysensorthatsticksonthewind-shielddirectlyatthebaseoftherearviewmirror.Itcontrolstheair-conditioningsys-tem,whichcanturnitselfonshortlybeforethewindshieldfogsup.That seems like a real luxury item…Notatall!Anair-conditioningsystemoftenrunswhenitdoesn’tneedto,andhavingitturnedonincreasesacar’sfuelconsump-tion by several percent. An intelligentlycontrolledairconditionersavesgasandre-ducesacar’sCO2emissions.Which automotive brands are in your cus-tomer base?Iprefernottolistspecificnames.However,you can assume that most German carsandpracticallyallcarsinthepremiumseg-mentsaroundtheworldareequippedwithoursensors.Your export ratio is 98 percent. As a Swiss SME (small to medium-sized enterprise), how have you managed to achieve such a high level of internationalization?Letmestartoffbysayingthatwehavene-vermanufacturedexclusivelyfortheSwissmarket. We are what some people wouldcall “born global.” Concerning our leapinto international business, I can simplysay that we’re not dealing with an exact

F E l I x M AY E RAfter completing an apprentice-ship in electronics and his studies in physics, Felix Mayer earned his PhD at the Physical Electronics laboratory at ETH Zurich. He then used the findings of his doctoral dissertation in the area of sensors as the basis for forming a company with his business partner, Moritz lechner. Today Sensirion is an internationally active high-tech concern with subsidiaries in the US, Japan, South Korea and China. Mayer won the 2004 Swiss Econo-mic Award and in 2010 was named “Entrepreneur of the Year”. Now aged 46, he is involved in promo-ting startup companies and sits on the Board of Directors at the ETH spinoff Optotune, which is located in Dübendorf.

Top 100 Interview


science.Youmusthaveagoodnetworkofcontacts, expand it continuously and besmart about taking advantage of it. Andright here in Switzerland, with its manyinternationalcorporations,theconditionsfordoingjustthatareexcellent.You manufacture exclusively in the town of Stäfa, and in fact this past July you moved into a new manufacturing facility. Does this create a problem when you think about the current turbulence in foreign exchange rates?Ofcourse,ithurtsusthattheSwissfrancis so strongat themoment.Virtually theonlythingweprocurefromothercurrencyregionsare thewafers for theelectronicswedevelop,andthemajorityoftheremai-ningcreationofaddedvalueisaccomplis-hed domestically. We pay our employeewagesalmostexclusively inSwissfrancs.Politicians are starting to respond. The Federal Council and Parliament want to increase funding for innovation. Will that help?As a representative of Switzerland as anindustrial center, I feel compelled to sayclearly that this simply isn’t enough. I’mnot professionally trained in fiscal policy,butIbelievethattheCentralBankshouldhavestartedprintingmoremoneyearlier.The danger of inflation is an argument for not doing so…Inflationisonlyaproblemforthewealthyand pension funds. Anyone working inSwitzerlandandwhoistryingtocreateso-mething isn’t afraid of massive currencydevaluation.How serious is the situation for our ex-port-based economy?Extremelyserious,andI’mespeciallywor-riedaboutthefuture.Whichentrepreneursand managers will continue to invest inSwitzerland when they know that at anytimetherecouldbesuchamassivecurren-cy revaluation of the Swiss franc? Manywell-runcompaniesareintheredbecauseofcurrencyeffects.And Sensirion?Forus,thestrongSwissfrancisturninganexcellentyearintoadifficultone.Wewouldbeabletoaffordanother60employees iftheexchangeratehadremainedwhereitstillwasin2009.Althoughwe’renotopera-tinginthered,weareholdingbackonin-vestments.Were there moments in the company’s history when you had doubts about its success?Thingswerereallytouchandgoonlyinthemonthsfollowing9/11.Backthen,wewerestill doing development work for othercompanies.After9/11,mostofthesecon-

tractswerecancelled,andwehadtore-ori-entthecompany.Who assisted in this?Thebusinessangelwhohadalreadyinves-tedinourcompanyincreasedhiscommit-ment,andwestartedtoconcentratemoreonourownproductsandlessonenginee-ringservices.Professional investors always want to take their profits at some point. Is there already an exit plan for your investors?Overthemediumtermwewanttotakethecompany public.I believe we’ve alreadyreachedthelevelofmaturityneededtodo

so. Beyond that, we have to look for thepointintimebestsuitedforanIPO.As for yourself, you’re a trained physicist. Many technically oriented people have difficulty switching to management. But not you?No.Theconversiondidn’ttakeplaceover-night.Yougrowintosucharole.Asforme,anaddedfactoristhatI’mnotreallyyourtypicaltech-head,anyway.IfIhadn’tfoun-dedacompany,perhapsI’dnowbethedi-rectorofresearchatalargecorporation.How important are opportunities to take part in managerial training and continuing education?In simple terms, it seems to me that acourseorseminarmusthavesomeconcre-terelationshiptoaprofessionalchallenge.IfIasanengineeramsuddenlyputinchar-geofadevelopmentteam,Icancertainlylearnagreatdealfromanexperiencedins-tructor.In our country, you and company co-foun-der Moritz lechner are among the absolu-te leading role models as entrepreneurs. There’s no important business prize you haven’t already won. How do you manage to keep your feet on the ground?You always have to be able to take criti-cism, which requires having a constanterror-correction mechanism in place – atypeoffeedbackloopthatincludesevery-one involved in the company’s success,specificallycustomersandemployees.Studies show that entrepreneurs work between 70 and 80 hours a week. What was your situation?I also had to work long hours, of course,andoftenduringweekends,whichdefini-telyisn’thealthy.And today? How do you achieve the much quoted work-life balance?Ihavethreechildrenwhonaturallytakeupmuchofmytimeandwouldn’tevenconsi-derlettingmespendallmytimeatwork.My partnership with my wife and familyhas always been very important for mypersonal well-being. And if I could givejust one tip to today’s budding entrepre-neurs,itwouldbethis:makesureyoudis-cuss your plans with your partner. He orshemustrealizewhatstartingacompanyinvolves,especiallyconsideringthefinan-cialrisksandtheworkload.Ifyourpartnerisn’t on board, then it’s almost certainlygoingtobedifficult.

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“You always have to be able to take criticism, which requires having a constant error- correction mechanism in place”

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1A bright outlook for OptotuneThe adjustable lenses from Optotune represent a revolution in optics, and this startup has enormous potential: successful pilot projects are already underway in seven highly diverse application areas.TexT: STefan KyORa

founded in 2008 24 employees

Something to smile about: Mark Blum (left) and Manuel Aschwanden.

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Conditions were cramped when every-onecrowdedaroundtheconferencetableat the former company headquarters inDübendorf.Employeeshadtosqueezepasteach other uncomfortably to get to thecoffeemachine.Now that’s justadistantmemory.ThestartupleftEmpa’sbusinessincubator in early September and movedintoanewfacilityinDietikonthatprovidesmorethantwicethespaceandmuchroo-mieroffices.

Theprimaryreasonforthemove,how-ever,becomesclearonlywhenyoutakeatour.Twoproductionmachinesarelocatedin a large cleanroom, surrounded by nu-merousworkareasformanualorsemi-au-tomatedmanufacturingsteps.“StartinginJanuary we will be able to manufacturemidsized orders right here,” reveals CEOManuelAschwanden.

Beginninghigh-volumeproductionjustfouryearsafterthecompanywasfoundedis no easy feat. Optotune is based on agroundbreakingnewtechnologythatnor-mally requires quite a long time to makethetransitionfromthelaboratorytohigh-volumeproduction.

Optotune lenses need less space and energyThefundamentalprinciplescomefromthedissertationco-founderAschwandenwro-te for his PhD. Obtaining a sharp imagewithastillcamera,microscopeorvideoca-meracurrentlyrequiresasystemmadeupofmultiple lenses.Aschwandencameupwitharadicallydifferentconcept.Hislen-ses consist of special plastics, known aselasticpolymers,andaliquid.Theyarefo-cusedbydeforming them,and thus theyoperatesimilartothehumaneye.

Whereaspreviouslymultiplelensesandcomplexmechanicswerenecessary,Opto-tuneneedsfewerlensesandminimalben-ding.Thisnotonlysavesspace,thedefor-mablelensesalsofocusmorequicklyandneedlessenergytodoso.Theseadvanta-gesmakeOptotunelensesidealforcame-

rasinmobilephones–afactthatgavethecompany a big boost coming out of thestarting gate. Before the company was ayearold,Aschwandenhadalreadysigneda contract with a US telecommunicationssupplier.Thissupplierprovidedthestartupwithmillionsofdollarssoitcoulddeveloplenses formobilephonecameras.Thanksto these funds, Aschwanden and his co-founders Mark Blum and David Niedererwereabletogrowthefirmwithoutasinglecentofventurecapital.

Customers for pilot projects bring first revenuesToday development of the mobile phonelens is progressing nicely. “We have wor-kingprototypes,andnowwe’reworkingonachieving consistently good image qua-lity,” explains Aschwanden. At the sametime,thetechnologytransfertotheAmeri-canpartnercompanyhasalreadybegun;itwillmanufactureandmarket the lens forthemobilephonemarketonitsown.

In2010theteamfacedthequestionofwhat to do following that transfer to thepartnercompany,andtheystartedlookingfornewbusinessopportunities.Tofindsui-tableapplicationareas,theylefttheconfi-nes of the office and headed out to visittradeshowsandseekoutcustomersforpi-lotprojects.Besidesbringing themclosertothemarketplace,thisapproachalsore-sultedinsignificantsales.Asaresult,thecompany’sstaffhasbeengraduallyincrea-sedtomorethan20people.

As a demonstration of the company’spotential,Blumpointstosixindustrialsec-torsbeyondmobilephonecamerasthatap-pear tohaveconsiderablepromise.Theseincludeindustrialcamerasfortaskssuchasautomated inspection in manufacturing,barcodescanningandmicroscopesaswellas other, totally unrelated markets. Theserangefrommedicaltechnologytolaserpro-jectorsorevenlaserprocessingmachines,suchasforcuttingorwelding.

“In the short term we see the biggestdemand for our lenses in LED lamps,” re-marksBlum,andit’squiteeasyforhimtodemonstratewhy.HepicksupanLEDbulbthathasanOptotunelensmountedinfrontofit.Withaslightturnofhishandhechan-ges the illumination pattern from a spot-light into a floodlight. This can’t be donenearlyaseasilyorelegantlywithanyothersystem.

Such LEDlamps should find applica-tionsespeciallyinmuseums,storesorbuil-

dings with special architectural features.Blumisconvincedthat“there’satrendheretowardLEDlampsthatwecantakefullad-vantageof.”

Forthelightingindustry,Optotunewillmanufacturelensesthatcanbeintegratedquiteeasilyintovariousdesigns.It’satypi-cal decision for this startup. Being closetothemarketisalsoaveryimportantele-ment for the technology. In his disserta-tion, Aschwanden developed the conceptof an adjustment mechanism that workslikeanartificialmuscle–an idea thatat-tractedagooddealofinterestatthetime.

These days, though, Optotune is wor-king on a different, more cost-effectiveelectromagnetic adjustment mechanism.Many company founders would probablyfind it hard to abandon a highly praisedidea they developed themselves, butAschwanden views it pragmatically. “If atechnology can’t meet customer require-mentsatthedesiredpricepoint,thenyouhavetostartlookingforanothersolution.It’sapurelyrationaldecision.”www.optotune.com

The 10 industrial sectors in the rankingsThe Top 100 list is characterized by technology companies, but there are startups with great potential in other sectors as well. A large selection of them can be found at www.startup.ch.

Microtechnology, test & measure- ment, equipment design

Software/ IT services

Internet

Software and services for mobile devices such as mobile phones and iPads

Medical technology

Biotech, pharmaceuticals

Green technologies

entertainment

Consumer products (clothing, sporting goods)

financial management

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labcourse.EconomistMichaelBornandITspecia-listAlexander Ilic registeredfor thecourse in thehopeoffindingapromisingbusinessidea.Thefourofthemdiscoveredtheywereclearlyonthesamewavelengthandformedateam.Theresultofthecourse was an initial business plan, and shortlythereafterthefourfoundedDacuda.Thesoftwarewasfurtherdevelopedwithassistancefromseve-ralETHinstitutes.

Then an intensive period of travel began forCEO Ilicand CFO Born. The team haddecidedonwhatisknownasanOEMmodel.Dacudawouldde-velopthesoftwareandrelatedtechnology,thenli-censeittolargeelectronicsmanufacturerslocatedprimarilyinAsiaandtheUSA.

LG plans to conquer the market for IT accessories with the Swiss mouseIlicandBornturnedtotheOsecexportpromotionorganization, which supported the founders inJapan,TaiwanandtheUSA.“WiththehelpoftheexpertsatOsecwhohadexperienceintheseindi-vidualmarkets,wequicklyfoundtherightcontactswiththemanufacturersanddistributorsofcompu-termice,”recallsBorn.

Theon-sitediscussionswerecritical,becauseLG initially was not even on the young Swisscompany’s radar screen. The Korean company isoneoftheheavyweightsintheelectronicsmarket,withannualsalesofmorethanUSD50billion,anduntilthenithadhardlysoldanycomputermiceasaseparateaccessory.NowLGislookingforawaytoenter this market – with Dacuda’s help. You cangaugehowseriousLGisbythespeedatwhichthecontractwasfinalized.Thepapersweresignedinmid-December, justa fewshortmonthsafter theinitialcontactwiththecompanyfounders.

“Thefirstthingwedidafterwardswashaveabigcelebration,”Bornadmits.Buttheyquicklyre-turned to their daily routine, expanded the teamandinspringtheymovedintonew,largerfacilitiesinZurich’sDistrict4.

Thenumberofemployeeswillcontinuetogrowbecause there’s plenty to do at Dacuda. For in-stance, the company is developing software forspecialapplicationsoftheLGmouse.Theunitswillbe able to read customized forms or to scan bar-codes.Moreproductswithenormouspotentialarein the works.“ We’re working on turning mobilephonesintoscanners,”saysBorn.www.dacuda.com

From Zurich to desks around the worldWith their scanner mouse, the four founders of Dacuda have reached the mass market in record time – thanks to a deal with LG and the use of support services. TexT: STefan KyORa

2

Last summer, when the first distributorswerepla-cingordersforLG’snewLSM-100,therewasarushto get this computer mouse. The reason for thissuddendemand:theunitnotonlyscansbutcanalsorecognizetextandplaceitdirectlyintoatextfile, and can do so in more than 190 languages.The technology behind this revolutionary mousecomesfromtheZurichstartupDacuda.

Itallbeganjustthreeyearsagowithsomeverypowerfulimage-recognitionsoftwarethatcompa-resasmanyas400imagespersecond.ThebasisforthisachievementcamefromworkbyErikFonsekaandMartinZahnertatETHZurichbeforetheyco-foundedDacuda.Withthisleading-edgetechnolo-gy, both engineers faced a typical challenge formanyuniversityspinoffs: theyhadtoclarifyhowthey could apply this technology to a useful pro-ductthatcustomerswouldbewillingtopayfor.

FonsekaandZahnertcameupontheideaofascanningmouseduringabrainstormingsession.Inorder to implement their idea, thetwoengineersstartedlookingforcolleagueswithbusinessexpe-rienceandfoundthemwhileattendingaVenture-

Scanning made easy: Michael Born (left) and Alexander Ilic.


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PeoplewhotryDoodleoncestickwithitthanksinlargeparttoitsuser-friendlyoperation–whichis due to more than just its lack of unnecessarytechnicalbellsandwhistles.ThereworkingofthemobileversionthisyearclearlyshowedtheDoodleteam’s thorough approach to product develop-ment.Beforereleasingthenewversion,thecompa-nysurveyed1,400usersaroundtheworldtofindouthowtheyusetheirmobilephoneswhenacces-singtheInternet.

Thenewmobileversionisnotsimplyaslimmeddowncopyoftheeventschedulerbutinsteadof-fersfeaturesnotavailableinthestandardwebver-sion.“Forinstance,onlyinthemobileversioncanusers,whensettingupapoll,selecttheircurrentpositionastheplaceforthemeetingwithaclick,”explainsNäf.

Besidessoftwareengineering,Doodle’s12em-ployeesaresimultaneouslypushingtheproduct’sexpansion. For some time they’ve placed theirfocus on France, Germany and the US. AlthoughDoodle is operating in Switzerland with financialresourcesthatarequitelimitedwhencomparedtothoseavailable tostartups inNorthAmerica, theSwisshavealreadymadesomeimpressiveachieve-ments.“TheUSAisamongthelargestandfastestgrowing of the Doodle markets. In some specificsegments,ourtoolhasalreadyestablisheditselfasthesolutionofchoiceforfindingamutuallyagree-abletimeforanevent,”addsNäf.

This Internet startup is already in the blackAs remarkableas thissuccess is foraSwissWebcompany,whatmakesitevenmorestartlingisthefactthateventhoughDoodlemakessteadyinvest-ments, itcontinues tooperateprofitably. Incomecomesprimarilyfromadvertising.Beyondthat,in-dividualusersandcompaniescansignupforapre-miumservicethat,unlikethefreebasicservice,issubjecttoafee.

Giventhislevelofsuccess,it’snowonderthatlarge corporations have developed an interest inthisyoungcompany.InMay,themediaconglome-rate Tamedia announced that it was acquiring a49percentstakeinthecompany,withplanstoin-creasethisamountevenfurther.Anationallyorien-tedmediagroupastheownerofagloballyactiveInternetplatformmightnotnecessarilyseemtobeaperfectmatch.Evenso,Näfisconvincedthatthe-reareimportantsynergiesbetweenthetwocompa-nies.“Switzerlandisanimportantmarketforus,notonlywhenwelookatrevenues.Ofevenmoreim-portanceisthegoodwilloflocaluserswhohelpusevaluatenewproducts.”www.doodle.com

established in 2006 12 employees 3

Some questions are more informative thantheiranswers.Thiswas thekindofquestionposed toPaulSevinç,co-founderofDoodle,duringarecentevent at the Technopark Lucerne. An audiencememberwanted toknowhowDoodledealswiththeenormousresponsibilityofhavingthousandsofSwisssodependentonthereliableoperationofthiseventscheduler.

DoodlehasfundamentallychangedhoweventsarescheduledinSwitzerland.Thetoolhasamillionuserseachmonthinthiscountryalone,buttheymakeupjustasmallfractionofalltheDoodlersoutthere.Eachmonth,atotalofmorethanninemil-lion people coordinate their business and leisureeventswithDoodle.“We’rebyfarthemostpopularsupplier of this service anywhere in the world,”saysco-founderandCEOMichaelNäf.

Thebasis for this rapid increase inusernum-bersisthetool’sbuilt-ingrowthmechanism.Oncesomeonesetsupaneventpoll,alltheparticipantsseetheadvantagesofDoodle.Someofthemwillthen use the platform themselves, which in thenextstepincreasesthecircleofusersevenmore.

Placing importance on user-friendly operation: Paul Sevinç (left) and Michael näf.

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From meetings to a barbecue – Doodle makes it easyDoodle is the global leader among event-scheduling platforms on the Internet – by a wide margin. user-friendly operation, steady technical innovations and market expansion are what makes it so popular.TexT: STefan KyORa


Small, stylish assistants replacing old-fashioned cardsThe small electronic devices from Poken are used at events around the world. They make it fun to collect addresses and other information.

The more than 4,000 convention attendees at thepartnerevent forABBUSAmightinitiallybepuzzledwhenpresentedwiththesmalldevicefromPoken.Quickly,though,thevalueofthePokenpulsebecomesobvious–re-placingtheclumsyexchangeofbusinesscardswithsophisticatedwirelesstechnology.Twopeoplesimplyholdthegadgetsnexttoeachothertoesta-blisha linktotheirprofilesonsocialnetworkssuchasXingorLinkedIn.“What makes this possible is near field communications technology bet-weentheunitsandsophisticatedsoftwarerunninginthebackground,”ex-plainsPoken’sCEOStéphaneDoutriaux.

AttheABBevent,theSwiss-Swedishcompanyalsoequippedbrochures,datasheetsandotherprintedmaterialwithPokentags.Here,too,theparti-cipantssimplyhadtoholdtheirPokenpulsenearby,andinaflashthecorre-spondingdocumentsweresenttothembye-mail.

Eventorganizersgenerallypayafeesothattheirparticipantscanusethesmallunits.Inreturn,thecompaniesreceivestatisticsaboutvisitorbeha-viorandalsolearnwhichindividualswereinterestedinspecificproductsandservices.Thisallowsparticipantstobesuppliedwiththelatestinformationabouttopicsofinteresttothematanytimeaftertheirvisit.

Thestartupcameuponsuchinterestingordersthanksinparttotheso-phisticatedtechnologythatmakesiteasytointegrateintothecustomer’sITinfrastructure,butalsobecauseofthemanygoodbusinesscontactsDout-riauxhasbuiltupovertheyearsintheeventssector.EspeciallyimportantinthisregardarepartnershipswithMCIintheU.S.andShowcaseinEurope,twoleadingsuppliersofeventtechnology.

Thesegoodbusinesscontactshavemeanwhilealsoledtoordersoutsidethebusinesssector.Forexample,PokenwillequipparticipantsattheWin-terYouthOlympicGamesbeingheldthiscomingwinterinInnsbruck.www.poken.com

5

Success on both sides of the Atlantic: Stéphane Doutriaux.

A pioneer in a mass marketThe market for micro-projectors is in its infancy. even so, Lemoptix is already celebrating its first success.

Three of the four founders of Lemoptixhavemanyyears of industrial experience. It’s easy to under-standwhytheygaveupsecurepositionstofoundastartup. Lemoptix is among the world’s leadingcompaniesinamarketwithgreatfutureprospects.TheseengineersfromLausannehavedevelopedamicro-projectorthatprojectsvideoimagesthesamewayastoday’sclumsybeamers,butisonlyaslargeasacreditcard.Anevensmallerunit–thesizeofasugarcube–willfollowin2012.

Thesemicro-projectorsnotonlyneedlessspace,theyalsoconsumelesspowerandaresignificantlyless expensive than today ’s projectors. In a fewyears,they’llinevitablybefoundinmobilephonesandotherportabledevices.Afurtherrelatedappli-cation area consists of heads-up displays in carsthat project key operating information on thewindshield.“Micro-projectorsrepresentarevolutionin displays for equipment and machinery,” saysLemoptixCEOMarcoBoella.“Therewillbeapplica-tionswecan’tevenimaginetoday.”

Marketresearchersagree,andalreadyforecastamarketsizeofapproximatelyUSD7billionin2014.Lemoptixwillcertainlytakeasubstantialpieceofthispie.TheLausanne-basedcompanyisamongasmallgroupof internationalpioneersand,thanksto its mature technology, is receiving worldwideacclaiminawidevarietyofmarketsegments.www.lemoptix.com

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The first contract in the bag: Marco Boella.



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After Google comes paper.lievery day unimaginable amounts of new information are posted on the Internet. paper.li sorts this information to create a personal daily newspaper for each user.

The Internet has always been a collectionofvastamountsofinformation.AndnowwithWeb2.0,thesheervolumehasgrownevenmoredynamically.Evermorebloggers,mediaconcerns,corporationsandorganizationsup-loadtheirlatestinformationtothewebeveryday.AlthoughsmartsearchenginescouldhelpinthedaysofthestaticWeb,usersarevirtuallyontheirowntotackletheselatestdynamics.

Fromthischaos,paper.licreatesclarity.Dayinanddayout,theserviceprocessesmillionsofreportsonTwitterandFacebookaswellasRSSfeeds.Withthehelpofasemanticsearchalgorithmthatdeterminesthemeaningofthetexts,itfiltersoutwhatisofinteresttotheuserandthenpresentsthiscontentinacomprehensibleformasadailynewspaper.

Thegrowthinthenumberofusersisenormous.Althoughtheservicehasbeenavailableforjustayear,eachday350,000newspapersarepublis-hedandreadonthisplatform,andpaper.licurrentlyregisters2millionvisi-torseachmonth.

Justasastoundingasthislevelofgrowtharetheareasofinterestshownbytheactivenewspaper “publishers”onpaper.li.Theservice isdefinitelybeingusedbyfarmorepeoplethanjustInternetaddicts.Therearenews-papersfromvariousreligiousmovements,forexample,alongsidepublica-tionsbyanimalloversincludingTheSquirrelDaily.

Thiswidevarietydidn’thappenbyaccident.“ Wedesignedtheservicespecificallytoaddresstheneedsofthewidestpossibleaudience,”saysCEOEdouardLambelet.Thisbeganearlywiththepresentationofthesearchen-gineresultsinthetraditionalformatofanewspaper.ThishelpsuserswhoarelessInternet-savvytoclearlyunderstandwhattheserviceatpaper.liisallabout.http: //paper.li

7

Microlivers instead of animal testingfor many years, people have been calling for drugs and cosmetics to be screened using tissue samples instead of animals. InSphero makes this a reality.

The range of productsthatarebothdevelopedandmanufactured in Technopark Zurich is amazinglywide.Afewmonthsago,microliverswereaddedtothelist.IntheofficesofInSphero,industrialrobotsaremanufacturingsmall,3Dlivermicrotissueswiththehelpof technologypatentedby thisentrepre-neurialcompany.

InSpherosendsthesetissuesamplesaroundtheworldwheretheyareusedtoscreendrugsandcos-meticsfortoxicity.Thismakesitpossibletoreducethenumberofexperimentsonanimals,whicharenotonlyexpensivebutalsoethicallyquestionable,andincreasinglysubjecttolegalrestrictions.

Testingonbiologicalcellshasbeentakingplaceforquitesometime,butinthepastit’sbeenpossi-bleonlytomanufacture2Dlayersofcells inlargevolumesinalaboratory,andtheabilitytodrawcon-clusionsfromtestswasthereforeverylimited.“Our3Dmicrotissuelivers,whichweconstructwithoutanyartificialscaffolds,arethefirsttobehaveexact-ly likehumanorgans,”explains InSpheroCEO JanLichtenberg. Long-term damage can be detectedjust as well as poisonous byproducts that can beproducedintheliver.

Giventheseadvantages,it’snotsurprisingthatthedoorsofpotentialbuyersarewideopentothisstartup.Six of the world’s ten largestpharmaceu-ticalconcernsareInSpherocustomers,asisoneoftheworld’slargestcosmeticsgroups.www.insphero.com

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Web company founders with experience: Iskander Pols (left) und edouard Lambelet.



Supplier to pharma companies: Jan Lichtenberg.


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10

Successful entry into the market: Aïmago CeO

Michael Friedrich shows off the innovative micro-

circulation camera.


A look under the skinThanks to aïmago, burns can be treated more effectively.

The easyLDI has been in clinical use since last March.Thishigh-performancecameraemitsalaserbeamthatpenetrates2mmintotheskin.Fromthereflectedlight itdeterminesthe intensityof thecirculation inthetissue– in justa fewsecondsandwithoutanycontact.Thisinnovation,developedattheBiomedicalOpticsResearchLaboratoryatETHLausanne,hasledtomoreobjectivediagnosisand therefore more effective treatment in plastic surgery, diabetes and rheu-matism,andinneurosurgery.Inthefieldofplasticsurgeryalone,suchasinthetreatmentofburns,itsmarketpotentialhasbeenestimatedataboutCHF250mil-lion.Atthemoment,Aïmagohas12employees.Thecompanygeneratedappro-ximatelyCHF2millioninequitycapitalduringtworoundsoffinancing.www.aimago.com

Already #1 in EuropeMore vacation apartments are booked through HouseTrip than on any other Internet platform.

HouseTrip is a typical Internet startup. Numerouscompetitorsofferexactlythesameservice,butintheendthesupplierthat grows fastest will ultimately winout.Inthisregard,thisLausanne-basedcompanyhasagoodhand.“We’realrea-dythelargestonlinebrokerofvacationapartments inEurope,andatthesametimewe’rethefastestgrowingintermsofbookingsandnumberofusers,”statesco-founderandCEOArnaudBertrand.

TheteamissupportedbyIndexVen-tures, a Geneva-based venture capitalcompanythathasalsoinvestedinotherWeb-based services such as the SkypeInternet telephone service. HouseTripisn’t surviving from its investors alone,though,butalsofromitsbookingcom-missions,where,asBertrandnotes,“ourgrowth in sales amounts to more than40percent–permonth.”www.housetrip.com

8 founded in 2009 60 employees

Young entrepreneur: Arnaud Bertrand.

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9Vaccines for animals and peopleMalcisbo is fighting bacteria and parasites with new technology.

Putting a new drug on the market involvesagreatdealoftimeandmoney.Toge-neratesalesquickly,Malcisboistakinganunusualpath.Beforethefoundersven-tureintothedevelopmentofanewvaccineforhumans,theyareusingtheirpro-prietarytargetdiscoveryplatformtodesignanimalvaccinesthatrequirefarlesstimeandexpenseduringapprovals.TheirfirstproductfightsCampylobacterin-fectionsinbroilerchickens.Thebacteriaarenotharmfultothechickensthem-selves,butcauseseriousintestinalproblemsforpeoplewhoeatinfectedmeat.Anexperiencedteamoffourfoundersarebehindthistechnologyplatformandasophisticatedstrategythatoffersmanypossibleuses.www.malcisbo.com

Accumulated experience: Lino Camponovo, Bruno Oesch, Irene Schiller and Markus Aebi (left to right).

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Climeworks, ZurichThismightjustbethemostelegantcontri-butiontoavertingglobalwarming.Withitstechnology,ClimeworkscanfilterCO2outoftheairandthenuseittoproducefuel.Atthe moment, the team is taking the firststepstobuildingapilotplantthatwillex-tracthundredsoftonsofCO2outoftheaireachyear.www.climeworks.com

12.

Biognosys, SchlierenProteinscontrolbodilyfunctionsandthusarevitalforhealthandissuesrelatedtoill-ness.Biognosyscandirectlydeterminetheamount of various proteins in a sample.Theareasofapplicationrangefromqualityassurance in foodstuffs to the develop-mentofnewdrugs.Thecompany,withap-proximately20employees,isalreadywork-ing for large corporations such as PfizerandNovartisaswellasforaseriesofbio-techstartups.

www.biognosys.ch

13.

Redbiotec, SchlierenRedbiotec’s vaccine pipeline includes ac-tiveagentsforthreedifferentdiseaseare-as.Thestartuphasalsosetuppartnershipswith several large pharmaceutical con-cernsincludingRoche,forwhichitproduc-es specific virus-like particles. The largeamountofoutputfromthe12-personteamispossibleduelargelytothespecialnatureofthetechnologyplatformthatallowsthedesign and manufacture of specific parti-cleswithinjustafewmonths.www.redbiotec.ch

14.

Neurimmune, SchlierenIllnesses such as Alzheimer’s and Parkin-son’sdiseaseremainasyetincurable.Neu-rimmuneplanstochangethatbytakinganunusualapproach.Thisstartuphasnotin-vestigatedthefactorsthatleadtoillnessesbutratherhasfocusedonthosethatkeepus healthy. The company is applying thisknowledgetoidentifynoveltherapeutics.www.neurimmune.com

15.

Typesafe, LausanneCompaniesasdiverseasTwitter,SiemensandUBSuseScala.Thisprogramminglan-guageiscustom-designedforthedevelop-mentofprogramsthatrunsimultaneouslyondifferentprocessorcoresorservers,andeventhose that run inparallelatvarious

data centers using the cloud computingconcept.Asanopensourceproduct,Scalacanbeusedfreeofcharge.Typesafe, thecompany belonging to Scala’s developerMartin Odersky, earns its income withScala services such as support, trainingandconsulting.www.typesafe.com

16.

Kooaba, ZurichThanks to Kooaba Paperboy, you simplytakeaphotographofanewspaperarticle,anadvertisementoraposterwithyourmo-bilephone,andinamomentyougetrelat-edcontentorevenaccesstoanexclusivecontest.Numerouspublishingcompanies,bothdomesticandabroad,arealreadyus-ingPaperboy.ThesecondKooabaproduct,called Déjà-Vu, followed last August.Anymobilephoneuserwhowantstoremem-bera special CD, DVDor evenabottleofwinesimply takesasnapshotof it; thesephotos are automatically assigned key-wordsandarchived.www.kooaba.com

17.

Celeroton, ZurichExpansionplansarerightonscheduleforthismanufacturerofcompact,ultra-high-speedelectricmotors.Celerotondeliverstocustomersaroundtheworldandcurrentlyhas 11 employees. In addition to project-basedbusiness,thecompanyplanstode-livermotorsinlow-volumeproductionforthefirsttimebytheendofthisyear.www.celeroton.com

18.

GetYourGuide, ZurichIt’s simple to book tours, excursions andevents of all types and on all continentswithGetYourGuide.Organizerscanjustaseasilysetupandmanage their toursandevents on this Internet portal. Both ofthese featureshavehelpedGetYourGuideachieve very rapid growth; the companyalreadyemploys30people.www.getyourguide.com

19.

Stemergie Biotechnology, GenevaAccordingtorecentmedicaltheories,cellswith special characteristics cause tumorstogrow.TreatmentsandtechnologyfromStemergiearetargetedspecificallyatthesecancer-initiatingcells,whichexistingther-apieshavebeenunabletoeradicate.www.stemergie.com

Grew up with the Internet: Johannes Reck, CEO of GetYourGuide.

I N T e R N e T S Ta R T u p S

Now the Swiss are alsocausing a sensation

During the Internet boom around the year 2000, many companies were founded, including in Switzerland. None of them, though, were able to establish themselves internationally. Only recently have Swiss Internet startups started to cause any sizea-ble sensation, in particular Doodle. Now another wave of companies is coming, started by what are known as “digital natives” – young people who have grown up with the Internet. a good example is GetYourGuide with 27-year-old CeO Johannes Reck running the operation.

The five best Internet startups

1. Doodle # 3

2. Smallrivers / paper.li # 7

3. HouseTrip # 8

4. GetYourGuide # 18

5. atizo # 21

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20.

greenTeG, ZurichThe flexible films from greenTEG convertheat directly into electricity. They can bemanufacturedmuchlessexpensivelythantoday’sthermo-electricgeneratorsandcanbeputtouseinawidevarietyofapplica-tions.Possibleusesrangefromincreasingthe efficiency of motors to serving as apowersupplyforwristwatches.www.greenteg.com

21.

atizo, BernMore than 10,000 users have answeredquestionsposedbycompaniesonAtizo’sbrainstormingplatform.Amongthesefirmsare some regulars that come back timeandagain,includingMigros,whichhasen-couraged users to co-develop two newMigrosjamsnamedErdbeermund(Straw-berry Smile) and Herbstsünde (AutumnPassion).www.atizo.com

22.

LiberoVision, ZurichEvenafteritssaletotheNorwegiancom-panyVirzt,LiberoVisionremainsresponsi-bleforthedevelopmentandcommerciali-zationofitssoftware.Thesaleofitssoft-ware, which is used to analyze sportingplaysandscenes,willbecomemucheasierbecauseofthisintegrationintotheparentcompany. For instance, the LiberoVisionteamiscurrentlynegotiatingwithseveralpotentialcustomersinAsia.www.liberovision.com

23.

BioVersys, BaselInnovations in antibiotics are relativelyrare but are urgently needed becauseproblems caused by bacteria that are re-sistant to available drugs are worsening.BioVersys has created an innovative plat-form for developing antibiotics. Not sur-prisingly, this startup was able to swiftlyacquireseedcapitalofmorethanCHF2.5millionlastspring.

www.bioversys.com

24.

arktis Radiation, ZurichInonly fouryears, theArktis teamhas re-fineditshighlyreliabledevicesfordetectingradioactivesubstances to thepointwhereit’s mature enough for a market launch,whichisimminent.Further,thetechnologyis currently being evaluated by public au-thoritiesinbothEuropeandtheUS.

www.arktis-detectors.com

25.

Biocartis, LausanneMoleculardiagnosticsispresentlyatime-consuming process suited only for largelaboratories.Biocartisisnowbringingthisanalytical technology to smaller labs andhospitalswithasimpleandcost-effectivetechnology.Withit,illnessesrangingfrominfectionstocancercanbedetectedearlier,fasterandmorereliably.Thisnotonlyim-proves the chances of a cure but also re-duceshealthcarecosts.www.biocartis.com

26.

QualySense, DübendorfThisEmpastartuphasrecentlylandedtwolarge research projects in the amount ofmorethanCHF2million.Thisyoungcom-pany created a process that sorts tonsof grain by biochemical attributes in avery short time period. CEO FrancescoDell’Endice announced in June 2011 thatthecompanyhadreceiveditsfirstroundoffinancing.www.qualysense.com

27.

procedural, ZurichIn July 2011, US-based ESRI, the world’ssecond largest software company and asupplier of geo-information systems, ac-quiredETHspinoffProcedural.Thatstart-upcausedaninternationalsensationwithits CityEngine package, which creates 3Durban environments. ESRIplans to lever-ageoffProcedural toestablishadevelop-ment center for 3D graphics software inZurich.www.procedural.com

28.

preclin Biosystems, epalingesThisyoungcompanyhasdevelopedmeth-odsfortheearlyidentificationandvalida-tionofcandidatetherapeutics.Businessisbooming because the startup has beenabletoquicklymakeaninternationalnameforitselfinthissector.Whenitcomestofi-nances,co-founderandCEOBettinaErnsthasnoworries.“Weareverywellfinanced,”saysErnst.www.preclinbiosystems.com

F e m a L e C e O S

Female chief executives are a common sight in the biotech sector

as innovative as the entrepreneurial companies on this list are, when it comes to the number of female chief executives, they don’t do any better than established technology compa-nies. Female CeOs are leading just six of these startups. However, the dif-ferent sectors vary considerably in how they are represented. While the Internet appears to remain the sole domain of men, the ratio of female chief executives in biotech companies on the list is an impressive 27 percent. The top company with a woman in

the corner office is preclin Biosystems, which is headed up by co-founder Bettina ernst.

The five best companies with female CeOs

1. preclin Biosystems # 28

2. BioXpress Therapeutics # 38

3. GenKyoTex # 45

4. NemoDevices # 50

5. Virometix # 72

Her company Preclin Biosystems

is already booking sales: Bettina Ernst.

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29.

Covagen, SchlierenCovagen’spotentialisquitesubstantial–ithastheopportunitytodevelopanentirelynewclassofdrugs.Itsfirsttherapeuticwillenterthepre-clinicalphasein2012,whenanewroundoffinancingwillalsobeneces-sary. Until now, venture capitalists havebeenverygenerousinsupportingCovagen;inNovember2010,aroundoffinancingformorethanCHF6.3millionwasclosed.

www.covagen.com

30.

Virtamed, ZurichVirtaMedhasalreadybroughttwoseriesofproductstomarket:simulatorsforhystero-scopicproceduresandprostateoperations.Itsnextfeatiscomingnextyearintheformofasimulatortohelptrainmedicalperson-nelinkneeoperations.

www.virtamed.com

31.

Optical additives, Staufen OpticalAdditivesplanstofurtheracceler-ate the resoundingsuccessof solarcells.

Thecompanyhasanadditivethatismixedintoplasticsandactsasalightharvester.With it, the size of solar cells for a givenpower level can be dramatically reducedwhilealso increasingdesignoptions.Thecompany is currently demonstrating acomputermousewhosesemi-transparentcase contains this additive, allowing thedevicetorunfromsolarpower.www.optical-additives.com

32.

abionic, LausanneGetting a high degree of certainty whilestillinthedoctor’soffice–that’swhattheanalysis system from Abionic promises.This company, which was awarded theVigierPrize,expectstostartsellingitsal-lergytests in2013andplanstograduallyexpandintootherfields.

www.abionic.com

33.

Credentis, Windisch Themeresoundofadentist’sdrillsetsoffpanicinmanypatients.ThankstoCreden-tis,thiswilloftenbeasoundofthepast.

TogetherwiththeUniversityofLeeds,thefirmhasdevelopedapeptide thatcausesteeth to remineralize so that small carieslesions in teeth close up by themselves.The drilling and filling common today isthennolongernecessary.www.credentis.com

34.

ViSSee, LuganoHowdoesaflymanagetomeasureitsairspeed without a rotating axis? This is aquestionNicolaRohrseitzpursuedwhileatthe Institute of Neuroinformatics at ETHZurich.Thesolutiontothepuzzleisinthefly’swide-angleeyes.Basedonthisknow-ledge,ViSSeehasbeenworkingonarevo-lutionarymicrotachometersince2009.In-terestintheproject,especiallyintheautoindustry,isquiteintense.www.vissee.ch

35.

Restorm, ZurichThe Restorm Internet platform networksmusicians with their listeners as well aswith event organizers and the media. Aseriesof toolsmakes iteasy forbands topresentthemselvesontheweb.SinceMay2011, theycanalsosell theirmusicatat-tractivetermsoverRestorm.Thisautumnthecompanyisaddinganinnovation;mu-sicianswillbeable toveryeasily sell thelicensingrightstotheirmusic,suchasforuseinadsorinYouTubevideos.http: //restorm.com

36.

Secu4, SierreThis startup in the Rhone Valley is initia-tingitssecondphase.InJuly,it launchedan efficient theft prevention tool that isofficially licensed for iPhones and iPads.With Secu4Bags, you can not only safe-guardthesedevicesbutalsoprotectyourhandbagorsuitcasefromtheftwhiletrave-ling.Secu4hasalreadysoldseveralthou-sand devices, some of which also workwith Android, Windows or Java mobilephones.www.secu4.com

37.

CaScination, BernAlthough CAScination was founded justtwoyearsago,itsfirstproduct–anaviga-tionsystemforliversurgery–isalreadyonthe market. In addition, it closed its firstroundoffinancinginDecember2010.Withit,thisspin-offfromtheUniversityofBerncanshiftitsmarketingintohighgear.www.cascination.ch

at first glance, it seems conclusive: when it comes to establishing compa-nies there’s a clear focal point in the Zurich metropolitan area. But things aren’t that simple. In fact, the different language regions are actually repre-sented in relation to their proportion of the population. The French-speaking region makes up a third of the start-

ups, and German-speaking Switzerland two thirds. Further, there are excellent company founders throughout the country, as shown by the 14 cantons represented on the list. That also includes Ticino – two people who grew up in this southern canton, Nicola Rohrseitz and Valeria mozzetti, started ViSSee.

L e a D I N G C a N TO N S

Excellent company founders can be seen throughout Switzerland

The six cantons with the most top startups

High-tech in Ticino: Nicola Rohrseitzshows off his revolutionary speed sensor.

OTHeRS

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38.

BioXpress, plan-les-Ouates Thepatentsforthefirstbiologicallymanu-factureddrugshavenowexpiredandmanyotherswillsoonfollow.Thisisanopportu-nityformanufacturersoffollow-onbiolog-ics such as BioXpress, which already hasfour “biosimilars” in development and 14moreinthepipeline.www.bioxpress.com

39.

Zurich Instruments, ZurichManyscientificinstrumentsreachthelim-its of their capabilities at the microcosm.Semiconductorandbiomedicalcompaniesarethusturningtolock-inamplifiers,whichfilter out a material’s background noiseandtrackthedesiredelectricalsignalovertheentire timeofameasurement.ZurichInstruments is considered the worldwideleader in this technology and is growingrapidly.

www.zhinst.com

40.

Nektoon, ZurichWith its high rate of innovation, the Nek-toon team, which operates a digital note-bookcalledMemonic, issettingstandardsin the fast-paced Internet industry. Theirlatest innovation allows you to not onlysharethecontentsofyournotebookswithotherusersbutalsotoseewhichtopicsareofcurrentinteresttoothers.

www.memonic.com

41.

attolight, LausanneAnewwebsiteandavicepresidentformar-keting and sales show that Attolight isinvesting in expanding its market share.First,though,thiscompanywantstosellitsfilmcameraforthenano-worldtoresearchlabs.Inasecondstep,followingafurtherroundoffinancing,itplanstoaddressthequalityassurancemarket.

www.attolight.com

42.

Kandou Technologies, LausanneEveryone’stalkingaboutgreenIT,orenvi-ronmentallyfriendlyinformationandcom-municationstechnology.Kandouissupply-ingoneofthebuildingblocksforthis.Thefoundershavedevelopedanalgorithmthatallowsmoreefficientcommunicationsbe-tweenprocessorsandmemory,printersorotherperipherals–resultinginenergysav-ingsofupto75percent.www.kandou.com

43.

Goodshine, ZurichThepacehaspickedup for thepeopleatthis Zurich-based company, which oper-ates the DeinDeal.ch discount platform.Only 15 months after the company wasfounded,Ringeracquiredmajorityowner-shipofGoodshineAGlastJune.Thecom-panynowhasmorethan100employees.

www.deindeal.ch

44.

Joiz, ZurichThis television station, which links theworldofTVwithWeb2.0andtargetsview-ersbetweentheagesof15and35,hasgotoff to a good start. Both the number ofviewersandtheirparticipationhavebeenhigh. Now Joiz is taking a step ahead intermsofadvertising.Migros,togetherwithJois,issearchingforthe“M-Budgetsharedapartment”andintheprocessistakingfulladvantageoftheopportunitiesprovidedbythestation’sadvertisingtechnology.www.joiz.ch

45.

GenKyoTex, plan-les-Ouates This firm, founded in 2006 by scientistsfromSwitzerland,theUSAandJapan,isinthemidstofasignificantstep.InMay,Gen-KyoTexannouncedtheclosingofaroundoffinancingworthmorethanCHF18million.Thesefundswillallowthestartofclinicaltrialsofitsfirstdrugbeforethisyearisout.

www.genkyotex.com

46.

Quest.li, ZurichGames that merge the real and virtualworlds are a growing trend. During play,youoftenhavetobethefirsttoansweraseriesofquestionsorperformtasksinor-der to prevail over your fellow players atvariouspoints.Quest.liisnotjustanothersupplierofsuchgames;itofferstheabilitytoeasilycreategamesbasedonyourownquestionsandtasks.Theserviceistargetedatindividualsandcorporations.http: //quest.li

47.

YouRehab, ZurichYouRehab demonstrates that computergamesneedn’tnecessarilybesimplyawaytopassthetime.Thecompanyhasdevel-opedagameforphysicalrehabilitationfol-lowing brain damage. Studies show thatpatients participate more intensively andalso reach higher therapeutic goals thanwithconventionalmethods.www.yourehab.com

Boss of 40 employees: Alexander Mazzara, CEO of Joiz.

J O B e N G I N e S

Young but already at the SME levelThe number of employees at startups is generally underestimated. The five largest companies on the list alone account for a total of roughly 300 jobs. This often involves firms that are not only growing rapidly but also have started to generate revenue at an early stage. a good example is Joiz, an interactive TV station with 40 team members, including CeO alexander mazzara.

The startups with the largest number of employees

1. Goodshine (160) # 43

2. HouseTrip (60) # 8

3. Joiz (40) # 44

4. GetYourGuide (30) # 18

5. poken (29) # 5

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48.

Dectris, BadenThestrongSwissfrancisalsohavinganim-pactonthehigh-endX-raydetectorsfromDectris.FounderChristianBrönnimannhasrespondedbydevelopingalessexpensiveproductline,whichshouldreachthemar-ketinthecomingyear.

www.dectris.com

49.

Swisstom, LandquartThetomographsfromSwisstomdeliverim-agesofthelungsinrealtime,makingartifi-cialrespirationsignificantlysafer.ThankstoinvestorscomingonboardattheendofAu-gust,thisextremelypromisingtechnologycanbefurtherdevelopedtothepilotstage.

www.swisstom.com

50.

NemoDevices, KilchbergTheneuromonitoringsystemfromNeMoD-evices protects stroke patients from long-term damage by continuously monitoringcirculationandthesupplyofoxygentothebrain. A working prototype already exists.

The unit’s development to readiness formarket launch is guaranteed thanks to EUfundingandprivateinvestors.

www.nemodevices.ch

51.

Limmex, ZurichThis recently founded company developspersonalsafetysolutionsforSwisswatchessotheycandofarmorethanjustdisplaythe time. The company’s potential is em-phaticallyreflectedinitsBoardofDirectors,whichincludesPhonakfounderAndyRihsalongwithRenéBraginsky,oneofSwitzer-land’sbestknowninvestors.www.limmex.com

52.

Fontself, Renens It’s very common for the Facebook gene-ration to send very personal informationthroughe-mailsorchats.Nowthesemes-sages can also be personally designed.Fontselfhasdevelopedsoftwarethatmakesit possible for users to use any font theywishintheInternet.www.fontself.com

53.

RouteRaNK, LausanneAnyone looking for the fastest, least ex-pensive or most environmentally friendlyway to get from Point A to Point B willfindRouteRANKindispensable.Thistravelsearchengineshowsresultsfortripsbyair,carortrainaswellasforcombinationsofvariousmeansoftransportation.

www.routerank.com

54.

aleva Neurotherapeutics, LausanneInwhatisknownasDeepBrainStimulation(DBS) therapy, a surgeon implants elec-trodesinthebrain.Thistherapyhasprov-en effective for treating movement disor-derssuchasforpatientswithParkinson’sdisease.Furthermore,theareasofapplica-tionandthenumberofoperationsarecon-stantly growing. Targeting this medicalsector, Aleva Neurotherapeutics developsmicroelectrodes that stimulate the brainandthatalsocarryfewersideeffects.

www.aleva-neuro.com

55.

The Faction Collective, VerbierMove over, snowboards – skis are coolagain,especiallyiftheycomefromuniquebrandslikeTheFactionCollective.FounderandheaddesignerTonyMcWilliam,ana-tiveofAustralia,clearlyhasagoodsenseforthisniche;thesalesfiguresforhiscom-panyaredoublingeachyear.www.factionskis.com

56.

mesa Imaging, ZurichAnypersonwhohastogetbywithjustoneeyeisseriouslyhandicapped.Thisisjustastruetodayforrobotsandvision-basedma-chines–unlessthey’reequippedwiththeSwissranger camera from Mesa Imaging,which helps them create a 3D image oftheirworkplace.Thetechnologyiscurrent-lybeingputtouseinmanufacturingenvi-ronments.www.mesa-imaging.ch

57.

Imina Technologies, ecublensTheelectronicmanipulatorsfromIminaarenolargerthanadieforaboardgame.Theymakeitsignificantlyeasiertohandlesam-ples being examined with optical or elec-tron microscopes. These precise instru-mentsarealreadybeingusedincountlesslaboratoriesinEurope,andthenextorderofbusinessistoconquertheNorthAmericanmarket.www.imina.ch

mobile phones have become a driving factor for innovation. In this respect, it’s encouraging that Switzerland has several top startups in this sector that have become successful on an international scale. a good example is Lotaris, founded by Robert Tibbs. The company, with 24 employees in Yverdon and another four in global positions, boasts international cus-tomers for its licensing service and has an investor from asia on board.

m O B I L e S Ta R T u p S

Sophisticated technology for intelligent devices from Switzerland

A company founder with international contacts: Lotaris CEO Robert Tibbs.

The five best mobile startups

1. poken # 5

2. Kooaba # 16

3. Secu4 # 36

4. Lotaris # 58

5. mirasense/Scandit # 89

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58.

Lotaris, Yverdon-les-BainsLotaris is known only to a few insiders,whichisnobigsurprisebecausethiscom-panyoperatesinthebackground.Ifauserpurchasesalicenseforanapporaserviceforamobiledevice,thenLotariscarriesoutallthestepsnecessaryfrompaymentpro-cessingthroughtolicenseadministration.Amongthisstartup’sbusinesspartnersarewell-knowncorporationssuchasSegaandSymantec.www.lotaris.com

59.

SalsaDev, GenevaSalsaDev’s Nicolas Gamard is pleased toreportveryhighgrowth insales–whichdidn’thappenbychance.Thecompanyof-fers a software package for semanticsearches that is significantly less expen-sive than previous solutions. With thisproduct,whichrecognizesthemeaningoftext,documentscanbeautomaticallycat-egorizedoranalyzed.Amongitscustomersarecorporationsandsuppliersofcontentmanagement systems that integrate thissoftwareintotheirownproducts.www.salsadev.com

60.

enairys powertech, LausanneSylvainLemofouethasbeenresearchingahydro-pneumaticsystemforstoringelectri-cal energy since 2001. It is intended tomakeitpossibleforhomeownersandener-gysuppliersaliketostorepowergeneratedfromsolarorwindsources,andtodosoef-ficientlyandinanenvironmentallyfriendlyway.Thisallowselectricitygeneratedwhenthe sun shines or the wind blows to bestoredandusedlateronwhenit’sneeded.NowLemofouet,whoholdsaPhDinengi-neering,hascomeanimportantstepclosertofulfillinghisdream.Thisautumn,apro-totype of the storage system will for thefirsttimeundergofieldtrialsconductedbytheBernesepowercompanyBKWatafacil-ityonMountSoleil.www.enairys.com

61.

picoDRILL, LausanneThishigh-techcompanyhasanexclusivetechnology forprocessing thinglass.Thefirm,financedbyequity investmentcom-panies and private investors, achieved aturnaroundinthesummerof2010andlastyear enabled its backers to make an exit.Today it is being run as an independentunitinLausanne.www.picodrill.com

62.

DSwiss, ZurichDSwissoffersdigitalsafe-depositboxestobanksandinsurancecompanies.Theideaof an Internet data safe has successfullybeenintroducedontothemarket inSwit-zerland, a country famous for its banks.Since this summer, the startup has alsohadapresenceintheGermanmarket,andbeginning in 2012, plans to conquer fur-therinternationalmarkets.www.dswiss.com

63.

Koemei, martigny Speech recognition isn’t anything specialanymore,butwhatKoemeihastoofferisstill amazing. This startup’s software isable to transcribe speech from multiplespeakers.It’susefulformeetingsaswellasconferencesandseminars.www.koemei.com

64.

regenHu, BielThe machines from regenHU can manu-facture3Dtissueinatypeofprintingpro-cess.Multipleunitsarealreadybeingusedin laboratories. For instance, the ZurichUniversityofAppliedSciencesinWädens-wil is applying the technology to printmodels of artificial skin to test cosmeticsforcompatibility. Inasecondstep,regen-HU’s CEO Marc Thurner likewise plans touseoneofhisownmachinesandbecomeasupplierofboneimplantsforthedentalindustry.www.regenhu.com

65.

proteomediX, ZurichWhendiagnosingprostatecancer, testingerrs on the side of caution. The conse-quenceisthatinthreeoutoffourcasesfol-lowingapositivetest,abiopsyprovesthattheresultswerefalse.ProteoMediXhopestocutdownthenumberofexpensiveandunpleasant biopsies with a more precisetest, and this is just the beginning. Thestartup has a technology that allows thesystematicsearchforbiomarkersthatindi-catespecificillnesses.www.proteomedix.com

66.

Geroco, martignyGeroco’ssystemconsistsofpower-savingelectricity plugs that measure consump-tionandthenturnequipmentonandoffasneeded, along with the associated soft-wareandawebplatform.Withit,youcanfollow your own electricity consumption

Not slowing down: Marc Thurner, CEO of regenHU.

OuTSIDeRS HOLDING aN INTeReST

Startups as an engine for innovation

Once pharmaceutical companies such as Roche would initially acquire young companies, but allow them to retain their independence and inno-vative power. Now Smes are also starting to follow this strategy. One of them is the Freiburger Cpa Group, which has a financial stake in regenHu. marc Thurner started the company four years ago with the name Delta Robotics. The founder has remained CeO, and for a good reason: together with his team, the 32-year-old has made enormous strides in the development of equipment for the production of 3D human tissue in a very short time.

The best startups with outside financial participation

1. Doodle # 3

2. LiberoVision # 22

3. procedural # 27

4. Goodshine / deinDeal.ch # 43

5. picoDRILL # 61

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inrealtimeandoverlongerperiods.Itim-mediately shows the results of conserva-tion measures, while the Web platformprovidestipsanddiscussionsaboutsavingelectricity.

www.geroco.ch

67.

Bcomp, FreiburgThelevelofinterestthatmanufacturersofskisandsportinggoodsareshowinginthisrecently founded company is quite high.TheBcompteamhasdevelopedverylight-weight yet strong materials. What’s spe-cial is that the raw materials consist ofplant fibers from which a light yet stifffabric is produced. The technology forconvertingrenewablebio-materialsintoahigh-tech composite is suitable for a va-riety of applications, not only in the out-door segment but also in others such asvehicles.www.bcomp.ch

68.

Nanotion, ZurichNanoparticlesindrinkingwaterpresentapotentialsourceofdanger.TheETHspin-offNanotionhasdevelopedaninstrumentthatcanexaminewaterinrealtimeforthesize,concentrationandcompositionofthenanoparticlesitcontains.Pilotprojectsareunderwayandin2012theinnovationisex-pectedtoreachthemarket.http: //nanotion.ag

69.

millform, ZurichAlthoughMillformmightberelativelyun-known,itsgameplatformGbangaisquitepopular.Thegamesmergethevirtualandrealworldsandarebeingwellreceivedbya wider audience than just the Facebookgeneration.Theteamhascreateditsowncustom-tailoredgamesforawiderangeofcustomers,includingZurichZoo.www.gbanga.com

70.

Connex.io, esslingen Thesoftwarefromthisstartupisanalogoustotheaddressbookinamobilephone,ane-mailprogramorasocialnetwork.Inthecurrenttestphase,connex.ioislettingus-ersdecidehowmuchtheywanttopayforthisservice.www.connex.io

71.

Thelkin, WinterthurImplants are subjected to extensive me-chanical testing. The test systems fromThelkin are fully electric – as opposed tocompetingproductsthatusehydraulicsorpneumatics – and thus are significantlymoresuitableforeverydayuse;yousimplyneedanelectricsockettostarttesting.Inaddition, these units are cleaner, requireless maintenance and have a longer ser-vicelife.www.thelkin.com

72.

Virometix, ZurichVaccines are non-hazardous versions ofpathogens produced either in a nutrientsolutionorbygeneticallyalteredbacteria–until now, that is, because Virometix hascreatedaplatformformanufacturingvac-cines chemically. Such a manufacturingprocessisnotonlysimplerandmorecost-efficientbutalsosafer.www.virometix.com

73.

Compliant Concept, DübendorfEven before the end of 2011, CompliantConceptwill introduce itsfirstproduct tothemarket.Atthesametime,thedevelop-mentofitsprimaryproduct,abedthatpre-vents bed sores, is continuing. CEO Mi-chael Sauter already has the necessarymeansfordoingso.Atthisyear’sMedtecheventattheendofAugust,FederalCoun-cilorJohannSchneiderAmmannpresentedtheentrepreneurwithaninnovationcou-pon for the Swiss Federal CommissionforTechnologyand Innovation(CTI)withwhichhecannowpayfortheservicesofaresearchpartner.www.compliant-concept.ch

74.

adoptics, Brügg bei BielCataractpatientshaveacloudylensinthehumaneyereplacedwithanartificialone.Adopticsisnowworkingonalensthatcan

With 23 companies in the Top 100, medical technology accounts for the largest part of the list, which is a clear indication of this sector’s innovative power. This is illustrated quite well by Thorsten Schwenke’s company Thelkin. Schwenke, who holds a phD in engineering and has many years of research and practical experience, including working with the med-tech company Zimmer, has developed an instrument for testing implants. Now customers from completely different sectors such as microelectronics have started to knock at his door.

TO p S e C TO R S

The showcase industry of medical technology is also #1 when it comes to the top startups

An innovation from medical technology works in other sectors too: Thorsten Schwenke, CEO of Thelkin.

Startups by sector

medical technology 23

Biotechnology 15

microtechnology 15

Internet 12

Software 11

Cleantech 9

mobile devices 7

entertainment 4

Consumer 3

Financial services 1

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Top 100 Ranking


focus on objects at various distances fol-lowing itsnatural rolemodel. In thebestcase,thepatientnolongerneedstowearcorrective lenses following the implantprocedure.Plansalreadyexistforafeasibil-itystudywithpatientsinthecomingyear.www.adoptics.ch

75.

ChromaCon, ZurichBiotech drugs are expensive to manufac-ture, and many patents for such medica-tions will run out in the next few years.Withtheinnovativepurificationtechnolo-gy from ChromaCom, biotech drugs withgreatereffectivenesscanbemanufacturedatlowercost.Atthesametime,thetech-nologyhelpsextendthetermofpatentsforthedrugs.www.chromacon.com

76.

Shadow Government, ZurichTheideaisfascinating:theUS-basedMil-lennium Institute provides software thatmakes itpossible forpoliticians toassesstheimplicationsoftheirdecisions.ShadowGovernmenthasdevelopedagameonthisbasis.Playerscanexperiencewhatitmeanstogovernacountryinanextremelyrealis-ticsituation.www.shadow-government.com

77.

Coguan Group, ZugCougan is presently active primarily inSpanish-speakingregions,butthecompa-nywasfoundedbyagraduateoftheUni-versity of St.Gallen. The firm runs an adexchange,anonlinemarketplaceforadver-tising insertions in the Internet, and has100,000registeredusers.www.coguan.com

78.

politnetz, ZurichAtitscore,Web2.0isdrivenbyusercontri-butionsandthereforeoperatesonademo-cratic basis. The founders of Politnetz.chhave implemented a closely related ideaofusingWeb2.0forpolitics.Onthisplat-form, more than 10,000 citizens interactwith politicians, including 25 nationalcouncilors.www.politnetz.ch

79.

Run my accounts, StäfaThe majority of accounting consists ofpurelyroutinetasks:enteringstatements,monitoringincomingpayments,balancingbankaccounts,sortingandfiling.Runmy

Accounts takesover these tasks;custom-ersmerelyscantheirstatementsandafter-wardsauthorizepaymentsintheire-bank-ing system. The services of this youngcompanyaremuchindemandasshownbythe fact that the number of customers isdoublingeveryquarter.www.runmyaccounts.ch

80.

Xeltis, ZurichOnepercentofallchildrenarebornwithaheartdefect.Althoughvalvedefectscanbeaddressed with artificial implants, thesedon’tgrowasthechilddoesandmustbereplacedregularlyduringriskysurgicalpro-cedures. Xeltis is now developing tissue-engineeredheartvalvesthataremanufac-turedwiththepatient’sowncellsandhavetheabilitytogrowalongwiththepatient.www.xeltis.com

81.

aOT, BaselEven if they use state-of-the-art tomo-graphsfordiagnosis,surgeonscontinuetocutboneswithtraditionalhandtoolssuchassawsordrills.AOThasnowdevelopedamodernsolution:arobotcompletewithplanningandnavigationsoftwarethathelpa laser cut through and remove bone tis-sue.Theresultingprecisionisconsiderablyhigherthanwithconventionalmethods.www.aot-swiss.com

82.

unblu, Sarnen The “co-browsing” solution from Unblumakes it possible for a customer servicerepresentative to follow precisely how acustomerisinteractingwithawebsite,anditdoessowithoutprovidinganyabilitytomanipulatethecustomer’scomputer.ThetechnologyisbeingusedbyUBS,forexam-ple, to support clients during telephoneconsultingsessionsforonlinebanking.www.unblu.com

83.

Kringlan composites, Otelfingen Withthecircularpressatkringlanit’spos-sibletofabricateroundpartsfromcarbonfiber reinforced plastics on an industrialscale, such as for automobile wheels. Itmightnotsoundspectacularbutit’samile-stone on the path to producing environ-mentallyfriendlylightweightvehicles.Theautomotiveindustryhasshowngreatinter-estinthemachine,andthisyearalonethecompanyhasbeenabletonearlytripleitsstaffto14people.www.kringlan.ch

Nine cleantech companies made it on to the list. Their products vary quite widely, but all have great potential. at the same time, they exemplify how long the path to success for green technologies can be. This is especial-

kringlan composites. He plans to put his machines for the manufacture of lightweight components to work in the automotive industry – an ambi-tious goal. even so, the chances are good that kringlan will pull it off.

G R e e N T e C H N O LO G I e S

Tenacity leads to success

The five best cleantech companies

1. Climeworks # 11

2. greenTeG # 20

3. Optical additives # 31

4. Kandou Technologies # 42

5. RouteRaNK # 53

Automotive manufacturers in his sights:

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The Rokker Company, Widnau Co-foundersMichaelKuratliandKaiGlattboth enjoy riding motorcycles, preferablyin jeans. That’s why they have launchedspecialpantsonthemarketwhoseinsidesconsist of a breathable protective fabricthatalsorepelswindandwater.

www.therokkercompany.com

85.

GlobalanceBank, ZurichAnewprivatebanknamedGlobalancehascompletely rewritten the book when itcomes to sustainability. For instance, thebankcanshowclients theecologicalandsocial footprint of their investment port-folios.Inaddition,itaddstransparencyforfees along with independence, sinceGlobalancedoesnotsellitsownproducts.www.globalance-bank.com

86.

epithelix, plan-Les-Ouates While many biotech companies developslowly,Epithelixhasalreadybeenable tobooksalesforanumberofyears.Theteamwas able to quickly launch a technologythat makes it possible to prepare humantissue cells so they survive for a year in-stead of just a month. The samples areusedforcompatibilitytestsanddrugdevel-opment,whichleadstoareductioninani-maltesting.www.epithelix.com

87.

Winterthur Instruments, WinterthurVirtuallyeverysurfacegetsacoatingthesedays. Winterthur Instruments builds in-strumentsthatarethefirsttoperformnon-destructivetestsoncoatingssuchasvar-nishesandwhichdosoquicklyandwithhigh precision. This enables continuousmonitoring during production. The firstmachineisbeingdeliveredinOctober.Fur-therunitswillquickly followbecausede-mand for the innovation is high from awiderangeofindustrialsectors.www.winterthurinstruments.com

88.

StereoTools, ecublensThere are increasingly more brain opera-tions where tissue samples are taken andelectrodesareanchoredintothebrain.Ste-reoToolshasdevelopedasystemthatsup-portssurgeonsinpositioningtheir instru-ments. It is significantly smaller and thusalso less frightening for the patient whilealso being more efficient than existingequipment.www.stereotools.com

89.

mirasense, ZurichWithMirasense’sScanditapp,consumersneed only scan the barcode of a productwith their mobile phone to get plenty ofuseful information.This includesthecur-rentpriceinInternetstoresaswellasthe

opinionsofotherswhohavepurchasedtheproduct. The startup generates revenuethroughthesaleofitsbarcoderecognitiontechnology as well as through product-related analysis and advertising servicesforcustomersintheUSAandEurope.www.scandit.com

90.

paratus, Windisch EveninSwitzerland,youngpeoplearein-creasinglyconfrontedwithviolence.Para-tus founderLucaTognolahas launchedaservice package that improves personalsafety. It consists of a mobile phone appalongwithservicessuppliedbythealarmcenterofSecuritasDirect,and itallowsauser to react toanescalatingsituation inprogressivesteps.www.paratus.ch

91.

Trigami, BaselBaselresidentRemoUherekhasn’tencoun-tered any startup problems with his blogmarketing tool Trigami. The company,foundedin2007,hasworkeditswayuptobecometheleaderintheGerman-speakingmarketplaceinjustashorttime.NowTri-gamiismergingwiththesocialmediaplat-formebuzzingandwilltakeonthatname.Thisgroupofcompanieswillassumemar-ketleadershipinEuropeandhasplansforglobalexpansion.www.ebuzzing.de

Riding their way to success with motorcycle apparel: Michael Kuratli (left) and Kai Glatt.

C O N S u m e R p R O D u C T S

The great adventure for startupsLaunching products targeted at con-sumers from Switzerland is a true challenge. The domestic market is small and fragmented, and abroad no one is expecting competitors from this small country. even so, time and again there are entrepreneurs who take on this challenge. Take michael Kuratli and Kai Glatt of The Rokker Company, for example. Now that these fellows from eastern Switzerland have established their unique motorcycle clothing line, they’re taking on an even more difficult market by venturing into the fashion sector.

The best consumer products companies

1. Limmex # 51

2. The Faction Collective # 55

3. The Rokker Company # 84

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Top 100 Ranking

92.

augurix Diagnostics, montheyTechnologically speaking, the quick testsfromAugurixareamilestone.Previouslyittookexpensivelabteststodetectceliacdis-ease–orglutenintolerance–butnowpa-tients can test themselves within a fewminutes. The test kits have been sold inSwitzerland for quite some time. At thestartofSeptember,thecompanyalsotookakeystepinmarketingtheproduct:alargepartnerwilldistributetheAugurixtestkit,called Simtomax, in several Europeancountries.www.augurix.com

93.

GeNeuro, plan-les-Ouates ThetherapeuticsubstancesfromGeNeurofight illnesses such as multiple sclerosisrightattheirroots.Theypreventthepro-cesses thateventually lead tobraindam-ageandinvalidity.Thefirstsubstancesarealreadyintheclinicalphaseandarebeingtestedonhealthyvolunteers.www.geneuro.com

94.

42 matters, ZurichInGoogle’sAndroidMarketalonetherearemany hundred thousand programs todownload.Userscangettheirbearingsinthis overabundance with AppAware from42matters.Thisappshowsinrealtimebycategorywhichotherprogramsusersareinstalling, recommend or have deleted.AppAware has already been downloadedseveral hundred thousand times, but theteam isevenmoreambitious: thegoal is10,000newuserseveryday.www.appaware.org

95.

aeon Scientific, ZurichCardiacarrhythmiaisverywidespread,butonlyafewhighlyspecializedsurgeonscanperform the catheter ablation that treatsthis illness. Aeon Scientific plans to sim-plifythisprocedure.Thecompanyhasde-velopedaunitthat,withthehelpofamag-netic field, allows doctors to navigate acatheter with great precision to exactlywhereit’swanted.

www.aeon-scientific.com

96.

Qvanteq, ZurichCoronary stents are tube-like screensplaced in diseased vessels to protectagainstheartattacks.Presently,however,the stents do not adapt optimally to thebody,whichimpairstheireffectivenessor

can even lead to the risk of thrombosis.Qvanteqisnowdevelopingstentswiththeaidofanewsurfacetechnologythatexhi-bitssignificantlyfewerdisadvantages.www.qvanteq.com

97.

QGel, LausanneThehydrogelfromthisLausannestartupisanexactcopyofhumancollagen.Cellscangrowwithinitjustastheydointhebody.Theresultisa3Dtissuesamplefordrugde-velopmentandcompatibilitytests.QGelisalready selling its gel to scientific labora-tories and to its first pharmaceutical ac-counts.www.qgelbio.com

98.

Skybotix, ZurichTheminiatureaerialvehiclesfromSkybotixcan navigate all by themselves even inclosedroomsandcanapproachanobjectwithin a few centimeters. The “Flybox” isintended to ease the work of police andfiredepartmentsaswellasotherssuchasbuilding inspectors.Pilotprojects, includ-ingoneinasteelplant,areunderway.www.skybotix.com

99.

prediggo, LausanneWebshopsofferalargeselection,buttheylacksalespeoplewhocanhelpbuyersdiffer-entiate among products. That’s why suchshopsareusinginternalsearchenginesandproduct recommendations – and Prediggosupplies the software for these purposes.ShopssuchasMövenpickinVienna,Brackand Exsila are already customers of theLausanne-basedfirm.www.prediggo.com

100.

pearltec, ZurichThe first expansion phase at this youngmedicaltechnologycompanyiscomplete.To further drive international growth,there’sbeenachangeatthetop:sincethebeginningofOctober,VincenzoGrande,aneconomist with many years of manage-mentexperienceinthemedicaltechnolo-gysector,hastakenoverasCEO.www.pearltec.ch

Four firms made it onto the list even though they were founded just this year. The youngest company is 42 matters, which andrea Girardello, Ivan Delchev and five additional colleagues registered with the Com-mercial Register of the Canton of Zurich on may 26, 2011. The pace of activity in the company is breath- taking. Just a month later, a venture capital company, gcp gamma capital partners from austria, made an in-vestment. With this help, 42 matters can now concentrate fully on boost-ing the number of users for its app, which provides an overview of other programs for mobile devices.

T H e YO u N G e S T C O m pa N I e S

Barely started and already at the top

The five youngest companies

1. 42matters # 94

2. Quest.li # 46

3. Bcomp # 67

4. Winterthur Instruments # 87

5. Kandou Technologies # 42

Quick out of the gate with AppAware: Andrea Girardello (left) and Ivan Delchev.

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A

Carole Ackermann, Zurich. President of Busi-ness Angels Switzerland (BAS); CEO of the investment company Diamondscull; focus: medtech/greentech. www.businessangels.ch

Flavio Agosti, St. Gallen. Responsible for venturelab, a high-tech startup training program in German-speaking Switzerland. www.venturlab.ch

Domenico Alexakis, Zurich. Director of the Swiss Biotech Association. www.swissbio-tech.org

Olivier Allaman, Freiburg. Director of Fri Up, the Freiburg-based center for entrepreneurs. www.friup.ch

Urs Althaus, Bern. Former Head Coach at CTI Start-up; Member of the Advisory Com-mittee at the Empa technology center glaTec; in 2010 named as “Supporter of Startups” by the W. A. de Vigier Foundation. www.kti.admin.ch

Regula Altmann-Jöhl, Rapperswil. Strategic projects at HSR (University of Applied Sciences, Rapperswil); on the Expert Committee of SSF (Seco Startup Fund). www.les-ch.ch/kontakt

Reinhard J. Ambros, Basel. Director, Novartis Venture Funds, globally. www.novartis-venturefunds.com

Claude Amiguet, Neuenburg. Director, Neode, Science and Technology Park Neuenburg. www.neod.ch/d/page/110

Richard J. Andrews, Lausanne. CEO, Motilis Medica; founder of various high-tech startups; focus: biotech/medtech; coach at CTI Start-up. www.motilis.com

B Thomas Bähler, Bern. Specialist at Kellerhals Attorneys at Law for private equity/venture capital, among other matters; co-founder and Member of the Board of the Swiss Economic Forum; juror for Swiss Economic Award. www.kellerhals.ch

Peter Balsiger, Zurich. Partner, aventic partners; executive management at AM-Tec Credit, Foundation for Promotion of SMEs as Part of Sector Clusters; technical expert at CTI. www.aventicpartners.ch

Luc-Olivier Bauer, Zurich. Venture capitalist; Investment Advisory Committee at NanoDimension. www.nanodimension.com

Brigitte Baumann, Zurich. Founder/CEO, Go Beyond business angels network; on the CTI Commission; President, EBAN (European Business Angel Network). www.go-beyond.biz

Nicolas Berg, Zurich. Founder of various startups; business angel; initiator of Redalpine Venture Partners; works with CTI-Invest, Swiss Venture Club, venturelab,

etc. www.redalpine.com

Marie-Laure Berthie, Lausanne. VP of Innovation und Technology Transfer, EPFL; on the Expert Committee of SSF (Seco Start-up Fund). www.epfl .ch

Peter Biedermann, Bern. CEO, Medical Cluster. www.medical-cluster.ch

Philip Bodmer, Dübendorf. Business angel; President, Volkswirtschafts-Stiftung; mem-ber of CTI-Invest and StartAngels Network; expert at the W. A. de Vigier Foundation. www.volkswirtschaft-stiftung.ch

Jan Bomholt, St. Gallen. Co-founder/partner at the b-to-v (BrainsToVentures) business angels network. www.b-to-v.com

Dr. Silvio Bonaccio, Zurich. Head of ETH Transfer/Spinoffs; Member of the Steering Committee of the Venture Business Plan Competition at ETH Zurich. www.vpf.ethz.ch

Jacques Bonvin, Geneva. Specialist at Tavernier Tschanz, Corporate and Commercial Law, for venture capital, private equity, M & A and new technologies. www.taverniertschanz.com

Diego Braguglia, Zug. General partner, VI Partners venture capital fi rm; focus: life sciences/biotech. www.vipartners.ch

Christian Brand, Bern. Head coach, CTI Start-up & Entrepreneurship. www.kti.admin.ch

David Brown, Lausanne. Business angel; founder/co-founder of various startups, e. g. buy.at/Poken SA; Board of Directors, SalsaDev. www.salsadev.com

Peter E. Burckhardt, Basel. CEO of EVA – the Basel life sciences startup agency; initiator of the spinoff incubator for startups from Uni Basel and FHNW. www.eva-basel.ch

C Heinrich Christen, Zurich. Partner, Ernst & Young/Head of EOY (Entrepreneur of the Year) Award. www.ey.com

Gert Christen, Zurich. CEO, Startzentrum Zurich. www.startzentrum.ch

Ulf Claesson, Thalwil. Partner at the private equity fi rm BLR Partners AG; coach at CTI Start-up. www.blrpartners.com

Pierre Comte, Neuenburg. Business angel, focus: medtech; founder/CEO, Sigma Professional; coach at CTI Start-up; trainer at venturelab. www.kti.admin.ch

D Alberto De Lorenzi, Bioggio. Partner at De Lorenzi & Partners, business angels network; focus: ICT startups in Ticino and northern Italy; coach at CTI Start-up. www.delorenzi.ch

Gina Domanig, Zurich. Founder/Managing Partner, Emerald Technology Ventures; focus:

cleantech. www.emerald-ventures.com

Benoît Dubuis, Plan-les-Ouates. Director, Eclosion biotech incubator; coach at CTI Start-up. www.eclosion.com

Pascal Dutheil, Lausanne. Founder,

stage venture capital; coach at CTI Start-up. www.andromede.ch

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Jérôme Favoulet, Geneva. Director, Fondetec, a municipal institute for startups for the City of Geneva. www.fondetec.ch

Igor Fisch, Plan-les-Ouates. Founder/CEO, Selexis SA; focus: biotech; on the Strategy Board, venture kick. www.selexis.com

Alban Fischer, Bern. Head, Patent Department, IGE Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property. www.ige.ch

Peter Frischknecht, St. Gallen. CEO, tebo, technology center for the Lake Constance Euroregion. www.tebo.ch

Nicolas Fulpius, Geneva. Business angel; Partner, Affentranger Associates; focus: venture capital/private equity for life sciences startups. www.aasa.com

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Eric Gisiger, Zurich. Venture capitalist, SVC – AG for SME venture capital. www.svc-risikokapital.ch

Denis R. Grisel, Bern. Head of Economic Promotion Agency, Canton of Bern. www.berneinvest.com

Patrick Griss, Schlieren. Executive Partner, Zühlke Ventures; focus: high-tech startups; on Advisory Committee at Empa’s glaTec technology center. www.zuehlke.com

Prof. Anton Gunzinger, Zurich. ETH professor; IT entrepreneur; Member, Investment Committee of Wachstumskapital AG of the Luzerner Kantonalbank. www.scs.ch

Daniel Gutenberg, Zug. Business angel; General Partner, VI Partners venture capital fi rm; focus: IT. www.vipartners.ch

Rudolf Gygax, Zurich. Venture capitalist; Managing Partner, Nextech Invest; focus: oncology. www.nextechinvest.com

H Georges Haas, Binningen. Former Head of Research, Ciba-Geigy; business angel; expert at Global Life Science Ventures – Investingin the life sciences. www.life-science-ventures.de

Jost Harr, Witterswil. Partner, QUILT Solu-tions investment network; Advisor, Incentive Capital LLC; Member of the Board, Tech-nozentrum Witterswil; coach at CTI; Board of Directors, BioValley Basel. www.quilt-solutions.com

Reto Hartinger, Zurich. Serial entrepreneur and business angel (among others search.ch, insider.management, etc.); President, Erfa Group Internet briefi ng. www.insi.ch

René Hausammann, Winterthur. Head, Technopark Winterthur and Transfer ZHW. www.tpw.ch

Wolfgang Henggeler, Zurich. Head, Physical Sciences, Unitectra (technology transfer organization of the Universities of Zurich,

The Top 100 ExpertsInsiders from all over Switzerlandnamed their favorites. Learn moreabout the experts at www.startup.ch.

TOP 100 Experts


Bern and Basel). www.unitectra.ch

Dr. Peter Hogenkamp, Zurich. Co-founder, Zeix AG and Blogwerk AG; Head of Digital Media, NZZ; Member of NZZ corporate man-agement. www.blogwerk.com

Matthias Hölling, Zurich. Group Manager, Spinoffs, ETH Transfer. www.transfer.ethz.ch

Markus Hosang, Basel. Venture capitalist; General Partner, BioMedInvest; focus: life sciences. www.biomedvc.com

J Mario Jenni, Schlieren. Co-founder/CEO, BIO-Technopark Schlieren (life sciences center in metropolitan Zurich); co-initiator, glaTec. www.bio-technopark.ch

Urs Jenni, Chur. Manager, SIFE (Swiss Institute for Entrepreneurship); Associate Coordinator, WTT Consortium CHOst; Member, swiTT (Swiss Technology Transfer Association) and ECSB (European Council for Small Business). www.fh-htwchur.ch

Mark-Eric Jones, Lausanne. CEO, Leman Micro Devices; former President/CEO, Innova-tive Silicon, Lausanne. www.home-jones.com

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Fernand Kaufmann, Lausanne. Business angel with focus on cleantech; advisor at Emerald Technology Ventures. www.emerald-ventures.com

Cédric Koehler, Zurich. Venture capitalist; Investment Manager at Creathor Venture; focus: ICT. www.creathor.ch

Willy Küchler, Horw. Manager, ITZ (Innovations Transfer Central Switzerland). www.itz.ch

André Kühni, Aarau. Manager, SME Services/Start-up Consulting, Aargauer Kantonalbank. www.akb.ch

Pius Küng, St. Gallen. Founder, Dr. Pius Küng & Partner; Chairman of the Board, IFJ Institut für Jungunternehmen; trainer at venturelab. www.kueng-partner.ch

Daniel Kusio, Bern. Business angel; founder, BV Partners, succession/growth fi nancing; jury member, SVC Entrepreneurial Prize Espace Mittelland. www.bvpartners.ch

Stefan Kyora, Lucerne. Co-founder, startup-ticker; co-owner, Journalistenbüro Niedermann; business journalist with focus on high-tech startups/corporate fi nancing. www.mediacontact.ch

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Maya Lalive d’Epiney, Freienbach. Former National Councilor; Partner, Redalpine Venture Partners; co-founder, ICTswitzerland. www.redalpine.com

Jean-Philippe Lallement, Lausanne. General Manager, Science Park EPFL; President, Swiss Parks.ch; coach at CTI. www.parc-scientifi que.ch

Dr. Hervé Lebret, Lausanne. Manager, Innogrants EPFL; former principal at Index Ventures venture capital fi rm. www.epfl .ch

Peter Letter, Zurich. Partner, EPS value AG; Investment Manager of the New Value private-equity company; focus: health care/cleantech. www.epsvalue.ch

Hansruedi Lingg, Root Längenbold. CEO, Technopark Lucerne. www.technopark-luzern.ch

M Pascal Marmier, Cambridge MA, USA. Consul; Director, swissnex (Swiss Knowledge Network) Boston; co-organizer, venture leaders. www.swissnexboston.org

Dr. Felix Mayer, Stäfa. Co-founder/CEO, Sensirion; winner of “Entrepreneur of the Year” (2010) and Swiss Economy Award. www.sensirion.com

Dominique Mégret, Bern. Manager, Swisscom Ventures; co-founder, Kickstart Ventures. www.swisscom.ch/ventures

Henry B. Meier, Zug. Business angel; found-er/Chairman of the Board, HBM BioVentures/HBM Partner venture capital fi rm. www.hbmbioventures.com

Simon Meier, Basel. Investment Director, Roche Venture Fund. www.venturefund.roche.com

Didier Mesnier, Geneva. General Secretary, Alp ICT, western Switzerland high-tech clus-ter; coach at CTI. www.alpict.com

Jordi Montserrat, Lausanne. Responsible for management of venture kick and venturelab in Western Switzerland. www.venturekick.ch

Carolina Müller-Möhl, Zurich. Chairperson of the Board, Müller-Möhl Group investment management; President, Swiss Economic Award. www.mm-group.ch

N Alain Nicod, Zug. Founder/co-founder of various startups, e. g. LeShop.ch; founder/Managing Partner, VI Partners venture capital company; focus: life sciences. www.ventureincubator.ch

Peter Niederhauser, Zurich. Serial entrepre-neur and business angel; General Partner, Redalpine Venture Partners venture capital company. www.redalpine.com

O Markus Oswald, Schwyz. CEO, Innovation Foundation of the Kantonalbank Schwyz; coach at CTI Start-up. www.szkb.ch/ innovationsstiftung

P Peter Pfi ster, Zurich. Business angel; Member of the Board, StartAngels Network and CTI Invest. www.startangels.ch

Eric Plan, Sion. General Secretary, Cleantech-Alps, Western Switzerland cleantech cluster; coach at CTI. www.cleantech-alps.com

Roberto Poretti, Lugano. Manager, Centro Promozione Start-up; Member of the Board, Swissparks.ch; Coordinator, venturelab Ticino. www.cpstartup.ch

Jim Pulcrano, Lausanne. Executive Director, IMD (International Institute for Management Development), responsible for the IMD Start-up Competition. www.imd.org

Erika Puyal Heusser, Zurich. Manager, Start-up Finance/Pioneers, Zurich Kantonalbank. www.zkb.ch

R Jost Renggli, Zurich. Co-founder/Partner, Venture Valuation (evaluation/appraisal of high-tech startups for investors); focus: life sciences. www.venturevaluation.com

Balz Roth, Zurich. Business angel; on man-agement team of Go-Beyond business angels network. www.go-beyond.biz

S Faris Sabeti, Vice President, CTI; Manager, CTI Start-up/CTI Entrepreneurship; co-founder/Partner, Blue Ocean Ventures. www.kti.admin.ch

Beat Schillig, St. Gallen. Business angel; Managing Partner, IFJ Institut für Jung-unternehmen. www.ifj.ch

Christian Schütz, St. Gallen. Partner/Member of the Board, b-to-v Partners business angels network; jury member, venture leaders. www.b-to-v.com

Florian Schweitzer, St. Gallen. Co-founder/Partner, b-to-v Partners business angels net-work; Board of Directors, SECA (Swiss Private Equity & Corporate Finance Association). www.b-to-v.com

Michael Sidler, Zurich. Business angel; General Partner, Redalpine Venture Partners; Partner, Intro International; coach at CTI Start-up. www.redalpine.com

Philippe Steiert, Alpnach Dorf. Manager, CSEM (Centre Suisse d’Electronique et Microtechnique), Central Switzerland. www.csem.ch

Pierre Strübin, Plan-les-Ouates. Technical Director, FONGIT/Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, Fongit Seed Invest. www.fongit.ch, www.fongitseedinvest.ch

V Paul-André Vogel, Sion. Member of Executive Board, CimArk startup support network; coach at CTI Start-up. www.cimark.ch

Pascale Vonmont, Basel. Associate Chief Executive, Gebert Rüf Foundation; Delegate to the Strategy Board, venture kick; jury member, venture leaders; jury member, SEF-Swiss (Swiss Social Entrepreneurship Foundation). www.grstiftung.ch

Jean-Pierre Vuilleumier, Zurich. Managing Director, CTI Invest; CEO, W. A. de Vigier Foundation; coach at CTI Start-up; trainer at venturelab. www.cti-invest.ch

W Rémi Walbaum, Bussigny. Founder/co-founder of numerous startups, e. g. LeShop.ch/Fleur de Pains; trainer at venturelab. http://info.leshop.ch

Josef Walker, Chur. Manager, Entrepreneurial Management Program, University of Applied Sciences of Eastern Switzerland HTW Chur; expert at CTI; E-Tower (Technical Advisory Board for Entrepreneurs in Eastern Switzer-land); Band of Angels. www.fh-htwchur.ch

Alfred Waser, Windisch. CEO, Technopark Aar-gau Support Foundation; co-founder, IG Clean-tech Aargau. www.technopark-aargau.ch

Christian Wenger, Zurich. Partner, Wenger & Vieli, Corporate and Commercial Law; focus: private equity/venture capital/M & A; business angel; Member of the Board, SECA (Swiss Pri-vate Equity & Corporate Finance Association); President, CTI Invest. www.wengervieli.ch

Z Björn Zern, Zurich. Department Manager, Swiss Equity at NZZ; Chief Editor, SwissEquity Magazine. www.se-medien.ch

Jürg Zürcher, Zurich. Partner/Biotechnology Leader EMEIA (Europe, Middle East, India and Africa), Ernst & Young. www.ey.com


University students and staff members are increasingly starting their own companies. The ETH Zurich alone has produced more than 130 spin-offs over the past ten years. This success is based on a 4-step process that has become established for assisting startups, and it covers everything seamlessly from the initial business idea to the expansion phase. Most of the Top 100 companies in 2011 have gone through this process. It not only delivers the blueprint for building up a company but also provides a structure for the support environment. In collaboration with private and public partners, a modular set of services has emerged; it’s transparent at every level and covers the transfer of know-how, providing advice about running a startup and financial services.

Four steps to an international break t

From research to a business idea

Particularly in the high-tech sector, most business ideas emerge from research labs at universities and technical colleges because these are breeding grounds for innovation. Special support programs send representatives there to seek out future entrepreneurs, who also shouldn’t be shy about having an initial discussion with the technolo-gy-transfer office at their respective institutions of higher learning.

The motto “from the lab to the market” is being re- peated at almost every one of these institutions in Switzer-land. These schools offer special entrepreneurship lec-tures and training modules for future CEOs. Students can also get additional insight into the world of business through the “venture ideas” courses that are part of the training program at venturelab, which is operated by the Swiss Federal Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI) (www.kti.admin.ch). In addition, with the first phase of its business plan competition, an organization called venture (www.venture.ch) also addresses how to develop a convincing business idea.

As in the high-tech area particularly considerable development work must be done up to completion of a prototype, private foundations provide direct support for applied research projects; for example, the Gebert Rüf Foundation (www.grstiftung.ch).

Meanwhile, the media have also discovered the poten-tial offered by collaboration between technology and busi-ness. Looking for proof that the entrepreneurial and start-up scene is alive and well? Check out Internet blogs such as www.startwerk.ch and www.inno-swiss.com, as well as platforms like www.gruenden.ch, www.ifj.ch or www.startupticker.ch.

From a business idea to a business plan

The business plan is the actual plan of action and is therefore the blueprint for starting and expanding a com-pany. A good business plan factors in the tips and sugges-tions from sector insiders and from experts in various areas areas of specialization, in particular those dealing with financing.

All related support organizations also rely on these individuals from technology and business, who appear at entrepreneurship lectures at the various institutions of higher learning.

During this phase, CTI ’s venturelab training program (www.venturelab.ch) also offers special courses entitled “venture plan” and “venture challenge.” Teams of compa-ny founders receive additional support in putting togeth-er a business plan through their participation in the busi-ness plan competition run by venture (www.venture.ch) and in the startup competition at the IMD (www.imd.org) school of management in Lausanne.

The second phase also addresses working with tech-nology transfer offices to clarify the situation with patent rights. This is also the right time to make the public a bit more aware of the project. The venture kick initiative (www.venturekick.ch), which is financed by private foun-dations, provides the perfect opportunity for this. Here, company founders can get seed capital as well as present their project to experts, business angels and venture cap-italists, and the budding entrepreneurs get well prepared for these activities at what are known as “kicker camps.”

Further valuable assistance in the form of business plan software can be found on the web sites of many banks.

Step 1 Step 2


eak through

From the business plan to founding the company

The most important point that must now be addressed is startup financing. Especially when it concerns a high-tech project, bootstrap financing and tapping personal resources such as family, friends and acquaintances no longer suffices. In this phase, the CTI innovation agency has assumed a central role. Through its project promotion program, it co-finances further development or the creation of a prototype. At the same time, through its startup initiative, CTI offers a coaching process that lasts several months (see page 39). Further, technoparks (www.technopark-allianz.ch), business incubators, entrepreneurship centers (www.swissparks.ch) and even private initiatives offer support and coaching.

Company founders find the seed capital needed dur-ing the inception phase through financing programs with business angels, as well as through innovation and startup financing provided by various banking institu-tions. To find appropriate contacts, entrepreneurs attend events conducted by CTI-Invest (www.cti-invest.ch). Pri-vate foundations are also active here; for example, the Schweizerische Volkswirtschaftsstiftung (Swiss Econom-ic Foundation, www.volkswirtschaft-stiftung.ch) issues repayable loans of up to CHF150,000.

When the prospects of success are good, a healthy injection of funds can be obtained from venture kick (www.venturekick.ch); every project presented there has the chance of receiving a grant of up to CHF130,000.

From founding the company to expansion

Without additional growth capital, newly formed high-tech firms are generally not in a position to get their pro-ducts or services to market. To address this issue, CTI, on the basis of a public-private partnership with the Swiss Private Equity & Corporate Finance Association (SECA), has started the CTI Invest initiative. Startups introduce themselves here to individual investors and investment companies from Switzerland and abroad.

Specialized funds also play a central role here. These include funds from organizations such as Venture Incuba-tor, Redalpine and Brains-to-Ventures, as well as business angel clubs like the StartAngels Network, Go Beyond, Busi-ness Angel Switzerland, etc.

Another aspect conducive to a successful launch is when a new company can point out it has won one of the highly respected entrepreneur awards. A few examples are Entrepreneur of the Year from Ernst & Young (www.ey.com), the W. A. de Vigier Prize (www.devigier.ch), the Swiss Economic Award (www.swisseconomic) and the Technology Award (www.swisstechnology-award.ch).

In the expansion phase, no top startup can get around the need to stake its presence in target markets abroad. For this, swissnex (www.swissnex.ch) – which operates un-der the auspices of the Swiss government and is responsi-ble for bilateral collaboration on innovation in Asia, India and the US – offers innovation meetings and presenta-tions at its Swiss offices. Another way to make connections with potential partners abroad is through OSEC (www.osec.ch), the Swiss export promotional agency, which is present in all markets and also organizes joint exhibitions at trade shows.

Step 3 Step 4

All the contacts for these groups, from A to Z, are on www.startup.ch.

Top 100 Support Landscape

CTI Invest The Swiss Venture Platform


TOP 100 CTI Support

“The CTI projects were and are a great help to us,” comments Mark Blum from Optotune, the #1 among the Swiss start-ups. He’s in good company. A great deal of the companies in the Top 100 list have prof-ited from the services offered by this inno-vations agency. The founders of Dacuda, for instance – #2 on the list – would prob-ably never have met each other without the venturelab courses that are part of the CTI Entrepreneurship program. In addition, most of the companies bear the CTI Start-up Label and were supported by experi-enced CTI coaches.

With the services it offers, CTI supports company founders from the initial concept through to continuous innovation projects for an established company. This support is based on three pillars:

■ CTI EntrepreneurshipThe focus here is on awareness and train-ing courses conducted under the venture-lab name. The awareness portion is target-ed primarily at university students and staff members. The subsequent training pro-gram is also open to others, such as experi-enced professionals who want to branch out on their own. The services range from joint work on a business concept to assis-tance in writing a professional business plan and to practicing presentation skills for meetings with investors.

■ CTI Start-upAmbitious entrepreneurs are supported with coaching that takes place as part of CTI Start-up. The process begins with a fun-damental review of the business concept. If this hurdle is overcome, what follows is a four to six-week evaluation at the end of which a committee of independent experts conducts a review in what is known as “coaching acceptance.” If they reach a pos-itive decision, the applicant is entitled to business coaching from a CTI coach that,

depending on the needs, lasts from six months to two years. At the end of this coaching phase, the entrepreneur’s project earns the label “CTI Certifi ed,” which is in-tended to help the company when it starts looking for capital.

CTI Start-up’s most important assets are the approximately 50 experts who take an active part in supporting the budding companies as coaches and mentors. They ’ve all worked at least once at the up-per management level during the develop-ment of a startup, have experience in crisis management and can access a dense net-work of national and international contacts in their industry sectors.

■ Project promotionTurning knowledge into money is the ulti-mate goal when it comes to project fi nanc-ing. A CTI project is always set up as a part-nership between a company and a research institute recognized by CTI, with CTI as-suming the costs of the academic partner in an amount of up to 50 percent of the overall budget. CTI operates according to the bottom-up principle. That means that no preconditions are placed on the topic or

research policy; projects dealing with ap-plied research from all industrial sectors and disciplines are welcome.

Each proposed project is vetted for two key criteria: what it offers in terms of new scientifi c or technological advances, and the innovation’s economic potential. The projects are approved by an expert commit-tee within just a few weeks.

■ CTI InvestThis public-private partnership is the con-tact platform for entrepreneurs and inves-tors. Extremely promising startups can in-troduce themselves to venture capitalists and business angels at regularly scheduled events.

The services provided by CTI have pro-ven themselves over the years, but there are constantly new angles. At the end of August, for instance, the fi rst innovation voucher was issued to a company that wanted to start an innovation project. With the voucher in hand, that company can now begin looking for the academic re-search partner of its choice, and while doing so, receive support from CTI experts. A review of the list of top startups makes it clear that this recent addition is also inter-esting for entrepreneurs: Federal Councilor Schneider-Ammann handed over one of the fi rst three vouchers to Michael Sauter of compliant concept (#73).

The complete package for entrepreneursUsing leading-edge technology to swiftly build an internationally successful company – that’s the task facing Swiss entrepre-neurs. The Swiss Federal Commission for Technology and Inno-vation (CTI) supports them in achieving this goal with a process that is unique in Europe.

C T I S U P P O R T P R O C E S S

Project promotion

Venturelab Start-up Coaching

CTI Invest

“A great deal of the Top 100 startups have taken advantage of CTI’s services”


Daniel Borel, born in 1950, founded Logitech in 1981 with two colleagues. What started on a farm in the small village of Apples in the canton of Vaud is now the world market leader in personal computer peri-pherals, with approximately 11,000 employees and revenues of USD 2.4 billion. Borel, who served 12 years as CEO, is currently Chair-man of the Board of Directors.

Startups – the seeds of tomorrow’s growth

“Our future is riding on the skill and talent of Swiss entrepreneurs”

Whenever I hear the word

“startup”, I immediately think

of “Silicon Valley ”. An emble-

matic and mythical place. Some 100 square

kilometers. The birthplace of so many

startups. Apple, ebay, Yahoo, Google,

Facebook, Paypal, Twitter, Groupon, to

name some of the most visible one; all

started there. Today, the market capitaliza-

tion of these companies is sky high. In

some 30 years for the oldest ones, and less

than a decade for the youngest ones, they

have become true engines of growth,

employment and … fun. They have chan-

ged the way we live, work, learn, enter-

tain and communicate. They have develo-

ped a worldwide reach and attract the

most creative and brilliant minds around

the world. Not bad, considering that they

were born in a “garage”!

In a unique way, Silicon Valley has mana-

ged to create an eco-system in which seeds

can thrive. But what truly makes it so

special is its spirit. It is the dream shared

by so many young and less young people;

it is the desire to “be part of it”; the passion

to invent the future.

At the root of everything, a bunch of young

entrepreneurs ready to take on the world

and make their dream come true. Money

is not the driving force. Because money will

never compensate the seven-day weeks,

sleepless nights, periods of doubt and

questioning. Passion is the true motiva-

tion. If success is at the “rendezvous”,

which is not always the case, it will be a

nice plus. But most defi nitely, the journey

is the reward.

In Switzerland, we have plenty of very

talented and well educated young people.

But relatively few entrepreneurs. And too

few startups yet that go beyond the devel-

opment of a small local cluster, and make it

in a meaningful way on the international

scene. Why is that? Conditions are not

worse than anywhere else. Money is

available for good ideas and teams. And

thanks to the internet, the world has never

been more open. A desk, a computer

and a high bandwidth line are all what is

needed to become a worldwide company.

As new fi elds are developing – nanotech-

nology and biotechnology for instance –

and there is still plenty of room to do great

things in more chartered territories, I am

very happy to see new “Swiss” young

entrepreneurs taking up the challenge. In

a meaningful way, they contribute to the

broadening of our “industrial” landscape

and create high value added and exciting

jobs.

Our future depends heavily on their ability

to dream up and develop the engines of

to-morrow’s growth, which are so neces-

sary to maintain our privileged and high

standard of living.

Daniel Borel

“

”

TOP 100 ColumnB

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You can now fi nd the best Swiss start-ups 2011 on startup.ch, the internet platform for innovative companies and investors, incl. the TOP 100, many videos and other infos. Register today and get infected by the start-up groove. Here is where the who’s who of the Swiss start-up scene is listed. Besides, it‘s from here that the next TOP 100 for 2012 get nominated.

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