Climate change and artificial intelligence are the new trending sectors: These are Switzerland’s top young companies

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Switzerland has long been the most innovative country in the world. At least that’s what the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Global Innovation Index says. No wonder, then, that dozens of new companies pop up in this country each year in all kinds of industries.

Of course, such diligent entrepreneurship also comes in the right order: The Swiss Startup Awards, held at Startup Space in Schlieren ZH on Wednesday, celebrated the year’s most promising young companies.

French-speaking Swiss biotech start-up ranks first

The jury of one hundred start-up investors and experts once again selected the first hundred start-ups no older than five years. Each judge presented a weighted ranking of the ten companies they believed had the greatest commercial potential. According to the organizers, 553 Swiss hi-tech companies were represented in the rankings over the past thirteen years.

Haya Therapeutics, the biotechnology company founded in 2019 and headquartered in Epalinges VD, took first place this year. The startup is developing precision drugs, including a promising RNA therapy for heart fibrosis, hitherto considered incurable. The drug is currently in the preclinical stage where its efficacy is still being tested outside of humans. Haya was ranked eighth in the rankings last year.

Foodtech’s high pilot is on the podium again

In second place there is a repetition: the food manufacturer Planted from Kemptthal ZH obtained silver as in 2022. The ETH subsidiary, also founded four years ago, produces vegan substitutes made from pea protein with no additives. Successful: The company currently operates in six countries and advertises with national goalkeeper Yann Sommer (34) and Swiss freestyle snowboarder Pat Burgener (29).

The podium was completed by the Yokoy Group from Zurich. Last year, it managed to celebrate the fintech start-up as a winner. Yokoy uses artificial intelligence to automate the entire corporate spending and credit card process. Like Haya and Planted, the company was founded in 2019.

According to the award organizers, the three companies have created more than 520 new jobs and raised a total of CHF 237 million since their founding.

Top 10 of the Swiss Startup Awards 2023

New technologies on the rise

Companies in Zurich and Vaud do not concentrate only in the top three: More than two-thirds of the award-winning companies come from one of the two cantons. This is not surprising, given that the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology in Lausanne and Zurich are home to the startup’s two biggest drivers.

Two areas are particularly frequently represented this year: Cleantech, that is, technological solutions to combat climate change and artificial intelligence. While an artificial intelligence company is in the top 3 with Yokoy, it has to be content with seventeen clean technology companies represented in the lower ranks.

In addition to the main category of the top 100 start-ups, companies that are no longer in their infancy also benefit from an assessment: in a separate scale ranking, the 25 start-ups with the highest growth potential were awarded. , those over the age of five, but with a maximum of ten years of experience. The crisis-stricken Zug is filled with fintech and robotics companies like crypto firm Bitcoin Suisse or French-speaking Swiss drone company Flyability. VPN provider Proton was also on the list.

It was also chosen as the favorite of ten start-up audiences in the voting on the social network LinkedIn.

Source :Blick