These are Swiss startup stars under 30.

class=”sc-97fd9fa8-0 jNFKxv”>

Young people are full of ideas and have the persuasion, talent and luck to raise the money necessary to bring their ideas to life. This is how you can define young entrepreneurs on the “30 under 30” list published every year by the famous economy magazine Forbes.

Forbes decides based on candidates from the public. Applicants must be under 30 years old – the award is awarded only once.

Switzerland is officially represented 10 times this year. However, the connection with Switzerland is not always obvious. Blick presents the top winners in alphabetical order.

HSG graduate enables companies to transform their waste into new raw materials. This reduces the ecological footprint. In particular, Zufikon AG-based SmartBreed installs insect breeding systems where organic insect waste is recycled on site. The insects can then be used as high protein feed and fertilizer. The company, which also appeared in the TV series “Die Höhle der Löwen Schweiz”, has received 2.2 million francs of investment money to date.

The Ghanaian co-founded Kwame AI with his colleague Victor Kumbol and a PhD student in applied machine learning at ETH Zurich for nearly five years. It offers an AI-powered teaching assistant that can be installed on smartphones, speaking English and French. This should enable people everywhere and especially in Africa to learn basic computer science in a simple way.

Valaisian of Crans-Montana has acquired 12 e-commerce companies with the Audacia Group since 2018. These are integrated into the group; Audacia acts as a center of excellence in technology, e-commerce and digital marketing. Despite hiring difficulties, Bonvin employs more than 50 people and generated sales of approximately 70 million francs in 2022.

Together with Mark Zahran and Stefano Augstburger at ETH Zurich, Bosshard designed the Zurich-based company Yasai AG. This makes “vertical farming” in large halls: Thanks to the stacked structure and 24/7 operation, it greatly increases productivity during planting, and thanks to circular systems, water consumption is reduced by 90 percent. Practically no pesticides are used. Yasai composts production waste and uses the waste heat from the facility to heat the hall. The startup has already raised CHF 9 million in investment money and has partnered with ETH, Innosuisse, Agroscope, Fenaco and others.

Assil Dayri is a Swiss-Libyan dual national who was educated, among other things, at the Glion hotel management school above Montreux VD. With the AMD Consulting Group, which he founded and manages in London, he provides support to companies and brands in customer acquisition and market entry. AMD Consulting currently has 21 employees and well-known names like Xbox or Bytedance in its customer base.

David Gorgan is an HSG graduate and has been active in the startup scene for some time. Today, he is the CEO of Berlin-based Nostos Genomics. Founded in 2018, the company is undertaking AI-driven detection of hereditary diseases. For example, it supports hospitals in interpreting the results of genetic tests more quickly. Nostos has already raised €5m in a so-called seed funding round.

The HWZ graduate founded Scrypt Digital in Zurich with fellow student Norman Wooding in 2018. It works as a broker and trading platform for cryptocurrencies. At the height of the crypto boom, the two managed over $1 billion in assets at their companies.

At least one more woman! The northern Italian holds a PhD in neuroengineering at ETH Zurich and is the co-founder and CEO of MyLeg. This company uses artificial intelligence to develop methods of measuring pain and sensation for amputees and patients with nerve damage. It is currently working to commercialize a wearable technology that artificially restores the sense of touch. MyLeg was already successful at the Swiss Innovation Challenge 2021.

Mentions

If you load the Forbes list with the “Switzerland” filter, you will see two more names. About Thomas Bohner (28), co-founder of Credix. Based in Antwerp (Belgium), the company issues fintech loans in Latin America. Despite the seemingly Swiss name, Blick, upon closer inspection, could not see any connection between Bohner and Switzerland.

The situation is similar for Ed Gaussen, 28, who was the only “Swiss” name on the “30 North America under 30” list. But the Canadian only graduated from the Institut Le Rosey in Rolle VD. His New York-based company, Mantra Health, provides a mental health services platform primarily for college students and has already raised $27.7 million in investment money.

Source :Blick