The TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award picks the most promising startups in Switzerland and brings them to the attention of international investors. For startups, this can open the door to financing.
This year saw 41 Swiss firms make it onto the TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award list for the first time, and at the Award Night on September 6 they were able to showcase themselves to the investor community. A place in the rankings provides a great opportunity for companies seeking capital, because it confirms that they have tremendous potential in the market place.
Startups cannot put themselves forward: Only those that attract the attention of investors and are nominated have an opportunity to be included in the rankings. A prerequisite is that companies are less than five years old. Investors choose their top 100 out of all 100,000 new firms set up over the last five years. A company can theoretically appear in the list up to five times before being eliminated again due to age. "However, there is no such thing as automatic participation for firms that are already on the list," says Stefan Steiner, Co-Managing Director of Venturelab and organizer of the event. "Year after year the startups need to reconvince the 100 members of the jury."
1st place: HAYA Therapeutics develops precision drugs. The lead candidate for cardiac fibrosis is currently in the preclinical phase.
2nd place: Planted Foods – the Zurich startup is revolutionizing the food industry by producing plant proteins from 100% animal-free ingredients.
3rd place: Yokoy Group – the fintech startup offers expenses and expenditure management for medium-sized and large companies.
The TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award has existed since 2011. Since then, the event has become bigger and attracted international attention. The prize-winning start-ups have accumulated a total of 12.7 billion Swiss francs in investor capital and have already created 17,955 jobs. This has not escaped the attention of international investors from Silicon Valley, Boston, and China, who attend the TOP 100 Swiss Investor Summit in order to invest in the most promising startups.
As well as an investor vote there has also been a public vote for the last five years. This too can be a door opener for startups. Fact is, they become familiar to potential future customers. "That's exciting for all those startups that are not primarily on the hunt for capital," says Stefan Steiner. This year, ten startups – one startup per sector – were selected.
Number of start-ups that have reached the top 100
Number of start-ups that have gone public
Number of jobs created
Capital raised
Credit Suisse has supported the TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award as partner. It also organizes regional events with selected start-ups and acts as an intermediary with investors. Through Credit Suisse Entrepreneur Capital Ltd., it also invests in promising Swiss start-ups itself. As the Bank for Entrepreneurs, Credit Suisse helps young companies with incorporation and offers them appropriate banking solutions.
Major international interest in the event shows that the Swiss startup scene can easily compete with Silicon Valley and others. "We have no reason to hide," says Stefan Steiner. Quality levels are high on the technical front in particular, thanks to ETH Zurich and EPFL Lausanne. The startups from these institutions are much in demand, and have often been acquired by tech giants such as Apple and Facebook.
The innovative skills of young Swiss entrepreneurs are also on show in other sectors. Among this year's TOP 100 startups are firms in the healthcare, biotechnology, medical technology, cleantech, drones, and fintech sectors. Although startups from Zurich and Lausanne are well represented, entrepreneurs from the whole of Switzerland also feature on the list.