Dear reader
If anything justifies optimism about the Swiss start-up ecosystem, it is the numerous and diverse young technology companies that are able to attract investors. This week we reported on no fewer than eight investments, with most of the financing rounds completed by IT start-ups. HRtech Flowit received CHF 4 million; investors include VI Partners, Daniel Gutenberg and Carsten Maschmeyer’s fund. Proptech start-up Optiml secured almost CHF 3.5 million from an international consortium of specialist investors. A total of CHF 3 million was raised by fintech CrowdTransfer, which has now launched the first crowdfunding campaign for a football club. Biotech company Vandria attracted the most money with USD 10 million at the second closing of its series A financing round.
The high number of financings alone made the week a busy one, but we also reported on all kinds of additional transactions. With its sale to Danaher, Basel-based digital health pioneer Genedata made an exit. Biotech company SunRegen Healthcare, also from the Basel region, announced an IPO through a reverse takeover.
Astrocast, on the other hand, withdrew from the stock exchange in order to once again attract investors that do not invest in public companies. Scandit acquired a Polish start-up’s technology and team in an asset deal, and there were two mergers between Swiss start-ups: Visense and Octotronic, which are active in the field of Industry 4.0, have joined forces, as have TrustRelay and Beyond Civic.
Financing remains difficult and uncertainty is high. The high number of diverse transactions shows that this does not result in less activity, but leads to adjustments and buying and selling opportunities.
I would like to point out an info event next week organised by ESA BIC Switzerland, the Future of Health Grant conference at EPFL and the Open Day at Büro Züri Innovationspark. In addition, the deadlines for two SICTIC Investors Days in Geneva and Zurich are also approaching. The Top 100 Swiss Startup Awards will be presented on 4 September: the event can be followed via livestream, for which registration is now open.
The application windows for other important awards and events will also be closing shortly: the Cyber Startup Challenge, the Tech4Trust programme and BaseLaunch, which is looking for life sciences start-ups that are developing therapeutics. Applications for the Swisstech Pavilion at Slush are accepted until 31 August.
Have a good weekend.
Stefan Kyora
Editor in Chief, Startupticker.ch