TOP100 2015: The 100 best Swiss startups
22.09.2015
(17.09.2015) According to global innovation rankings, Switzerland is recognized as a true innovation champion worldwide. After the "TOP100 Swiss Startup Award" gala in Lausanne on September 16th, 2015, the audience knows why. Startups which are based on high level research from internationally renowned Swiss universities catch the attention of worldwide industry leaders. Not surprising that the U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland in Bern Suzan LeVine was also present to discover this year’s best 100 Swiss startups chosen for the fifth time by 100 Swiss innovation experts. Discover the 100 best startups of Switzerland now.
 Switzerland's Nr. 1 startup L.E.S.S. shall bring the age of LED to an end.
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 The allergy test of Nr. 2 startup Abionic is ready to shake up a market worth billions.
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 It can fly, roll, save lives and won the latest 1 Million Drones for Goods Award in Dubai: Gimball, the drone of Nr. 3 startup Flyability.
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100 experts, 1 word: instinct
Since 2011, 100 experts choose their 10 favorite Swiss startups. Many of those experts are investors. They count on their instinct to pick the young companies with the best success potential. There is only one condition: The startups must be younger than 5 years (a startup created in 2010 cannot be part of the TOP100 ranking anymore). And the reliability of the experts has been proven: 90 of the 100 startups nominated in the TOP100 of 2011 are still active. 14 of them have succeeded in making their exit such as Covagen acquired by Johnson & Johnson for CHF 220 Million. Or Composyt Light Labs and Lemoptix by Intel. Moreover, TOP100 startups could close financial rounds worth millions, such as the Nr. 1 Swiss startup of 2014 and leading supplier of organotypic, biological in vitro 3D microtissues for highly predictive drug testing InSphero, who raised CHF 20 Million in June.
And the winners are: Better light, faster allergy tests and a drone
This year, the first place of the TOP100 Swiss Startups goes to the cleantech startup L.E.S.S. Their entirely new lighting technology (called ‘Light Efficient SystemS’, or L.E.S.S. for short) is in many respects far superior to the LED lights that have supplanted conventional light bulbs in the market. If the startup prevails, it might spell lights out for LED lighting before too long. The second place goes to Abionic and their revolutionary allergy test, the first in the world capable of providing results directly at doctor’s office and pharmacies. The third place is attributed to a newcomer in the TOP100 this year and a flagship of Swiss flying robotics: Flyability. Their drone “Gimball” can fly in difficult environments, such as for inspection or rescue, while remaining stable and without danger for humans.
The best out of 100‘000 startups
Most of the TOP100 2015 startups come from the high tech domains of ICT, Life Sciences or Nanotechnology. They are not all based in Lausanne or Zurich (mainly as the Technical universities EPF Lausanne and ETH Zurich spin-offs). Some young companies come from different Swiss economical hubs, such as Polyneuron Pharmaceuticals from the Life Science cluster Basel (rank 39). The ranking also carries an innovative jeans producer, a urban farms maker, a fine crop analyst or a Fintech startup that takes away the pain of managing one's financial life.
The TOP10 Swiss startups at a glance
1. L.E.S.S. (cleantech)
2. Abionic (medical technology)
3. Flyability (electronics, robotics)
4. Bcomp (cleantech)
5. Sophia Genetics (Biotech)
6. Knip (Fintech)
7. TrekkSoft (ICT)
8. Qualysense (mechanics, electronics)
9. Glycemicon (Biotech)
10. Lunaphore (Medtech)
>> Get to know Switzerland’s TOP100 startups and follow their evolution on startup.ch, the platform for Swiss startups.
More about the TOP100
A hundred experts with in-depth knowledge of the startup scene have had their say. Most are involved as business angels or venture capital investors, or otherwise deal with startups on a daily basis. Each expert was allowed to propose 10 top startups with the greatest business potential, awarding 10 points to their top selection and one point to the last. The companies with the most points made it into the 2015 TOP 100 Swiss startups. Beat Schillig and Jordi Montserrat from the IFJ Institute for Young Entrepreneurs created the ranking in 2011. Starting in 2004 with the venturelab training program, they have trained and analyzed thousands of startups. Since 2007, the two have been in charge of the Venture Kick initiative, which has already provided CHF 16 million in seed capital from private foundations to around 390 spin-offs from Swiss universities. Lucerne-based Journalistenbüro Niedermann also helped to establish the ranking. The project is supported conceptually and financially by the Gebert Rüf Foundation and the Swiss Private Equity & Corporate Finance Association (SECA). Handelszeitung is the longstanding media partner for German-speaking Switzerland, while PME Magazine is the media partner for the French edition.
The Swiss magazines PME Magazine and Handelszeitung covered the TOP100 2015 with a special edition available here (German, French and English).
The TOP100 2015 Swiss Startups at a glance
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Contact
Lara Rossi, media and communcations, venturelab
lara.rossi@venturelab.ch
Pictures (please use the copyright ©PME Magazine&startup.ch)
Picture 1: Jordi Montserrat, Managing director venturelab, the U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland in Bern Suzan LeVine and Philippe Leuba, Minister of Economy of the Canton Vaud.
Picture 2: Switzerland's Nr. 1 startup L.E.S.S.
Picture 3: On rank Nr. 2, Abionic
Picture 4: The flying robotics of Flyability on rank 3