Three Venture Kick startups on the radar of Silicon Valley investors

Over the past 16 years, the venture leaders program has been a cornerstone behind the success of more than 300 Swiss startups, some at a global scale such as the Venture Kick startup Mindmaze, a leader in virtual reality today who raised USD 100 million in 2016.

The venture leaders alumni’s list counts startups acquired by Intel, Apple or Logitech. Described as a “flagship program for Swiss startups”, venture leaders brings Swiss startup teams to Silicon Valley (Technology), Boston (Life Science), New York (Fintech), Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong (venture leaders China) every year. It has helped hundreds of CEOs to strengthen their vision and achieve success at a global scale. 

The Venture Kick startups going to Silicon Valley at a glance: 



CatchEye, Claudia Plüss (software, ETH Zurich) catch-eye.com
The 2016 Venture Kick startup CatchEye develops algorithms and a software to improve communication in video calls. The CatchEye software plugs into existing video call systems like Skype or Google Hangouts. It enables eye contact and removes distractions from the video feed. This enhances the video call experience and helps users to build trust and develop more personal relationships over video. 



Insolight, Laurent Coulot (cleantech, EPF Lausanne) insolight.ch
Over the past decade, the solar panels’ market has boomed. However, conventional silicon panels still lack efficiency and the return on investment for end users is limited. The 2016 Venture Kick winner Insolight developed a flat optical panel that directs sunrays on smaller and highly efficient solar cells, which are normally used in satellites. The technology can produce twice as much electricity for the same surface area than conventional panels. The yield (the quantity of electricity produced from the light energy received) of Insolight’s first prototype is of 36%, which could be considered as a world record, while solutions currently available on the market offer throughput of only around 18-20%.

TasteHit, Alexei Kounine (software, EPF Lausanne) tastehit.com
In order to stay competitive, online shops need to better attract, engage and convert their visitors using data-science and automation. Giants like Amazon or Zalando have entire teams developing these technologies in-house. Unfortunately, hiring data scientists and developers to build such features involve high costs and long development times which very few shops can afford (among millions of existing online shops). The 2016 Venture Kick startup TasteHit is a Software-as-a-Service user engagement platform for modernizing existing online shops. It provides online merchants with a suite of data-driven user experience tools to increase the performance of their shops. It is installed in 10 minutes by any non-technical person and increases the shop’s conversion rate by up to 20%. TasteHit's customers include niche retailers, specialized marketplaces and famous fashion brands.