Switzerland is a world champion in innovation, and this has a lot to do with its dynamic start-up scene. Each year, a jury from the TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award selects the 100 most innovative and promising start-ups. Its goal is to obtain a representative overview of the most promising start-ups in Switzerland. The 100 best start-ups of 2016 were announced on Wednesday.
A Zurich start-up was among the best three start-ups, with Knip AG winning bronze. The start-up is working towards the digital transformation of the insurance sector by providing a digital insurance manager for mobile telephones in Switzerland Germany.
Start-ups from Zurich could be found throughout the entire ranking. And if the ranking is broken down by canton, then companies from the canton of Zurich were represented most. A breakdown of sectors reveals that the highest number of start-ups in the ranking come from the digital industry, showing that Swiss entrepreneurs are focused firmly on the trends of the future markets. Start-ups in the ranking also come from big data, fintech, the Internet of Things (IoT), sustainable mobility and digitisation of the corporate world.
From the greater Zurich region, eqippo AG, headquartered in Zug, and NEEO AG, headquartered in Solothurn, are among the most promising start-ups in Switzerland. First place this year went to the Lausanne start-up L.E.S.S., with its energy-saving light sources that are thinner than a human hair. In second place is the Fribourg start-up Bcomp, which develops ultra lightweight natural fibre reinforced materials.
The TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award was launched in 2011. Its partners include the Institut für Jungunternehmen, venturelab, the Lucerne press office Niedermann, the Gebert Rüf Stiftung, the Swiss Private Equity & Corporate Finance Association (SECA), the business newspaper the Handelszeitung and PME Magazine.