4 Proof of Concept developments at the Swiss Prime Site Start-up Accelerator Programme in Energy and Circular Economy

14.12.2020 14:50, Lara Fritschi

We all know it – CO2 reduction is a global goal and Swiss Prime Site, Switzerland’s leading Real Estate company has put forward an ambitious CO2 reduction pathway that will live up to the 2050 climate goals by the Swiss Federal Council. To achieve this, the Swiss Prime Site Start-up Accelerator Programme has selected 4 promising projects to leverage innovative solutions in the energy and circular economy industry.

Last week, the 12th Swiss Prime Site Start-up Accelerator Programme with a focus on Energy and Circular Economy took place. With technology changing the way every industry does business, it is no surprise that it can be leveraged as well to help companies like Swiss Prime Site to reduce their CO2 output and achieve their long-term and ambitious sustainability goals. 

Out of over 60 applications, the jury selected a total of 9 Startups from Switzerland, Germany,Austria and the Netherlands to pitch their innovative solutions to a panel composed of business experts from Swiss Prime Site and its group companies Wincasa, Jelmoli and Swiss Prime Site Solutions. Moreover, the jury and startups received valuable input by Professor Adrian Altenburger, Co-Head of the Institute of Building Technology and Energy at Hochschule Luzern and Advisory Board Member of ETH Zurich Integrated Building Systems: The global trends of decarbonization, decentralization and digitalization create the economic framework conditions for a systemically sustainable building stock. Decentralized structures do not replace central elements but complement them to form an overall system that is also economically stable with an increased storage primacy.



Out of the 9 startups, the jury chose four finalists who were given the opportunity to pitch a joint business case to the Swiss Prime Site group’s management on Day 2 of the Programme. Not only Swiss Prime Site was convinced but also the startups:

«The 2-days accelerator workshop truly holds what it promises: A pitch in front of the executive board within 2 days. That’s acceleration with an invaluable connection between startups and people in the corporate world with real decision power. It offers a framework for the development of your specific proof of Concept to push forward the entire business development. Thanks Venturelab and Swiss Prime Site!» Dominik Schnarwiler, Co-Founder and COO, Green-Y

«The Swiss Prime Site Workshop organized by Venturelab has been of great value to YASAI to connect with the right stakeholders to form potential strategic partnerships. The connections we made within the last two days will accelerate scaling Vertical Farming within Switzerland. We are grateful to have been able to work with such highly dynamic and performance driven experts from both Venturelab and Swiss Prime Site! Thank you very much!» Mark E. Zahran, Co-Founder and CEO, YASAI

Each of the four startups brought their unique products and services to the table, from vertical farming, clean and efficient energy storage systems, billing systems for sustainable smart buildings to cloud platform solutions for smart buildings:

YASAI AG: Vertical farming solutions with 90% less water consumption 
Ormera AG: Simple billing platform for sustainable smart buildings
Green-Y AG: One decentralized device integrating renewable energy on a large scale
BuildingMinds GmbH: Smart buildings through a cloud platform

«We are constantly looking for innovations that will enable us to achieve our 2050 net-zero target under our own efforts in our core business activities and without buying CO2 certificates. This twelfth Accelerator Program was another important piece of the puzzle for this goal, which is unique in the Swiss real estate industry.» Bastian Zarske Bueno, Head Group Corporate Ventures & Innovation

Check out the video from the workshop and stay tuned for the next Swiss Prime Site Start-up Accelerator Programmes in 2021: