Algomia: The Sword Startup Challenge finalist improving crew scheduling

16.04.2025 16:00, Rita Longobardi

Meet Alexander Souza, Founder of Algomia. The ICT startup develops AI-powered crew scheduling software for mass transport operators. Alex is one of the 5 finalists of the Sword Startup Challenge, competing for 500 hours of consulting services, tailored development support from Sword’s Swiss and international IT specialists, and a 12-month commercial follow-up.

Sword Group, a global technology transformation company, has partnered with Venturelab to launch the Sword Startup Challenge, an annual program designed to support startups in developing innovative technologies. The initiative reflects a shared dedication to helping startups grow and succeed in Switzerland’s competitive ecosystem.

Name: Alexander Souza
Location: Aarau
Nationality: German
Graduated from: TU München, ETH Zürich, HU Berlin
Job title: Founder & CEO
Number of employees: 2 
Funding raised to date: 0

Who benefits from your product or solution, and in what way?
Algomia tackles resource optimization and decision-making challenges in industries like transportation, healthcare, and entertainment. Its AI-driven solution automates scheduling and resource allocation, reducing manual planning, optimizing resource use, and delivering cost savings. Using sophisticated algorithms, Algomia offers customizable, API-driven solutions to optimize operations while ensuring accuracy and flexibility across various industries.

What market are you targeting, and what opportunities do you see for your startup in that space?
We target the Workforce Optimization market. According to Spherical Insights, it has a large volume as the market size was valued at USD 8.25 billion in 2023. The market size is growing at a CAGR of 10.53% from 2023 to 2033. The worldwide Workforce Optimization market size is expected to reach USD 22.45 billion by 2033. The market is fragmented, and a lot of diverse customers have their scheduling challenges. Algomia's unique principal approach is to find solution partners, where Algomia’s API-based optimizer can be integrated with. This is in sharp contrast to the usual approach, in which specific scheduling systems are developed and end-customers are sought.

What are some key milestones or accomplishments your team has reached so far?
Our customer - a top-tier national passenger rail company - wants to organize all its 20,000+ daily train legs into as few shifts as possible for its 50+ crew depots. Of course, shift consistencies, labor rules, crew qualifications, etc., must be fulfilled. Creating a planning solution manually means a multi-month effort by a dedicated team. We created a Decision AI model with 1.3+ billion variables (yes, billions, not millions). All of the required constraints are captured. Our AI algorithms solve the model within only 43h of compute time with a provable optimality guarantee of 1.9%. All that happens is not with specialized AI chips, but with community hardware. Our Decision AI algorithm reduces the overall FTE count by an undisclosed, but significant amount, translating to a substantial savings potential.

What do you expect from the Sword Startup Challenge, and how do you see it contributing to your company’s development?
We hope to find access to and close enterprise customers that have resource allocation or scheduling challenges, where Algomia's technology can be deployed and scaled. The Sword consultancy package could be used to advise on Algomia's positioning towards mid-market or enterprise-level customers concerning sales.

In what ways does Switzerland present an opportunity for your business?
Switzerland is one of the most innovative countries in the world, with a broad base of technology-affine industry customers. Success in Switzerland can be used as proof of quality to attract international customers. In addition, the education is very good, which allows us to hire staff with the right skills in computer science, algorithms, and mathematics. Also, the taxes are attractive.