Swiss Female Entrepreneurs to Watch
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Celebrating International Women’s Day: what we know about women in Swiss entrepreneurship and putting women founders in the spotlight.
Increasing the number of female founders in the high-tech startup scene is a constant preoccupation and objective. The celebration of international’s women day on Sunday is an opportunity to share some numbers on female entrepreneurship in the Swiss startup ecosystem that show the trend is moving upwards, as well as illustrating it with a selection of women entrepreneurs.
“Sharing gender diversity data for the different startup programs Venturelab operates is one way to contribute to the discussions on gender and high-tech entrepreneurship,” said Jordi Montserrat, co-founder and managing partner of Venturelab. “These numbers do not represent an exhaustive study, but provide interesting insights and hopefully motivate more women to embrace this career.”
Reviewing Venturelab’s data we discovered 309 entrepreneurial women in leading roles at Swiss startups. To illustrate the rise of women entrepreneurs, we offer a selection of 61 top female entrepreneurs to watch.
Innosuisse Start-up Training 2019 (15% to 31%)
Starting at the training level. The proportion of women among the 400 entrepreneurs in Innosuisse Start-up Training workshops for business creation and business growth, varied strongly depending on the sector. The data for female participation ranges from 15% in Biotech up to 31% in ICT. Compared to 2018, also more female entrepreneurs attended an Advanced Engineering course. On average, 26% of participants in the Innosuisse Start-up Training were women in 2019 (up from 20% in 2018).
As Innosuisse requires participants to demonstrate their project or company's strong technological, academic or business model-oriented innovation, which usually requires a degree from one of Switzerland’s university or universities of applied sciences, these numbers are probably correlated with the number of women following university courses in the respective fields.
Venture Kick 2019 (47%)
Moving from training to building the company, we find Venture Kick, which provides seed-stage financing to innovative, science-based startups. About a half of spin-off projects that received Venture Kick support in 2019 included women in their team, compared to only a third last year.
TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award 2019 (41%)
Every September a panel of 100 leading investors and startup experts selected the 100 most innovative and promising Swiss startups. Last year four of the top ten startups had women in their founding teams. Overall, teams with women among the founders account for 41 percent of those ranked last year.
Venture Leaders 2019 (34%)
Venture Leaders – who represented our country's most innovative business minds as the Swiss National Startup Team – have been pitching international investors and networking with their global peers at high-level roadshows around the world since 2001. The process requires the startup to choose one team member to represent their company. In 2019, the cumulated number of women selected in Venture Leaders doubled since last year with 22 percent (10 out of 45).
To illustrate the rise of women entrepreneurs, here’s our selection of top female entrepreneurs to watch:
Selina Capol, Martina Hotz, and Aleksandra Iakusheva, co-founders of 5am Games GmbH. The game-makers first product, a multilinear coming of age story told through pen pal letters, encourages players to (re)discover fun with words.
Olga Dubey, CEO of AgroSustain SA. The company is developing and commercializing novel, efficient, plant-inspired treatments against a broad range of plant fungal pathogens for post-harvest applications. The entrepreneur's vision led to her inclusion in Forbes' 30 Under 30 for Europe.
"I never felt underestimated as a woman in the start-up community. The entrepreneurial environment in Switzerland is extremely open and friendly. Indeed, there are more men than women, but I believe this ratio is more linked to the high pressure and insecurity than any other factors. My only concern is that some jury members might sometimes find it confusing to judge a woman entrepreneur, but they have to get used to it! Men and women can each bring something unique to their startups, and I believe that only by working closely with each other can we build strong companies."
Madiha Derouazi, CEO and founder of Amal Therapeutics SA. The developer of a colorectal-cancer vaccine raised 33.2 million francs last year. The vaccines, which stimulate the body's own immune system to kill cancerous cells, result from more than 13 years research by Derouazi.
Lea von Bidder, COO and co-founder of Ava AG. The Zurich, San Francisco and Belgrade-based company, which developed a wristband to accurately track and recognize fertile days, raised $30 million in 2018. Von Bidder, who leads Ava's U.S. business, will become group CEO next year.
Anne Mellano, co-founder of Bestmile SA. The maker of software to manage fleets of vehicles driven by machines or humans, won acceptance for driverless buses among the Swiss public through its 2016 pilot with the country's biggest bus company. Those shuttle-loop services in Sion, Switzerland, have grown to recent trials in Strasbourg, France.
Cristina Rossi, CEO and co-founder of b-rayZ. The imaging specialist is working with radiologists at the University Hospital of Zurich to develop artificial intelligence to make it easier and cheaper to detect abnormalities in breast tissue.
Léa Miggiano, co-founder Carvolution AG. The Swiss car subscription service, which offers vehicle registration, taxes, insurance, maintenance, and tyres for a monthly fee, recently raised investment from Zurich venture capitalists Redalpine.
Fabienne Hartmann-Fritsch, Chief Clinical Officer and co-founder of CUTISS AG. The University of Zurich spin-off that develops personalized skin grafts has raised more than 8 million francs.
Daniela Marino, CEO and co-founder of CUTISS AG. The University of Zurich spin-off that develops personalized skin grafts has raised more than 8 million francs. Marino recalls closing her company's financing round the day after giving birth.
"Being a mother and being a CEO requires the same soft skills. One needs to be organized, find money, entertain and keep the team focused and passionate about the vision, one needs to be a multitasker and a fast decision maker, never lose your cool, never panic and react positively to stress. Having a company is like having three kids for me! It was my decision to bring all three to life, and I am now responsible for making them all three grow and flourish.”
Anna Beltzung, CTO and co-founder of dimpora. The engineer's understanding of polymer synthesis is at the foundation of dimpora's fluorine-free, breathable and waterproof material, which may disrupt the outdoor-wear market that currently uses compounds that are potentially harmful to people.
Eugenia Balysheva, CEO of Dotphoton. The software company, which uses quantum physics to compress image files without distortion, wants its lossless compression software to let research hospitals and biotech labs store and share machine-readable images more easily, and thus enable AI for health. For Balysheva, entrepreneurship is a "huge responsibility, and also a huge joy. It's what drives me – that there's something this important that keeps me awake at night. But it doesn't make me feel tired, it makes me feel very resourceful. I have to bring the resources to the team."
Anne Schmidt, CEO of Elthera. The company is developing a candidate drug to treat several highly malignant tumor types for clinical testing, and planning to internationalize its investor base with a substantial (CHF 40 million) Series A funding round.
Michela Puddu, CEO and co-founder of Haelixa. The chemical engineer's company provides tracer products that can give any solid or fluid a unique fingerprint. Target sectors include the textile and gemstone industries.
Özge Karakas, co-founder of Hi-D Imaging. The ETH engineer is combining advanced scanning, 3D-printing and imaging techniques to find the best type of heart-valve for each individual patient. The technology will reduce complications after-surgery and improves patient recovery and quality of life.
Séverine Chardonnnens, CTO of IDUN Technologies. The bioengineering companies is developing a glueless, skin-friendly adhesion material, inspired by the structure of grasshoppers’ feet, for wearable devices and sensors.
Mélanie Guittet, co-founder of INVOLI building software and hardware to monitor low-altitude air traffic, which will make the sky safe for drones and other airspace users, right down to the ground. The company has already deployed its Micro Control Towers on existing telecom infrastructure across 10,000 square kilometers of Switzerland.
Antonia Bolla, CEO, and Lidia Bolla, co-founders of Jamie & I. Creators of an AI-driven, online stylist that learns shoppers' personal styles to curate outfit recommendations.
Luiza Dobre, co-founder of Komed Health. The software-maker, which already connect doctors and medical staff securely and simply in 29 Swiss hospitals, is preparing to internationalize aggressively. Dobre relishes the challenges of entrepreneurship: "You always live a rollercoaster experience, it's the reality of being an entrepreneur. For example, in the morning you've nailed a very important meeting and you think the world is yours, and by the evening something happens on the product or the customer side and you're thinking 'Oh my god, we're going to hell – we're never going to make it.'"
Aike Festini, CEO, and Maite Mihm, COO, co-founders of LuckaBox Logistics. As its flexible, on-demand courier service across urban Switzerland has already won major clients, the Winterthur-based company is expanding in neighbouring countries.
Deborah Heintze, COO and co-founder of Lunaphore Technologies. The company's automated instruments use a microfluidic technology to perform faster tissue assays of potentially cancerous cells. The company, which has raised more than 11 million francs, brought its first diagnostic device to market in February.
"Having been surrounded mostly by men in several periods of my life, this was not completely new to me when entering the entrepreneurship world – especially in the high-tech field and close to EPFL, where there is a minority of women. I encountered situations where people thought I was the secretary or would not necessarily look at me when talking about technical topics, but this, luckily, was quite rare."
Zsuzsanna Püspöki, COO and co-founder of Mirrakoi. The company providing software to simulate real-world physical contact when modelling digitally in 3D digital enables everyone with an idea to become a designer.
Christina Vallgren, CEO and co-founder of PEToP. The CERN-start-up is developing a safer, more precise and faster ion beam therapy for cancer treatment.
Dorina Thiess, CEO and co-founder of Piavita making a wireless, non-invasive device to help vets and owners measure horses' vital signs. The company won Silicon Valley investors through Thiess' pitches with Venture Leaders. Thiess recently shared her love of her business career, tweeting: "Entrepreneurial life at its best: waking up still being stunned about how far our “crazy” idea has come, working every day wt over 30 fantastic teammates, & moving forward in changing equine vets lives."
Claudia Hoessbacher, co-founder of Polariton Technologies. The scientist is commercializing nanoscale technology to make fiber optic communication infrastructure less energy-intensive and four times faster.
Danuta Cichocka, CEO and co-founder of Resistell that has developed a diagnostic device to identify the best antibiotic to treat a particular infection between 10- and 100-times faster than current technology. This speed and accuracy may reduce the cost of hospital infections and also slow the growth of antibiotic resistance, by helping doctors treat infection with the correct antibiotic first time. Cichocka met half Resistell’s seed investors through Venture Kick. “Having access to Venture Kick’s network is invaluable. Winning stage 3 is a mark of quality for many stakeholders and investors,” Cichocka said.
Meriam Kabbaj, COO and co-founder of Versantis. The clinical-stage pharmaceutical company is developing orphan drugs to treat liver and pediatric diseases.
Amélie Béduer, co-founder of Volumina Medical. The medtech company has developed an injectable scaffolding that allows the body to rebuild itself after surgery. The technology enables the natural reconstruction of soft tissues, including fat and muscle, as well as glandular, connective and supporting tissues. Volumina Medical's first product will serve women choosing reconstructive therapy after a mastectomy.
Isabelle Attinger-Toller, co-founder of Araris Biotech a spin-off company from the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) and ETH Zurich focusing on the commercialization of a novel antibody-drug conjugate (ADC)-linker technology.
Susanne Dröscher, co-founder and CEO of Caru developing the world's first smart sensor for the care sector. It empowers the elderly to remain independent and to stay in touch with their loved ones. The CARU concept was awarded on various occasions and has been acclaimed by market experts as game-changing in the field of AgeTech.
Marina Giunta and Donatella Ungaro, co-founders DIANA Dosimetry developing new dosimeters for radio diagnostic applications (especially interventional radiology) based on technology developed for high energy physics experiments.
Chun-Hui Kuo, Marketing Manager of qiio providing a secure and comprehensive infrastructure for Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) implementations. The core product is an end-to-end solution covering hardware, software, service as well as operation.
Sandra Tobler, CEO of Futurae Technologies providing a strong two-factor authentication (2FA) suite that offers a high level of security to businesses and individuals to protect their accounts and sensitive user data, while at the same time improving the customer experience.
Maria Waldhoer, CSO of InterAx Biotech assisting drug candidate design and selection by integrating bioanalytical and computational pharmacology in collaborative projects with Biotech and Pharma companies.
Anastasia Hofmann and Naomi Mackenzie, founders of Kitro committed to bringing innovative solutions to food waste management. With an IoT device and scale, they automatically capture data on all the food being wasted in commercial kitchens.
Fatma Belbahi, CFO of LEND - Switzerland cutting out any middlemen and pass the cost-benefit to both parties involved. They fund private loans, business loans and 2nd lien mortgages.
Claudia Winkler, CEO and co-founder of Lionstep helping companies identify, seek and hire new people in a unique combination of artificial intelligence and human interaction. Lionstep draws on a pool of over 300 million people and dramatically reduces the search time for employers.
Agnès Petit, CEO of MOBBOT providing a 3D concrete printing technology for construction companies focused on infrastructure. They enable customers to save time and costs. A 3-day job site work is cut down to one hour. The fabrication costs are reduced by >40%.
Sasha Schriber, co-founder of nanos.ai offering marketing automation for non-expert users powered by machine learning.
Irina Banzola, founder of ONtrack Diagnostics focusing on the development of non-invasive assays for the screening, diagnosis and monitoring of oncological diseases. Their first product is a urine assay for the screening of prostate cancer.
Sandra Neumann, CEO and founder of Peripal allowing more patients to be treated at home and to reduce healthcare costs in the area of dialysis.
Sandra Badir, CEO and founder of Pregnolia, a women’s health medtech company, developing a diagnostic device to accurately predict the risk of premature birth during routine pregnancy consultation.
Evelina Georgieva, CBDO and co-founder of PrYv making essential software for data-driven healthcare innovation. Their purpose-built middleware helps organizations manage personal data from creation to use, sharing and disposal.
Olga Peters, CFO of UrbanAlps developing the Stealth Key – the world’s first 3D metal printed key. The key hides its mechanical security features inside, rendering the key unscannable. High-tech manufacturing and security engineered in Switzerland.
Loulia Kassem, co-founder of Rea developing a new generation of diagnostic devices for the preterm birth market. Their product is a smart pad with an embedded sensor for proteins indicative of birth.
Lulia-Alexandra Lungu, co-founder Synthara Technologies, a Zurich-based artificial intelligence (AI) company that provides system-level solutions for businesses to enhance their products or services with smart features.
Stefanie Flückiger-Mangual, CEO and co-founder of Tolremo Therapeutics developing novel small molecules that eradicate drug resistant cancer cells right at the start of a therapy.
Melanie Aregger, CFO / COO of VirtaMed developing simulators that are a unique combination of virtual reality graphics, anatomically correct models and original surgical instruments. They provide training of minimally invasive interventions in orthopedics, obstetrics and gynecology, urology, and general surgery.
Esmeralda Megally, CEO and co-founder of Xsensio developing next-generation wearable devices that track biochemical information at the surface of the skin, providing unprecedented real-time information about our health and wellness, in a simple and non-invasive way.
Iselin Frøybu, co-founder of Yago developing a robotic glove for people with hand motor impairments due to e.g. stroke. Patent-pending artificial tendons enable to build a unique device for continuous use to support independence directly at home.
Yoko Spirig, co-founder and CPO of Ledgy developing error-free cap table to manage ESOPs and rounds making financing rounds a success and engaging investors and employees.
Stephaie Feigt, CEO and co-founder of 3-rd eyes providing automated wealth planning and goal-based investing software.
Giovanna Davatz, CMO and founder of Arktis Radiation Detectors developing highly reliable devices for detecting radioactive substances
Ravina Mutha, co-founder of Enterprise Bot creating AI powered chatbots to automate customer interactions and provide enterprises with a readily accessible digital agent that improves customer experience and reduces operational costs by up to 40%.
Isabelle Ohnemus, CEO of EyeFitU, the first fashion sizing and personalisation platform enabling shoppers to shop the world’s best brands in one place, always in their size.
Coralie Brumaud of Oxara transforming excavation materials into cement-free concrete.
Amanda Niklaus, Member of the Advisory Board and Mentor for Women and Wind program of Pexapark helping renewable asset investors succeed in the new, non-subsidized energy markets.
Isabelle Attinger-Toller, co-founder of Araris Biotech a spin-off company from the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) and ETH Zurich focusing on the commercialization of a novel antibody-drug conjugate (ADC)-linker technology.
Susanne Dröscher, co-founder and CEO of Caru developing the world's first smart sensor for the care sector. It empowers the elderly to remain independent and to stay in touch with their loved ones. The CARU concept was awarded on various occasions and has been acclaimed by market experts as game-changing in the field of AgeTech.
Marina Giunta and Donatella Ungaro, co-founders DIANA Dosimetry developing new dosimeters for radio diagnostic applications (especially interventional radiology) based on technology developed for high energy physics experiments.
Chun-Hui Kuo, Marketing Manager of qiio providing a secure and comprehensive infrastructure for Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) implementations. The core product is an end-to-end solution covering hardware, software, service as well as operation.
Sandra Tobler, CEO of Futurae Technologies providing a strong two-factor authentication (2FA) suite that offers a high level of security to businesses and individuals to protect their accounts and sensitive user data, while at the same time improving the customer experience.
Maria Waldhoer, CSO of InterAx Biotech assisting drug candidate design and selection by integrating bioanalytical and computational pharmacology in collaborative projects with Biotech and Pharma companies.
Anastasia Hofmann and Naomi Mackenzie, founders of Kitro committed to bringing innovative solutions to food waste management. With an IoT device and scale, they automatically capture data on all the food being wasted in commercial kitchens.
Fatma Belbahi, CFO of LEND - Switzerland cutting out any middlemen and pass the cost-benefit to both parties involved. They fund private loans, business loans and 2nd lien mortgages.
Claudia Winkler, CEO and co-founder of Lionstep helping companies identify, seek and hire new people in a unique combination of artificial intelligence and human interaction. Lionstep draws on a pool of over 300 million people and dramatically reduces the search time for employers.
Agnès Petit, CEO of MOBBOT providing a 3D concrete printing technology for construction companies focused on infrastructure. They enable customers to save time and costs. A 3-day job site work is cut down to one hour. The fabrication costs are reduced by >40%.
Sasha Schriber, co-founder of nanos.ai offering marketing automation for non-expert users powered by machine learning.
Irina Banzola, founder of ONtrack Diagnostics focusing on the development of non-invasive assays for the screening, diagnosis and monitoring of oncological diseases. Their first product is a urine assay for the screening of prostate cancer.
Sandra Neumann, CEO and founder of Peripal allowing more patients to be treated at home and to reduce healthcare costs in the area of dialysis.
Sandra Badir, CEO and founder of Pregnolia, a women’s health medtech company, developing a diagnostic device to accurately predict the risk of premature birth during routine pregnancy consultation.
Evelina Georgieva, CBDO and co-founder of PrYv making essential software for data-driven healthcare innovation. Their purpose-built middleware helps organizations manage personal data from creation to use, sharing and disposal.
Olga Peters, CFO of UrbanAlps developing the Stealth Key – the world’s first 3D metal printed key. The key hides its mechanical security features inside, rendering the key unscannable. High-tech manufacturing and security engineered in Switzerland.
Loulia Kassem, co-founder of Rea developing a new generation of diagnostic devices for the preterm birth market. Their product is a smart pad with an embedded sensor for proteins indicative of birth.
Lulia-Alexandra Lungu, co-founder Synthara Technologies, a Zurich-based artificial intelligence (AI) company that provides system-level solutions for businesses to enhance their products or services with smart features.
Stefanie Flückiger-Mangual, CEO and co-founder of Tolremo Therapeutics developing novel small molecules that eradicate drug resistant cancer cells right at the start of a therapy.
Melanie Aregger, CFO / COO of VirtaMed developing simulators that are a unique combination of virtual reality graphics, anatomically correct models and original surgical instruments. They provide training of minimally invasive interventions in orthopedics, obstetrics and gynecology, urology, and general surgery.
Esmeralda Megally, CEO and co-founder of Xsensio developing next-generation wearable devices that track biochemical information at the surface of the skin, providing unprecedented real-time information about our health and wellness, in a simple and non-invasive way.
Iselin Frøybu, co-founder of Yago developing a robotic glove for people with hand motor impairments due to e.g. stroke. Patent-pending artificial tendons enable to build a unique device for continuous use to support independence directly at home.
Yoko Spirig, co-founder and CPO of Ledgy developing error-free cap table to manage ESOPs and rounds making financing rounds a success and engaging investors and employees.
Stephaie Feigt, CEO and co-founder of 3-rd eyes providing automated wealth planning and goal-based investing software.
Giovanna Davatz, CMO and founder of Arktis Radiation Detectors developing highly reliable devices for detecting radioactive substances
Ravina Mutha, co-founder of Enterprise Bot creating AI powered chatbots to automate customer interactions and provide enterprises with a readily accessible digital agent that improves customer experience and reduces operational costs by up to 40%.
Isabelle Ohnemus, CEO of EyeFitU, the first fashion sizing and personalisation platform enabling shoppers to shop the world’s best brands in one place, always in their size.
Coralie Brumaud of Oxara transforming excavation materials into cement-free concrete.
Amanda Niklaus, Member of the Advisory Board and Mentor for Women and Wind program of Pexapark helping renewable asset investors succeed in the new, non-subsidized energy markets.
Sophie Mathey-Debeaumont, Marketing Manager of Pristem industrializing an innovative medical X-ray technology that was developed with several leading research institutes and successfully tested at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL).
Penny Schiffer, founder of Raized.AI making venture investors more successful with data.
Corinne John, CTO and co-founder of Redbiotec developing therapeutic bacteria to treat cancer and genetic disorders. Designed to overcome delivery hurdles faced by other vehicles, the proprietary bacteria platform accommodates large and diverse therapeutic cargos ranging from oncolytic virus to gene-editing system.
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