Switzerland's TOP cleantech startups 2020

03.11.2020 08:05, Isabelle Mitchell

The TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award ranking has become a benchmark in Switzerland’s startup ecosystem. To make sure the startups get all the attention they deserve, we will feature the top startups in each vertical. Switzerland’s TOP cleantech startups 2020 impress with technologies that improve solar panels, reduce the environmental impact of marine air emissions, enable the safe storage of hydrogen, and revolutionize the transmutation of long-lived nuclear waste.

Every year, the 100 most innovative and promising Swiss startups are picked by a panel of 100 leading investors and startup experts. Each jury member nominates 10 Swiss startups that are less than five years old and show the greatest commercial potential. The first-placed company gets 10 points, the second 9, and so on. All these individual rankings are compiled to generate the final TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award ranking, which recognizes the startups that have most impressed all 100 jury members. In the coming weeks, we will look at the top startups in each vertical.



1. Insolight
Insolight, based in the EPFL Innovation Park, has raised the efficiency rating of solar panels from 17% to 29% with their new technology: A system of lenses bundles sunlight and focuses it on many small spots. The optimum efficiency dramatically decreases the cost of space-grade photovoltaics, enabling use in a consumer product. A pilot system is currently being tested by potential customers under real conditions. Insolight raised CHF 5 million in summer 2020, and the production is planned to start on a large scale at established European manufacturers by 2022. 

2. Daphne Technology
Daphne Technology, an EPFL spin-off and Venture Leader China 2020, has developed a nanotechnology-based exhaust gas filter for marine engines, as used in cargo and cruise ships, that massively reduces sulfur and nitrogen oxide emissions. The system can then convert the exhaust gas into fertilizer. Daphne Technology received an EU grant of CHF 2.5 million for rapid implementation on the market.

3. GRZ Technologies
GRZ’s technology enables safe and affordable storage of hydrogen for industry and mobility. In spring 2020, Hyundai Motor Company invested in the Fribourg-based EPFL spin-off, which is developing a new compression technology for hydrogen in collaboration with Burckhardt Compression in Winterthur.
 

The best cleantech startup according to the TOP 100 Public Vote

The TOP 100 Public Vote runs parallel to the expert jury ranking and allows the public—everyone with a LinkedIn account can cast one vote—to choose the most promising startup.

Cleantech winner Public Vote: Transmutex
Transmutex is a revolutionary nuclear technology for the transmutation of long-lived nuclear waste. The Transmutex’s solution—developed and tested at CERN in Geneva—uses particle accelerators to transmute existing long-lived nuclear waste, which, in turn, produces carbon-free energy that can be reinjected in the grid or used to produce green hydrogen. The cleantech startup was founded in 2019 and is based in Geneva.