TOP 100 - Meet the 5 Best Newcomers Startups of 2019 Ranking

22.12.2019 14:41, Guillaume Tinsel

The TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award ranking features young companies from a range of different sectors. Meet the 5 Swiss startups which took the top spots in the as newcomers in this year's ranking. Each year 100 investors and experts choose their ten favourite young companies with the most promising business idea. The result is the TOP 100 Swiss Startup ranking. These experts rely on their instinct to propose startups with the best success potential. Year after year, the ranking provides an instant picture of the most innovative and promising young companies in Switzerland. This 5 Swiss startups took the top spots as newcomers in this year's ranking.

1. AKTIIA, Neuchâtel, rank 30
Apply cuff, inflate, read off values: the basic principle of blood pressure measurement has remained the same for more than 100 years. Start-up aktiia could change this: it measures blood pressure with the help of a wristband that works with commercially available optical sensors similar to other wearables. Extensive testing with the aim of clinical validation has been very promising so far.
Fifteen years of research and development at CSEM, the Swiss research and development centre in Neuchâtel, are behind the science of the wristband for the optical measurement of blood pressure. Last year, the two CSEM researchers Mattia Bertschi (below) and Josep Sola went independent and founded the startup aktiia. Since then, events have been happening fast, as the two founders have met with enormous interest in their technology. Only three months after the company was founded, they were able to conclude a seed financing of CHF 4 million. The Neuchâtel start-up, which now is also incorporated in the US and employs 14 people, plans to launch the blood pressure wristband in the summer of 2020 in both Europe and the US. First clinical validations were successful. “This summer we are starting another clinical study with more than 80 patients at Lausanne University Hospital.” says co-founder Bertschi. Currently, the start-up is in the midst of a financing round that will speed up the production and commercialisation of this innovative product.



2. PXL VISION, Zurich, rank 32
After the successful sale of Dacuda to Magic Leap, some of the team started PX Vision as their next venture. A smartphone and a passport are enough for PXL Vision’s software to prove the identity of a user beyond doubt, thus allowing new customers to be onboarded in less than a minute. The start-up’s supporters include the SwissSign group of banks, insurers and other service providers that want to implement a uniform digital identity in Switzerland.

3. RESISTELL, Muttenz (BL), rank 34
Resistell’s technology enables much faster determination of those antibiotics that are now resistant to bacteria and those that are still effective. This allows a more targeted and faster deployment – a decisive advantage in the face of increasing antibiotic resistance. The start-up has also developed a third prototype and also won Venture Kick‘s final round while closing its seed financing.

4. ARTIDIS, Basel, rank 36
Faster diagnosis and more precise breast cancer treatment: that’s the goal of Artidis. The start-up relies on a nanotechnological instrument that scans tissue samples and not only recognises a tumour, but also assesses its aggressiveness, thus reducing the risk of over or under-treatment.

5. ANAVEON, Bottmingen (BL), rank 37
The start-up generated CHF 35 million in a financing round in February 2019 – a very large sum, even for the biotech industry. Anaveon is working on a protein that will help patients’ immune systems respond to tumours, over-
coming the limitations of similar drugs, such as intolerance or instability.