TOP 100 - Meet the 5 Youngest Startups of 2019 Ranking

20.12.2019 11:15, 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 as the youngest firms 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. These 5 Swiss startups are the youngest in this year's ranking.

1. ARARIS BIOTECH, Zurich, Rank 91, *31.01.2019
A new antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) technology is the basis of Araris Biotech’s cancer drug development platform. The cancer drug is coupled to an antibody, which then ensures the transport of the drug directly to the cancer cell, thus affecting fewer healthy cells along the way. Araris’ ADC linker technology couples the active ingredients to the antibody via a structure (linker), without any changes necessary to the antibody. “This simplifies the manufacture of ADCs, minimises side-effects and is expected to improve the effectiveness of ADCs,” says CEO Philipp Spycher. He co-founded the spin-off from the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) and ETH Zurich in January 2019 together with Dragan Grabulovski, Isabella Attinger-Toller, Roger Schibli and PSI group leader Martin Behé. Grabulovski was part of the founding team of biotech company Covagen AG, which was acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 2014 for more than CHF 220 million. Araris is conducting negotiations for a Series A financing round in the region of 
CHF 20 million.

2. EBAMED, Geneva, Rank 62, *08.10.2018
Proton therapy uses particles to bombard cancerous tumours – it is much more accurate than an X-ray and can be used inside the body. EBAMed now wants to use proton beams to target heart tissue in the treatment of cardiac arrhythmia. The start-up has already won a number of awards from Venture, Venture Kick, Venture Leaders and IMD.

3. SPECTROPLAST, Zurich, Rank 80, *17.09.2018
Spectroplast’s 3D printing enables individualised mass production for the first time with silicone products. Areas of application range from medical technology to industrial components; for example, the aerospace and vehicle industries to toys and consumer electronics, such as personalised headphones.

4. AGROSUSTAIN, Nyon, Rank 46, *22.05.2018
The University of Lausanne spin-off protects plant products from fungal attack, thus extending shelf life 
and minimising food waste. AgroSustain is one of the first companies not only 
to receive CHF 130,000 from Venture Kick, but also to receive an additional CHF 150,000 from the Gebert Rüf Stiftung’s InnoBooster programme.
 
5. SYGNUM, Zurich, Rank 92, *16.05.2018
Sygnum is developing an integrated solution to deliver, store, trade and manage digital assets securely. The company, founded in 2018, has caused a stir with its top-class advisory board, which includes former UBS CEO Peter Wuffli and former SNB president Philipp Hildebrand, a financing round in the double-digit millions and a collaboration with Swisscom and Deutsche Börse.