The Swiss innovation platform Kickstart has selected 48 growth companies from 17 countries to participate in this year's edition, for the first time also in health technology and cybersecurity. In addition, nine intrapreneurship teams will join the program.
Zurich, July 25, 2019 – Kickstart has set a new record for the fourth edition of its ecosystem innovation program in Zurich: 48 national and international tech startups and scale-ups are taking part in this year's edition. Additionally, nine corporate innovation teams, so-called intrapreneurship teams, have made it into the program. They all aim to take their business to the next level and, together with established organizations, promote tech innovation in Switzerland.
Upcycled coffee grounds, cyber-attack simulations and last-mile delivery services
The selected startups provide cutting-edge solutions for a wide range of challenges: In the newly established Cybersecurity Vertical, you will find companies working on automated attack simulation (XM Cyber) and risk assessment (CyNation), while the Food & Retail Tech Vertical brings together startups working on plant-based “meat” (Planted Foods) and coffee grounds upcycled to sustainable ingredients for personal care and functional foods (Kaffe Bueno). The FinTech companies offer platforms based on blockchain and AI that make investments more efficient and safe (AllianceBlock) as well as insurance customized and agile solutions (tigerlab), amongst others. In HealthTech, you will come across smart textile electrocardiogram (ECG) solutions for long-term monitoring of the heart's activity (Nahtlos) and at-home lab testings (myLAB Box). Companies in the Smart City & Technology Vertical work on platforms to analyse and manage urban mobility (ViaNova) and solutions that combine innovative technology with plants in order to improve the air quality in office spaces (Oxygen at Work), to mention just a few. The whole list of startups can be found below, details here.
Cybersecurity (6)Food & Retail Tech (10)FinTech & Digital Assets (10)- CyNation (UK) - enigmedia (Spain) - Illusive Networks (Israel) - KOVRR (Israel) - Statice (Germany) - XM CYBER (Israel)- Back of the Yards Algae Sciences (USA) - Heallo (Italy) - Kaffe Bueno (Denmark) - Nice Filler (Italy) - Planted Foods (Switzerland) - Posidonia (Belgium) - PREMIUM energy (Switzerland) - PURESPACE (South Korea) - Rebel Meat (Austria) - SwissDeCode (Switzerland) - Annanow (Switzerland) - AllianceBlock (Netherlands) - Assetyze (Switzerland) - atpar (Switzerland) - Contract Vault (Switzerland) - Five Degrees Solution (Netherlands) - Helios Data (USA) - Taxdone (Switzerland) - tigerlab (Malaysia/UK) - WeProov (France)EdTech & Learning (8)HealthTech (6)Smart City & Technology (8)- Area9 Lyceum (Denmark) - Cambridge Spark (UK) - Easy Correct (Denmark) - Education Alliance Finland (Finland) - MobieTrain (Belgium) - Seppo (Finland) - Stroofy (Ireland) - Taskbase (Switzerland)- Braive (Sweden) - Medicus AI (Austria) - myLAB Box (USA) - Nahtlos (Switzerland) - OneDoc (Switzerland) - Selfapy (Germany) - AirBie (Switzerland) - BeOn Energy (Portugal) - Breeze Technologies (Germany) - Oxygen at Work (Switzerland) - SunData (Netherlands) - Sympower (Netherlands) - Totemi (Switzerland) - ViaNova (France)
From September to November, the selected growth ventures will work for several weeks in Switzerland, where they seek innovation partnerships with corporations and organizations such as AXA, Coop, Migros, Swisscom, City of Zurich, ETH Zürich, Gebert Rüf Foundation, Mercator Foundation Switzerland, Mobiliar, Office for Economy and Labour of Canton Zurich, Coca-Cola Switzerland, Credit Suisse, PwC Switzerland, and many more. Many of them have been partnering with Kickstart for years, including Swisscom: „As a founding partner, we are enthusiastic about how the program has developed”, says Roger Wüthrich-Hasenböhler, Chief Digital Officer Swisscom. „After only three years, Kickstart has become one of the leading international programs. The close cooperation between startups and companies is a role model and one of the most important success factors.”
Accelerating innovation “from within” – nine intrapreneurship teams in this year’s program
Meanwhile, the number of participating intrapreneurship teams has nearly doubled to nine. UPTO, intrapreneurship from AXA, which offers a flexible car renting and sharing service, is taking part for the second time after 2017. „Already at the first participation as an intrapreneur team we appreciated the exchange with startups and experts as well as the motivating atmosphere in an inspiring environment”, says Claudia Bienentreu, Head Open Innovation at AXA. More intrapreneurship teams are coming from Migros, Swisscom, ETH Zürich, Mobiliar and Axpo:
Intrapreneurship TeamCompanyVerticaladvaisor AGETH Zürich (Spin-Off) EdTechemostAxpoSmart CityDermatologistSwisscomHealthTechFillipMibelle Group / MigrosFood & Retail Tech Klima@ssuranceMobiliarFinTechRiseUp Mentoring PlatformSwisscomEdTechSupply Chain FitMigrosFood & Retail TechtooyooMobiliar & SwisscomFinTechUPTOAXASmart City
Further information on the intrapreneurship teams can be found on our blog.
Kickstart is a spin-off of Impact Hub Zurich, a globally connected community of entrepreneurs, techies, and creatives. The ecosystem innovation platform runs programs for startups, intrapreneurs, CEOs and established organizations, including a kickoff week in September and a six-week Collaboration Sprint from 30 September to 8 November, during which the international teams will be present in Switzerland. Kickstart’s main campus is the innovation space Kraftwerk.
For more information, please contact:
Simone Bächler, Communication Lead Kickstart
+41 77 529 63 26
press@kickstart-innovation.com
About Kickstart
Kickstart is an ecosystem innovation platform to bridge the gap between startups, corporations, cities, foundations and universities to accelerate deep tech innovation. Science- and engineering-driven technologies have the potential to transform humanity’s biggest problems into solvable challenges. These challenges require unprecedented collaboration between established organizations and audacious entrepreneurs. Each year, Kickstart brings up to 50 later-stage startups to Switzerland to collaborate with key players for proofs-of-concept, pilot projects and other innovation partnerships. The program is free of charge (no fees, no equity) for selected growth ventures and provides exceptional access to the executives and decision-makers of Kickstart's partners. Additionally, the program supports several intrapreneurship teams from corporations and organizations every year.
Kickstart is a spin-off of Impact Hub Zurich and was launched 2015 by digitalswitzerland. In 2019, Kickstart runs six verticals (EdTech & Learning, FinTech & Digital Assets, Food & Retail Tech, Smart City & Technology, HealthTech and Cybersecurity) together with partner organizations across industries and the private and public domains: AXA, Coop, Migros, Swisscom, ETH Zürich, City of Zurich, Gebert Rüf Stiftung, Mercator Foundation Switzerland, Mobiliar, Swiss Federal Office for Energy, Axpo, City of St. Gallen, Coca-Cola Switzerland, Cognizant, Credit Suisse, CSEM, Dai-ichi Life, Empa NEST, eZürich, Givaudan, Office for Economy and Labour of Canton Zurich, Panter, PostFinance, PwC Switzerland, Ricolab, SATW, Stäubli, Swiss Healthcare Startups SHS, ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences, C4DR, evitive, Meyerlustenberger Lachenal Ltd., Wenger & Vieli AG and more.
