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We are spotlighting this year's incredible cohort through the means of fun & quick interviews to gain further insight into their startup journeys, unveil their driving forces and expose what it REALLY takes to be an entrepreneur in 2022... Name: Marc-Christian Hodapp Title: Co-Founder Company: Urbanistic Kickstart Cohort: 2022 How was Urbanistic born? 💡 I used to develop big quarters as an architect for a large housing company. The work was analog and repetitive - defining a new little quarter of the city to increase living space, but with little to less impact on the existing neighborhood. The process would also take an incredibly long time, convening stakeholders and different parties with varying requirements and inputs. I thankfully met my co-founders, who were working on a 3D city model research project at the Technical University of Munich. I found this innovation incredible in terms of optimizing the planning process and providing additional layers of crucial information. From March 2020 we all committed to urbanistic and since then we haven’t looked back! What are the risks planners and architects face when planning? ⚠️ Planners and architects aren't aware of the urban microclimate at the beginning. Due to climate change, this is a very important aspect to be aware of, particularly the risk of overheating in summer. The risk of producing misunderstandings is huge and it grows the more stakeholders are involved. How can Urbanistic eliminate these risks? ✅ Using our solution, companies can benefit from accelerated decision time with instant environmental as well as building code checks. Direct feedback on the impact of cooperation to assess environmentally large area building policies (such as max. allowable density or street parking features) can be simulated and several scenarios assessed and communicated to the public before the decision. Redensification potential can also be checked across various designs and compared instantly. How did you build your team? ⏩ We put a lot of effort into the hiring process to make sure we have the right people that fit the culture and the work. We also invest in internal events to build trust and morale, and also find that coaxing people outside of their comfort zone has a really positive response, as at the end of the day it is always a great learning experience and our employees are proud of the hard work they do for the company. I’m also a big believer in 360-degree feedback and continuous improvement which strengthens the pillars of the team. How has being involved in Kickstart helped your scaleup journey? 🚀 Kickstart’s network and access to leading Swiss companies is such a benefit to get a step into Switzerland and access the right people from the get-go. I know how hard it is and how many calls or emails need to be done. The numerous events and networking opportunities are also a huge bonus, take the CEO Dinners for example, as everybody is a multiplier and can help connect you to people you didn’t even know you needed, and explore additional avenues that weren’t on the initial roadmap. About Urbanistic: Urbanistic is developing the next-generation 3D digital twin platform with intuitive modeling tools and real-time environmental simulations, enabling planners and architects to easily identify the risks and potentials of their site and planning variants. Urbanistic has helped to sustainably redensify over 70,000 sqm across 20+ projects with private project development companies. We have also worked with town planning administrators to assess the risk of overheating and possible greening-based interventions that may be planned.

Our Kickie New Roots vegan creamery invited us to a VIP tour as part of an open house day at their headquarters in Oberdiessbach (located at the entry to the famous Emmental -- you know the cheese ;). The event was not only a great success, hosting hundreds of visitors but was a culinary highlight too. In addition to free tasting of all their existing products, they introduced a new line of yogurts and #drummroll a vegan Raclette. This not only tastes great (I am an incorruptible Swiss cheese lover), but also illustrates their strategy: They use traditional artisan cheese-making processes and ancestral know-how using vegan ingredients and they collaborate with local farmers. Whereas their first products are based on cashew nuts (organic and sustainably sourced from Burkina Faso), they now begin experimenting with ingredients that are grown in Switzerland such as Lupine (in the case of raclette cheese) or Tapioca. A great vision! Very insightful were the tours through their production facilities, where they explained many of their challenges in detail. Such as finding cheese cultures that work with vegan ingredients, why they can't produce blue cheese at the moment or how much attention logistics needs and how hard it is to automate with small quantities and large machines. A great event and thank you Alice and Freddy to make all this happen.

Weekly Digests are shared during the 10-week Kickstart program to keep our community up to date on exciting news, announcements, and updates from Kickstart, our partners, and our startups and alumni. View in browser here. Happy Friday, Kickstart Family! Since 2021, Kickstart has partnered with HITS and F10 on an initiative to connect InsurTech in the DACH region. This quarter, InsurTech Map is happy to announce the addition of 5 startups, joining over 200 InsurTech companies innovating across the insurance value chain. Find out who these new additions are, as well as new and improved Map functionalities on our blog here! This Tuesday we headed to Nyon for the La Mobilière Open Innovation Day, co-organized by Kickstart and La Mobilière, which included inspiring talks from Thomas Bossart, Head of Pensions and member of the Executive Board, Aline Brügger, Head of Innovation, Process & Transformation), and Ralph Rimet, Senior Management Consultant in Open Innovation. Pitches from our 2022 scaleups Health Yourself, Pro Aidants, Deep Longevity and Surfly followed, as well as a presentation from Kickstart partner Sanitas working together with TOM Medications, another brilliant 2022 Kickstarter. Finally, applications for The Circular Economy Transition (CET) Incubator 2022-23 are open until 30th October! This 12-week incubator enables teams and startups to prototype and develop solutions contributing to accelerate the transition towards Circular Economy in Switzerland. Each edition of the program incubates 25+ startups Swiss-wide split among cohorts in Basel, Bern, Geneva, Lausanne, Ticino and Zürich. Check it out and apply here. Thank you for being part of this adventure! Vertical Vision 👀 Finance & Insurance Surfly came 2nd out of 1,500 startups at the Huawei Spark Ignite 2022 competition last week. Aidonic are finalists for the upcoming AidEx Innovation Challenge in Brussels and Europas Tech for Good Award in Lisbon. Kickstart 2021 alumnus CYSEC announced their partnership with Avassa last month, who have allied to bring a scalable and automated end-to-end security solution that protects both on-premises and cloud-based environments. Helvengo, Kickstart 2021 alumnus, are among the top 10 InsurTech seed deals in H1 2022 according to FinTech Global following their $4.5m funding round earlier this year. Food & Retail Nordic Umami Co. announced the first nationwide retailer of their products, S-ryhmä/S Group (a Finnish network of companies operating in the retail and service sectors with more than 1,800 outlets in Finland) starting from 1st November. SUPASO won 1st place in the YOUSTART Awards 2022. Kickstart 2018 alumnus Organic Mondays partnered with Aldi Suisse to promote healthier & more sustainable periodcare through a special limited offer of Mondays to Aldi customers across all of Switzerland. New Work & Learning SkyHive announced their partnership with RAII to contribute to its development of tangible governance tools for trustworthy, safe, and fair Artificial Intelligence. Eevie is one of the finalists in the ABB Energy Efficiency Startup Challenge 2022 leading the way to a clean energy future. Kickstart 2021 alumnus Scribe just reached the milestone of 200,000+ installs on Google Chrome. Health & Wellbeing Kickstart 2020 alumnus HelloBetter was awarded 1st prize in the category "Digital Providers for Mental Health" for the first "German Health Award" presented by the German Institute for Service Quality and ntv. TOM Medications were announced as 1 of 5 winners at the Innovation Booster Digital Health Nation 2022. Smart Cities CTHINGS.CO was included in the first edition of Central Europe DeepTech Startup Map by Aper Ventures. GRIN AS launched its new smart collection system during Oslo Innovation Week in collaboration with AION, Oslo kommune, Oslo Business Region, and Bymiljøetaten, providing guests with food in reusable food bowls rather than single use packaging. Main Events 🗓 Vertical Journeys & more on our website here. Kickstart CEO Dinner - 25 October 2022 @ Lausanne (invite only) Climathon Zürich - 28 October 2022 @ Kraftwerk Kickstart Investor Summit - 15 November 2022 @ Virtual Event (invite only) Kickstart Closing Ceremony & Party - 17 November 2022 @ Kraftwerk #Kickstarter22 Spotlight: Purcell interview here Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more to come! Best wishes, Alanna Murphy | Senior Program Manager

We are spotlighting this year's incredible cohort through the means of fun & quick interviews to gain further insight into their startup journeys, unveil their driving forces and expose what it REALLY takes to be an entrepreneur in 2022... Name: David Conway Title: CEO & Founder Company: Purcell Kickstart Cohort: 2022 What inspired you to start Purcell? 10 years ago, I was serving in the military in the Coast Guard in Guantanamo Bay. I remember standing watch, looking out over the ocean, and seeing endless plastic floating around me. After spending years on the ocean and traveling around the world, the main thing that stuck with me was plastic pollution. Years later it struck me that the majority of packaging and waste comes from food products. So I started this company to address the plastic and pollution crisis, specifically related to food packaging. What’s next for Purcell? Purcell is about providing a solution towards a more sustainable way to buy groceries and products we purchase every day. Following years of volunteering in developing countries, I saw these deep-rooted problems in their food systems. I want to bring our dispenser technology to these countries to streamline their supply chain by eliminating packaging, thus making food more affordable. I want to ensure sustainability is achievable for everyone - not just the wealthy - particularly when it comes to transporting and buying goods. What is your definition of ‘sustainability’ in the food industry? We see sustainability as cutting out inefficiencies in the food system, which is not only more sustainable but ultimately more logical, less labor-intensive, and more profitable. More generally, we see sustainability as not just saving the planet, but as a business opportunity. A good example is IKEA flatpack furniture, which streamlined its supply chain and store operations, and now they own that industry. Another example is fast food restaurants like McDonald's - they profit mainly on drink sales, not burger sales (despite what some may think). It's a dispenser that mixes water and flavor packets on-site, instead of bottles or cans, where the packaging costs more than what’s inside it. That's where you get the business opportunity AND the sustainability. What is your vision for Purcell? I want to see a whole new style of grocery stores emerge based on smart dispensers like Purcell. A new chain focused on sustainability that is more profitable and efficient and passes the savings onto customers. I want to see the cost of food go down as we adopt emerging technologies and other sustainable packaging solutions. What keeps you on track during the challenging times as a founder? A big part of it is having my brother Russell as the perfect co-founder. Neither of us would let the other one down. But the opportunity to solve what I believe is one of the biggest global crises we face today is what keeps us going. 37% of greenhouse gas emissions come from the food system as well as most plastic waste. So, how do I stay motivated? Keeping a great team focused on the goal of creating a more sustainable food system. What has helped as a US-based company entering Europe? Kickstart! Kickstart is an incredible platform for us for a number of reasons. It was an excellent way to get to Europe without all the red tape. Processes can move much faster in Switzerland because it's a small country. The best part of the program for us is Kickstart's network. I was shocked to see how well Kickstart was connected within the Swiss and European business ecosystems. Also, a problem every startup faces is getting to the right people. You can chat with some vast multinational corporation, but if you're not talking to the right person there, you're not going to get anywhere because there's so much bureaucracy. What Kickstart was able to do for us was get us in front of the relevant people from the companies that mattered to us - the highest levels of food retailers and brands in Europe. About Purcell: Purcell offers simplified refill solutions for retailers, brands, and shoppers. Our category-defining smart dispensers enable a hyper-efficient supply chain, data analytics, and a delightful user experience. This patented technology holds the key to disrupting the grocery industry by bringing sustainable shopping mainstream. The businesses we serve beyond retail include corporate campuses, cafeterias, restaurants, ghost kitchens, convenience stores, and online fulfillment.

InsurTech Map is thrilled to announce the addition of the following 5 startups, joining over 200 InsurTech companies representing the DACH region, and their innovation across the insurance value chain. Introducing...🥁 Balance Re 🇩🇪 provides reinsurance solutions to life insurance companies. Their proprietary technology enables the assessment and measurement of risks consistently and facilitates real-time data analysis. Enzo 🇩🇪 provides modern and holistic protection for homeowners. Instead of just reacting to claims, Enzo takes a proactive customer-focused approach to prevent damages from happening at all. Enzo technology creates a 3D model of your house that will allow the creation of a customized insurance offer. Ledgertech 🇨🇭 a digital insurance technology company providing a Low code/No code Insurtech platform for MGA As A Service (MAAS). tigerlab 🇨🇭 offers an Embedded Insurance Solution that enables retailers to easily integrate insurance into their current product portfolio, increasing revenue while providing a cost-effective way for insurers to enter new distribution channels. VALU-X 🇩🇪 enables banks to successfully sell value-added products to their customers to remain relevant and increase their earnings. Over the past quarter, we have focused on evolving the Map by introducing a number of new features to improve user experience, site navigation, as well as enhancing the startup profiles. These new functionalities include a listed format option to visualize the InsurTech startups in a structured way, as well as a more detailed profile view when clicking on a company. Check it out and let us know what you think! 💭 To join this incredible community or nominate an InsurTech startup, head to 👉🏼 https://lnkd.in/eZncZx2B Many thanks and see you next quarter! 🚀 The InsurTech Map Team Ruth Armalé, Katka Letzing, Alanna Murphy, Michèle Richner, Marc Oliver Hauser, Andreas Iten, Gabriela Trujillo, Mathias Vazquez Rodriguez, F10 Incubator & Accelerator, Kickstart Innovation, HITS - House of Insurtech Switzerland #insurtechmap #insurtech #innovation #communityimpact #ecosystem #connect #makeithappen #startups

Kickstart thrives on enhancing our knowledge and understanding within the vast field of innovation, and there was no better place to do it than the 3rd GlobalTech Summit Lausanne 2022 - which was all about advancements in #FinTech, #RegTech, #CyberTech, #HealthTech & more! 💡 We engaged in the Romandie region with some of our 2022 cohort, including Morane REY-HUET, Sven Beichler, Patrick Hofer & Anna Rosenkranz - who even took the stage to pitch Health Yourself's do-it-yourself healthcare products and services from testing to treatment. Check it out here. 🎤🤩 Kickstart CEO & Co-Founder Katka Letzing joined a roundtable touching on trends within one of Kickstart’s verticals, #HealthTech, and explained Switzerland’s role as the leading innovator and why it’s an attractive landing pad to international startups & corporates. 🌎 You can find Katka's panel session here. We also heard insightful keynotes and panel discussions from Raphaël Conz, Cecilia Peregrina, Brian Eden, André BLANC, Edouard Duverger, Jarno Marchetto, Sanjeev Kumar & more. 🚀 It was a pleasure to interact with such a diverse audience, and build new connections with a broader ecosystem of investors, executives, startups, advisors & experts ready to explore new partnerships and collaborations. 🌐

A few weeks ago, Kickstart headed to Bern for a fun, insightful, and exclusive Brown Bag Lunch event hosted by our global partner, PostFinance. 🥪🍎 This session was hosted in their new collaboration offices, the SpeedUp Space, and brought together a range of departments from Payment Solutions, Retail Banking, VNTR | Innovation & Venturing, as well as a handful of guests from Post and PostAuto to learn more about the successful and innovative partnership between Kickstart and PostFinance. Speakers included: 🎤 Alice Dal Fuoco, Head of Innovation at VNTR 🎤 Katka Letzing, CEO & Co-Founder at Kickstart 🎤 Luca Sigrist, Open Innovation Lead at VNTR 🎤 Alanna Murphy, Senior Program Manager at Kickstart 🎤 Ilija Braun, Business & Customer Insights Manager at Yuh The audience also heard from a selection of our #Kickstarter22 cohort, including Severiyos Aydin from AIDONIC, Manuel Grenacher from Unique, David Eberle from Typewise (YC S22), and Dominic Santschi from Ampliphi. Thanks so much to the PostFinance VNTR team, for making it happen with us. 💪🏼 #makeithappen #collaboration #partnership #innovation #verticaljourney

We are spotlighting this year's incredible cohort through the means of fun & quick interviews to gain further insight into their startup journeys, unveil their driving forces and expose what it REALLY takes to be an entrepreneur in 2022... Name: Morane Rey-Huet Title: CEO & Founder Company: meersens Kickstart Cohort: 2022 What are the 3 top challenges founders face when starting a company? 🎢 In my opinion, the first thing is to have an answer or solution to a problem - to ensure you are providing something that meets customers' needs. The second is finding a partner to start this journey with. It has to be a joint venture, and I'm thrilled that I found Louis Stockreisser - younger than me, smarter than me. And the third is, of course, funding. We went down the Friends & Family fund route, with connections to big corporates with family office investment capabilities. Speaking of Louis - how did you manage to find the right co-founder? ✅ In my case, I avoided the emotional aspect - which I’m not saying is the right way, but it worked out in the end! I built a list of requirements: engineering background and experience, certain mindsets and values, ready for an entrepreneurial adventure, and so on. Once I defined that, I utilized my network and was lucky enough to get in touch with one guy [Louis] that fit the bill and asked “well, can we have a drink?”... the rest is history. In your opinion, what are the primary responsibilities of a founder? 💡 For me, there are two core responsibilities: The first is to deliver and execute the vision that has been shared with the shareholders. On top of that, as a co-founder, my job is to grow teams and allow them to deliver to their full potential - to ensure that our talents are happy, and feel encouraged. Every day I have room to improve, and every day I'm learning. We find 360 peer reviews beneficial in that aspect. What inspired you to start meersens? 💭 Both of my children were born in China, where there are all forms of pollution, such as air quality and water. I wasn’t that aware of the effects until my daughter was diagnosed with asthma purely by living in that environment. In addition to similar encounters with previous colleagues there, I quickly realized this was an increasing concern for people and something needed to be done. I decided in 2017 to do something about it. "Did you know that more people are dying from the air quality than cigarettes? If we are anticipated to live longer, but not in good health, what's the point?" What is the end goal? 🎯 Today we are mainly focusing on air, pollen, noise, UV, and their impact on the health and well-being of companies and cities. But in reality, that's a significant challenge, no doubt. The dream, at least, in essence, is to contribute to SDGs 3 & 11, which aim to prevent needless suffering from preventable diseases and premature death, by focusing on crucial targets that boost the health of a country's overall population and provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible green and public spaces. This with particular focus on women and children, the elderly, and people with health conditions or impairments. About meersens Meersens improves health and well-being at work and in cities by harnessing the power of environmental intelligence. Our SaaS/API platform is the most flexible and easy-to-integrate solution to make healthier decisions. Beyond compliance, we are mobilized to create a sustainable future, mitigating environmental risks and positively contributing to the health and well-being of stakeholders. Our preventive routines are proposed to over 1M users through insurance and healthcare companies and smart city players. We contribute to life expectancy in good health while reducing chronic diseases.

Weekly Digests are shared during the 10-week Kickstart program to keep our community up to date on exciting news, announcements, and updates from Kickstart, our partners, and our startups and alumni. View in browser here. Happy Friday, Kickstart Family! This week, we are excited to share news and updates from our Kickstart cohort and alumni, including the launch of #Kickstarter22 finmarie's first book - the finmarie Financial Guide for Women, a partnership announcement between #Kickstarter20 Omocom with Evollis, as well as #Kickstarter19 Vianova's expansion to the Netherlands. We also sat down with Morane Rey-Huet, CEO & Founder of #Kickstarter22 meersens, for an inspirational interview discussing the challenges of founding a startup, how he met his co-founder, the inspiration and drive behind meersens, and more. You can find the full interview at the end of the digest. In addition, Impact Hub launched its 2021-2022 Report, “Inclusive and sustainable innovation - at scale” highlighting how impact makers around the globe are using entrepreneurial action toward a just and sustainable society. Download it here. Thank you for being part of this adventure! Vertical Vision 👀 Finance & Insurance finmarie have published their first book - the finmarie Financial Guide for Women - perfect for those who want to take their finances into their own hands. bsurance are listed in the InsurTech100 2022, identified as one of the world's most innovative InsurTech companies. Monkee featured in the FinTech Innovators Rising Stars 2022 Report for 2nd year running. Doconomy is named Top 100 Europe’s Hottest startups by WIRED and is now working with 40 banks in 25 countries. Kickstart 2020 alumnus Omocom announced their partnership with Evollis in Spain and Portugal, taking circularity to the next level with long-term rental insurance for electronics. Smart Cities Last month, LEDCity AG converted 10'000 lights to energy-efficient ones, which equated to CHF 1 million in sales in September alone. 3 major Dutch cities partner with Kickstart 2019 alumnus Vianova to optimize the integration of shared mobility services. Kickstart 2021 alumnus Quandify has been internationally recognized by Red Dot design award (one of the most sought-after marks of quality for good design) for their CubicSecure product, the ultimate leakage protection device. New Work & Learning Kickstart 2018 alumnus Differ partnered with the University of Leeds Plus Programme. to help incoming students get to know each other. 86% of users would recommend Differ to new students, and 83% found it helpful or very helpful. Health & Wellbeing medicalmotion GmbH listed among the 100 digital therapeutics startups to watch, according to the Dealroom.co platform. Deep Longevity was awarded 2nd for the Maximon Longevity Prize at the Longevity Investor Summit. Kickstart 2021 alumnus Happitech, launched their FastStart research app last month. Kickstart 2020 alumnus Sidekick's Atopic Dermatitis program is now live in Belgium, in partnership with Pfizer. Food & Retail New Roots published its first Oui! Move series, interviewing professional athletes and discussing topics such as sport, environment, nutrition, and veganism. Oscillum, Kickstart 2021 alumnus, was selected as 1 of 3 startups out of 42 candidates for the 4th edition of the ingenia Startup Awards, convened by FIAB (Food for Life-Spain platform) & MAPA. Main Events 🗓 Vertical Journeys & more on our website here. Kickstart CEO Dinner - 25 October 2022 @ Lausanne (invite only) Climathon Zürich - 28 October 2022 @ Kraftwerk Kickstart Investor Summit - 15 November 2022 @ Virtual Event (invite only) Kickstart Closing Ceremony & Party - 17 November 2022 @ Kraftwerk #Kickstarter22 Spotlight: meersens interview here Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more to come! Best wishes, Alanna Murphy | Senior Program Manager

It was a privilege to be involved with “The ExperienCE” event, marking the launch of the Beaulieu Circulaire - the first innovation space dedicated to Circularity and Inclusion in Switzerland and home to our partners, Impact Hub Lausanne, and others. The event also celebrated the 3-year anniversary of the pioneer initiative CE Transition – Circular Economy Transition. 🌿 Kickstart has been part of this initiative for the last 3 years, with a focus on creating partnerships connected to a circular economy and sustainability with partners like MAVA Foundation, Holcim, Coop, Swisscom, Energy360, Stadt Zürich, scaleups such as Planted, neustark, #tide ocean material®#tide ocean material®, Kern Tec and others. 🌎 As part of the event, our CEO & Co-Founder Katka Letzing co-hosted a session on “Scaling Circular Innovation to Global Markets & Value Chains” with Ljupka Mitrinovska from Accelerate2030. In addition, Katka participated as speaker in the evening panel “A Dialogue with Practitioners” alongside Christian Nils Schwab, Executive Director of EPFL (École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne) Food Centre and Francesco Vass, CEO of Ricardo AG. We were also lucky to share some delicious vegan cheese samples with the attendees during the aperó, kindly sponsored by #Kickstarter22 New Roots AG! 🧀 Beaulieu Circulaire is dedicated to fostering all forms of innovation through collaboration between businesses, governments, universities, and civil society to support the transition towards sustainable lifestyles. We look forward to continuing working in this inspiring space, and no better place to host our upcoming CEO Dinner in Lausanne on 25 October! ✨

We are spotlighting this year's incredible cohort through the means of fun & quick interviews to gain further insight into their startup journeys, unveil their driving forces and expose what it REALLY takes to be an entrepreneur in 2022... Name: Jutta Haaramo Title: CEO & Founder Company: Happy Bob Kickstart Cohort: 2022 What inspired you to start your company? ✨ 8 years ago, my oldest son was diagnosed with Type I diabetes. I wanted to improve the quality of life for my son, as well as help others living with the same condition, by introducing fun and interactive elements and turning data into an engaging experience focused on enhancing self-care. It was also important to me to provide a solution prioritizing the patient’s perspective, instead of the typical healthcare/pharma approach. How do you handle your work-life balance as a parent and an entrepreneur? ⚖️ Terrible! [laughs] I have three sons, and the youngest always asks why he’s the last to be picked up from daycare…I’m still working on it! At the same time, I have a lot of freedom and flexibility as a CEO, which is a huge advantage in time management. I would still love to learn from women in the same position that find the time to socialize, exercise, and cook healthy dishes! What is your definition of success? 🏆 With Happy Bob, I personally feel successful when our customers benefit from and find value in our solution. In that sense, I feel like we have already succeeded. Obviously, financial success is great too... however, the most important thing is when the product meets customer needs. How have you benefited from Kickstart? 🚀 I have already learned so much - I’ve really enjoyed networking with partners, fellow startups and entrepreneurs, and of course the Kickstart team. The advisor matchmaking was fantastic as my advisor Travis Parkinson is providing great guidance and support. Looking forward to the next half of the program! Last thing - do you have an ask from the Kickstart community? 🌎 Well - at the moment we are only available in the US market, and would love to offer our solution to support as many people as possible with diabetes - starting with the Swiss market! Please get in touch if you’d like to learn more. About Happy Bob: Happy Bob is an app that helps people with diabetes stay healthier and more motivated in their own care. To date, Happy Bob has sent over 2 million personalized blood glucose notifications that help people stay engaged with their own data. 44% of our users have an Apple Watch and 92% of them are engaged at 16 weeks with several touchpoints per day. Good news - Happy Bob is launching in Europe this fall!

Weekly Digests are shared during the 10-week Kickstart program to keep our community up to date on exciting news, announcements, and updates from Kickstart, our partners, and our startups and alumni. View in browser here. Happy Friday, Kickstart Family! In addition to our global activities, Kickstart dispersed around Switzerland this past week for a number of fantastic events, including the very successful launch of Beaulieu Circulaire, Switzerland’s first innovation space dedicated to circularity & inclusion. Our Health & Wellbeing team headed to the GlobalTech Summit in Lausanne on Tuesday, with Building Bridges as our next stop. Yesterday we co-hosted an exclusive event in Bern for PostFinance's VNTR & wider team to present Kickstart's open innovation partnership and how we #makeithappen together, followed by a visit to Trust Valley while our New Work & Learning team ran a virtual session on “Lifelong Learning & Leadership Development''. Thank you for being part of this adventure! Vertical Vision 👀 Finance & Insurance Unique, Typewise & Aidonic pitched at the 2022 PostFinance BrownBag Lunch event to 40+ representatives from PostFinance departments including Payment Solutions, Retail Bank, VNTR | Innovation & more. Doconomy has been shortlisted for the Nordic Fintech Award in the Impact category. Klimate has been nominated for the EY Entrepreneur of the Year, and has been announced as one of the Top 10 most innovative startup finalists of the Nordic Cleantech Open. Surfly has just been announced in The Netherlands Deloitte's Fast50. bsurance has been Listed in the InsurTech100 2022, an annual list of 100 of the world's most innovative InsurTech companies. Smart Cities Nudgd were announced as the winners of the Climate Smart Cities Challenge. CTHINGS.CO is one out of 20 industry 4.0 startups selected for DeepTech Alliance’s Industry 4.0 program. Urbanistic were awarded 2nd place at the Smart City Forum Startup Challenge. Health & Wellbeing medicalmotion in occupational medicine together with the Audi BKK, with training, carried out by more than 500 company doctors at Audi, VW, MAN, and co. Product Lead Ines Cordon also represented at Women in Data Science at Barcelona Medicine. Deep Longevity published its latest scientific research showing how a person’s mental health can play a role in how quickly someone ages. Pro Aidants addressed the SGPP Congress 2022, dedicated to digitization, specifically digital transformation and its effects on psychiatry and psychotherapy. Register for Innovation in the Swiss Health Ecosystem with CSS & Galenica on 27 October 2022. Food & Retail New Roots is opening its doors for an exclusive open house and degustation visit on 22 Oct! This VIP tour will include facility access as well as office and logistics areas providing insights into their production. Ampliphi pitched at the 2022 PostFinance BrownBag Lunch event to 40+ representatives from PostFinance departments including Payment Solutions, Retail Bank, VNTR | Innovation & more. Supaso represented their sustainable packaging solutions at Global Incubator Network Austria (GIN) and ADVANTAGE AUSTRIA Seoul‘s #goseoul 2022 program. New Work & Learning Eevie is exhibiting at the Impact Festival 2022, as well as speaking on a panel discussion tackling "Transforming Finance". Kickstart's New Work & Learning vertical teamed up with our partner gfm and alumnus Evrlearn for a fruitful discussion on "Lifelong Learning & Leadership Development". Catch the recording here. Perfect Memory exhibited at IBC - International Broadcasting Convention. Main Events 🗓 Vertical Journeys & more on our website here. Kickstart CEO Dinner - 25 October 2022 @ Lausanne (invite only) Climathon Zürich - 28 October 2022 @ Kraftwerk Kickstart Investor Summit - 15 November 2022 @ Virtual Event Kickstart Closing Ceremony & Party - 17 November 2022 @ Kraftwerk #Kickstarter22 Spotlight: Happy Bob interview here. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more to come! Best wishes, Alanna Murphy | Senior Program Manager