Five finalists for the ZKB Pioneer Award Technopark 2026 have been announced

(CONNECT) The jury for the ZKB Pionierpreis Technopark has selected five DeepTech companies for the final of the 2026 prize, which is endowed with 100,000 Swiss francs, according to a press release. The award has been presented since 2001. This year's award ceremony will take place on May 12 at Technopark Zurich, which is awarding the prize together with Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB).

A total of 76 young companies applied, more than ever before, 13 of them were nominated and five of them are in the final. The majority (60 percent) of the finalists focus their technology on artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning. They cover a broad field: innovations in the energy sector, robotics, photonics and pharmaceuticals. According to the press release, 40 percent of the teams at founder or C-level are female.

Jury chairman Lothar Thiele emphasized the exceptionally high quality of the finalists. "We see scientifically sound technologies with a clear market perspective and an impressive thematic diversity. This diversity is a strong sign of a mature and broad-based deep tech ecosystem in Switzerland," he is quoted as saying.

Glycoera from Wädenswil ZH, which is also based at the Bio-Technopark Schlieren-Zurich, is designed to meet a key challenge in the treatment of autoimmune diseases. The start-up is developing an in vivo glycoengineering platform that enables novel biologics. They target circulating proteins (autoantibodies) that are considered to cause the disease. Roboa AG from Zurich has developed a flexible, autonomous robot that can reach areas that are inaccessible to humans and conventional robots, such as narrow pipes, closed tanks or rubble areas. Highly flexible, modular snake robots enable inspection, maintenance and first aid for trapped persons.

RTDT Laboratories AG, based in Technopark Zurich, is working on increasing the efficiency of wind turbines. With Aerosense, the start-up provides an innovative patch system that analyses the rotor aerodynamics directly during operation and enables precise optimization of the turbine controllers for maximum, site-specific energy yields. Unbound Potential from Thalwil ZH uses the opportunities offered by innovative, large-scale energy storage systems to improve storage technology. A membraneless flow battery enables cost-effective and rapidly scalable energy storage for a resilient, sustainable energy infrastructure.

Ccraft SA from Neuchâtel is a Swiss chip factory for scalable TFLN photonic chips. The focus is on the further development of high-performance thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) technology for scalable mass production. ce/heg