Jury selects top 13 for ZKB Pionierpreis Technopark 2026

(CONNECT) The ZKB Pionierpreis Technopark has received 76 applications this year, more than ever before - around 40 percent more than last year. The eight-member jury has now selected 13 of them for the next round. This pre-selection forms the basis for the nomination of the five finalists. They can present their projects at the award ceremony on May 12, 2026 at Technopark Zurich.

Of this year's top 13, a good half are developing solutions for a greener future. Three come from the biotech sector and two from robotics. The following have qualified for the next round in alphabetical order: Aseptuva (Bern), CCRAFT (Neuchâtel), Chiral Nano (Dübendorf ZH), FimmCyte (Basel), GlycoEra (Wädenswil ZH), KLARK (Landquart GR), NovaMea (Saint-Sulpice VD), RoBoa (Zurich), RTDT Laboratories (Zurich), Scrimber CSC (Thun BE), SolidWatts (Pully VD), Unbound Potential (Thalwil ZH) and Winduction (Zurich).

This year, most of the applications (47) came from the Zurich region. 16 were received from French-speaking Switzerland. 36 percent have a connection to the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology in Zurich or Lausanne and 7 percent each to the University of Zurich or the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology. The vast majority of start-ups, namely 64.5 percent, deal with artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning or other AI technologies.

The Pionierpreis has been awarded by Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB) and the Technopark Zurich Foundation for over 20 years and is considered one of the most important deep-tech innovation prizes in Switzerland. It honors projects at the transition from innovative idea to market maturity. In this phase, CHF 100,000 in prize money for the winner and CHF 10,000 each for two further finalists will support further development. In addition, an audience award worth 5000 francs will be presented. ce/mm