Entrepreneurship

Coachbetter has been able to attract prominent supporters from the world of professional football: According to a media release, former German national football coach Hansi Flick, fellow coach Uli Forte (former Bundesliga coach and Swiss Cup winner) and Steven Nzonzi (2018 World Cup winner with France) are investing in the platform. The funds of CHF 4 million raised as part of a Seed Plus financing round will be used to expand digital coach training in professional and amateur football.

According to the press release, the participation of former German national coach Hansi Flick, who is joining Coachbetter with his wife Silke and their joint investment fund, is particularly noteworthy. "By bringing innovative solutions to the amateur game, we are not only strengthening the development of young players, but also football as a whole," he is quoted as saying.

"With their expertise, the investors will shape the content of the platform and the company's football know-how," the press release states. According to Patrick Patzig, co-founder and CEO of Coachbetter, quoted in the press release, "their knowledge and experience is invaluable and will benefit our users in the future". For Coachbetter, coaches are the key to success. "We want to use our tool to inspire trainers to coach and make it easier for them to access digital tools."

The Wallisellen-based digital football technology start-up operates an app for digitalization in professional and amateur football, which is available in six languages. Coachbetter intends to use the fresh capital to optimize the platform in the DACH countries of Switzerland, Germany and Austria and to expand the circle of users to the USA. ce/heg

Four days before the end of the campaign on the crowdfunding platform OOMNIUM, Reseda reached its goal of increasing its capital by 1 million Swiss francs. Founded 18 years ago in Winterthur, the company manufactures furniture entirely in Switzerland and exclusively from local wood. They are sold without intermediaries.

According to a press release, the company intends to use the capital increase to further improve its products in terms of quality and ecological footprint, in particular by investing in a timber warehouse, building long-term relationships with Swiss forest owners and various other projects, all of which will be made possible by the new solid wood panel production facility in Flurlingen.

As Reseda now glues the wood itself, the company can also take control of and monitor the purchase of the raw wood, according to the company presentation on OOMNIUM. "Our aim is to source the majority of our wood directly from Swiss forest owners in five years' time, without any intermediaries." The company wants to "continue to grow, but not primarily by expanding into new stores, but by offering an even better, more convincing product".

Four days before the end of the campaign, Reseda shares had already changed hands to 262 swarm investors. This prompted those responsible to decide to extend the campaign and utilize the full scope of the planned capital increase: a further 3,000 shares are available for CHF 1,000 each until 11 December. Reseda intends to use the additional capital to realize another project close to its heart: the establishment of a second-hand platform for the sale of certified used Reseda furniture. ce/mm

The winners of this year's Digital Economy Award were announced on November 16, swissICT, the organizer of the competition, announced in a press release. From a total of 32 individuals, organizations and companies in the final, the audience and jury selected the winners in a total of six categories. They were recognized for outstanding achievements in digitalization and digital transformation.

Tigen Pharma SA received the Digital Innovation of the Year award for its data supply chain for cancer therapies developed in collaboration with Elca Informatique SA. The spin-off of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, ANYbotics AG, was awarded the Next global Hot Thing prize for the scaling of its robot fleet.

Kantonsspital Baden and development partner Siemens Healthineers received the Digital Excellence Commercial award for "several years of stable and very impressive development towards digital excellence". IT Canton Aargau won the Digital Excellence Governance & NPO award for "clear transformation management, an entrepreneurial approach and stringent control mechanisms" in the digital transformation. Digio AG won the ICT Education Excellence prize with its training concept.

Claudio Hintermann, founder and CEO of Abacus from Wittenbach SG, was awarded The Pascal Prize "for his long-term and consistently innovative work on a national and international scale". The public voted Jessica Farda from the University of St.Gallen with her start-up Noriware in Lupfig AG and Lucas Renfer from the Bern University of Applied Sciences and the Biel-based start-up Auto-Mate Robotics as NextGen Heroes. ce/hs

The sciencepreneurs who take part in the Academia-Industry Training (AIT) India programme are developing the results of applied research into innovative products and solutions. They are interested in India as a potential market. The AIT 2023 participants come from the fields of cleantech, medtech, robotics, ICT and engineering. With their business ideas and start-ups, they prevailed in a competitive process in which they came up against other high-quality candidates.

During the camp week in India, the participants will learn about the opportunities presented by the promising yet challenging Indian market and will also have the chance to establish contacts with companies, potential investors and local entrepreneurs. What is more, they will get to validate their concepts with peers, experts and prospective clients. A second and final camp week is scheduled to take place in Switzerland at the end of February 2024.

Academia-Industry Training (AIT) India

The Academia-Industry Training (AIT) India programme is an innovation-based funding instrument of the Leading House South Asia and Iran. It is aimed at young researchers from Swiss universities, universities of applied sciences and universities of teacher education as well as from research institutes and centres of technological excellence who are founding members of science-based Swiss startups. The programme is being implemented with the partners Swissnex in India and Venturelab and will be held for the tenth time in 2023.

Bucher Leichtbau AG is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. "As an outstanding example of Swiss pioneering work, the company has developed from a modest craft business to an international pioneer in the field of cabin and rescue equipment for aviation since it was founded by Heinrich Bucher," writes the company from the Zücher Oberland in a press release. Today, the group, which is structured into three companies, employs almost 170 people at its headquarters in Fällanden alone. Bucher Leichtbau specializes in components and constructions for aviation, cabin interiors, rail transport and rescue equipment in helicopters.

The company, currently managed by Beat Burlet in the third generation, goes back to Heinrich Bucher. The master plumber at Swissair specialized in the repair and maintenance of galleys in 1953. The founder's wife, Ida Bucher, was the first employee of the company, which operated from an old garage.

After the death of Heinrich Bucher in 1992, the company was handed over to the three descendants of the second generation and the AG was founded. At this point, Bucher Leichtbau had already acquired other airlines as customers in addition to Swissair, according to the press release. Scandinavia Airlines, Lufthansa, Australia Airlines as well as Everett and WA from the USA are mentioned by name.

In the anniversary year, however, the focus should not only be on the past, but also on the future, writes Bucher Leichtbau. The Group intends to develop "pioneering solutions" in this area in the coming years. ce/hs

Startup funder Venture Kick has broken the 1000 mark in funding for young companies. According to the media release, 1000 start-up projects in Switzerland have been funded with 50.3 million Swiss francs so far since its foundation in 2007. There were 783 start-ups founded and 13,305 jobs created, the report continues. Currently, Venture Kick looks back on a portfolio of 675 high-tech companies with 13,305 jobs and a financing volume of CHF 7.8 billion. Venture Kick is thus the leading start-up promoter in Europe.

In addition to the 50 million Swiss francs in seed capital from Venture Kick, the start-ups were financed with a further 7.8 billion Swiss francs from investors. Thanks to the newly launched Kickfund, start-ups can win a total of more than 1 million in seed capital via Venture Kick.

From 2007 to 2012, fewer than 20 percent of startups had women on their founding team, according to the release. This share has risen to 48 percent in the last three years.

In addition to the high survival rate of 85 percent, Venture Kick's startups show strong growth momentum. Around half of the start-ups originate from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich(ETH) and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne(EPFL). Venture Kick startups exist in 24 cantons, the release said.

In addition to financial support of up to CHF 150,000, the company founders benefited from intensive coaching and an extensive network of international investors and industry experts. "To successfully bring innovations to market, startups must build strong business cases that excite future customers, partners and investors," co-managing director Beat Schillig is quoted as saying. ce/gba 

A broad alliance of business and the public sector is launching the CE123.ch platform on August 22, 2023. According to a media release, its goal as a workshop for the circular economy is to provide SMEs with tools, potential analyses and energy check-ups in order to implement innovations, save costs and develop new offerings. Companies can already participate in the test phase that is now beginning.

Founding partners are the Canton of Zurich and the location marketing organization Greater Zurich Area AG. Its CEO Sonja Wollkopf Walt believes it is "important that the companies we attract make their contribution to the circular economy so that the Zurich economic region remains competitive and livable in the future".

The circular economy is becoming a legal reality not only in the EU, say the initiators of CE123.ch. New regulations are also expected in Switzerland in the next two to three years. They use two examples to show what the opportunities of the circular economy are: HUG AG recently developed an edible ice cream spoon, thereby reducing plastic waste. The Albisrieden window factory now offers repairs. It also now stores and sells leftover stock instead of throwing it away.

"We want to encourage people to try it out," Simone Alabor of CE123.ch is quoted as saying. "And that said, you don't have to have an answer for everything yet." During the one-year test phase, various tools will be tested together with the SMEs and evaluated in collaboration with scientific partners. These include the Zurich University of Applied Sciences(ZHAW), the University of St.Gallen(HSG) and the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland(FHNW). ce/mm

The pitfalls of finding an agency

This approach is in stark contrast to conventional agency search methods, which are primarily based on agency lists, Google or existing contacts.

"You wouldn't expect it, but unfortunately none of these methods are effective: around 60% of all clients are dissatisfied with the work of their agencies or freelancers," says Raphael Aebersold, initiator of Kampadre.

Anyone who now believes that only the clients are fighting with unsuitable partners is mistaken. Agencies also report that the search for suitable new customers is one of the biggest challenges in acquisition.

A solution to the problem must therefore take into account the interests of both sides and combine the best of each search method under one roof.

AI enables humanity

Kampadre has recognized the challenge and offers with its intelligent agency directory a platform that, thanks to AI, makes matching easier for both agencies and clients and increases the quality of the results.

Specifically, the following aspects speak in favor of an agency search with Kampadre:

• Neutral results: Unlike Google, results cannot be purchased. This promotes fair competition and also enables unknown, small agencies to be seen.
• Natural search thanks to AI: Searchers can find an find an agencyby describing in their own words what they want to achieve. Thanks to the specific configuration, the AI recognizes which agencies are best suited and then automatically creates a shortlist.
• HumanityBecause the process is completed in just a few seconds, searchers lose less time on the Internet and can focus instead on getting to know each other personally - because only through a direct exchange can you find out whether an agency is really a good fit.

The marketing platform of the future

Kampadre's mission is clear: to significantly increase the availability of high-quality marketing services, and the intelligent agency directory is the first step in this direction.

Further services are planned for the future, such as the option to book certain services directly or an expert chat for immediate, qualified answers to all marketing-related questions.

Fixposition, a Schlieren-based startup specializing in precision navigation systems, has agreed to collaborate with positioning specialist Position Partners in Australia and New Zealand, according to a media release. This is how field robotics will be improved together, even where there are poor data connections. Automation by means of field robotics enables acquisition of sensor data and corresponding device control.

Position Partners, based in Bundoora near Melbourne, supports construction, infrastructure, mining, agriculture and related applications where highly accurate Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) positioning is required, the release said. The agreement with Fixposition will enable customers in Australia and New Zealand to improve positioning accuracy, even when the signal is obstructed, he said.

Fixposition AG contributes its high-precision positioning technology xFusion to the project. This integrates image processing and provides highly accurate position and orientation information independent of GNSS availability.

«Our early access program for xFusion Cloud will enable our mutual customers to improve application positioning capabilities and reduce the impact of GNSS signal interference on performance,» Lukas Meier, co-founder and CTO of Fixposition, is quoted as saying.

A case study on field robotics will be presented at IGNSS 2024 (International Global Navigation Satellite Systems Association) in February 2024 in Australia.

Fixposition is a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich(ETH) located in the Innovation and Young Entrepreneur Center(IJZ) in Schlieren and is a member of Start Smart Schlieren. ce/gba  

Der Münchner Halbleiterkonzern Infineon hat 100 Prozent der Anteile des Ultrabreitband (Ultra Wideband, UWB)-Pioniers 3db Access aus Thalwil erworben. Die Ausgründung aus der Eidgenössischen Technischen Hochschule Zürich (ETH) ist bereits heute laut einer Medienmitteilung von Infineon bevorzugter IP-Anbieter für führende Automobilhersteller.

„Die Erfahrung von 3db in der Ultra-Wideband-Technologie beschleunigt unsere IoT-Roadmap, mit der wir das Marktpotenzial bei gesicherten, vernetzten Geräten erschliessen werden“, wird Thomas Rosteck, Präsident der Infineon-Division Connected Secure Systems, zitiert. „Unsere beiderseitigen Stärken ermöglichen den UWB-Rollout, der im nächsten Schritt weitere Automobil-, Industrie- und Verbraucher-IoT-Anwendungen umfassen wird.“

3db-CEO und -Mitgründer Boris Danev formuliert als Ziel, „die entscheidenden Stärken dieser Technologie gleichermassen für Smartphones wie für Autos nutzbar zu machen“. Als Teil von Infineon „sehen wir es als unsere Mission, das Angebot an gesicherten Lokalisierungs- und Sensorlösungen für wichtige IoT- und Automobilanwendungen deutlich zu erweitern. Von einem reinen IP-Anbieter entwickeln wir uns nun zu einem Team von Experten, die Lösungen aus der eigenen Fertigung anbieten.“

Infineon ist vom Mehrwert des gemeinsamen Erfahrungsschatzes hinsichtlich Forschung und Entwicklung (F&E) überzeugt und wirft seine 59 F&E-Standorte weltweit und seine diesbezügliche Investition von 13 Prozent seines jährlichen Umsatzes in die Waagschale. Die strategische Forschungspartnerschaft mit der ETH, die 3db mitbringt, will der Konzern weiter ausbauen „und den gemeinsamen Einsatz in den massgeblichen Gremien zur Standardisierung im Bereich gesicherte Lokalisierung und Sensorik intensivieren“. ce/mm

Nanoflex Robotics and Brainomix, a spin-off from the University of Oxford, are receiving funding under the "UK - Switzerland Bilateral: Collaborative R&D" bilateral cooperation program. Nanoflex Robotics, a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich founded in 2021, is being supported by the innovation promotion agency Innosuisse with 400,000 Swiss francs, while Brainomix is being supported by the British innovation agency Innovate UK with 400,000 pounds (438,000 Swiss francs).

Starting in 2024, the two companies will collaborate to develop an artificial intelligence-assisted magnetic navigation system for robotic surgical tools. The project aims to take advantage of Artificial Intelligence to optimize Nanoflex Robotics' state-of-the-art magnetic robotic navigation system for the world's first remotely controlled application for the surgical removal of a blood clot from a blood vessel (thrombectomy), explains George Harston, M.D., chief medical & innovation officer at Brainomix, in a Media release from his company, «This is intended to transform stroke treatment options and improve outcomes for sufferers.»

Christophe Chautems, co-founder and CTO of Nanoflex Robotics, points out the fundamentally important time factor: «By providing better and earlier access to mechanical thrombectomies with our remotely controlled robotics platform, we hope to give more people the chance to live independently after a stroke.» ce/mm

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