Swiss Startup Award 2023 honors best young companies
The 13th edition of the TOP 100 Swiss Startup Awards celebrated the best startups in Switzerland, selected by a 100-member jury: HAYA Therapeutics (1st place), Planted Foods (2nd place) and Yokoy Group (3rd place) lead the ranking.
The presentation of the Swiss Startup Award 2023 took place on September 6 at Startup Space in Schlieren. A selected audience including startup founders , investors and key partners of the TOP 100 attended . In addition, the award ceremony was broadcast live to a global audience. The 13th edition of the TOP 100 Swiss Startup Awards was organized by Venturelab in collaboration with presenting partners Credit Suisse and the Swiss Venture Club. The award has become the ultimate benchmark for startups in Switzerland.
develops and fosters a dynamic community of innovators. Over the past 13 years, a total of 553 startups have been ranked. These award-winning startups have created 17,955 jobs and raised CHF 12.7 billion to date. 79 exits and 9 IPOs crown the achievements of these entrepreneurs.
Swiss Startup Ranking 2023: HAYA Therapeutics, Planted and Yokoy
A jury of one hundred startup investors and experts selects the 100 startups that are no older than five years. The podium places in the TOP 100 Swiss Startup Ranking 2023 come from three
various industries: Biotechnology, Food Technology and Financial Technology. "The ranking reflects the strength of the Swiss startup ecosystem and shows the diversity and strong technical base," says Stefan Steiner, TOP 100 program manager. "Startups remain true drivers of innovation. They contribute both directly and indirectly to the prosperity and future of our country, especially in this rapidly accelerating world. In cleantech, for example, there are 17 representatives in the TOP 100 (including 3 in the TOP 10), confirming a positive momentum that started several years ago and is even stronger in 2023."
Another example of innovation concerns the emergence of artificial intelligence in our daily lives and in the business world beyond ChatGPT. The new ranking also introduces 41 new nominees and offers an exclusive look at this pioneering ecosystem that is among the best in the world. HAYA Therapeutics, Planted Foods and Yokoy are on average four years old, have created over 520 new jobs and raised a total of CHF 237 million in investments.
First place: HAYA Therapeutics
The biotech startup HAYA Therapeutics (www.hayatx.com) is developing precision drugs. Its lead candidate for the treatment of heart cancer is currently in the preclinical phase. The startup, based in Epalinges in the canton of Vaud, was founded in 2019 by Samir Ounzain and Daniel Blessing and ranked 8th in 2022.
Second place: Planted Foods
Planted Foods (www.eatplanted.com) is revolutionizing the food industry by making plant-based proteins from 100% animal-free ingredients. The vegan meat alternatives contain no additives. Planted Foods, based in Kemptthal ZH, was founded in 2019 by Christoph Jenny, Eric Stirnemann, Lukas Böni and Pascal Bieri and also already took 2nd place in 2022.
Third place: Yokoy Group
Fintech company Yokoy Group (www.yokoy.ai) uses artificial intelligence to automate the entire corporate spend and c redit card process. The startup, based in Canton Zurich, was founded in 2019 by Melanie Gabriel, Devis Lussi, Thomas Inhelder, Philippe Sahli, Lars Mangelsdorf and ranked 1st in 2022.
The list with all the top 100 startups can be found here.
