Kickstart 2024: New milestone for Swiss innovations
What is currently on the minds of the Swiss population? In the annual SRG survey "How's it going, Switzerland?", financial concerns such as rising health insurance premiums and pensions as well as a faster pace of work were at the forefront. Climate change and the reduction of domestic emissions also played a role. In recent years, start-ups in particular have developed solutions and innovations that everyone knows today, including Planted, Neustark, New Roots, Kern Tec and AAAcell.
Kickstart Innovation has been recognized by CB Insights as one of the 25 best innovation platforms worldwide. The organization actively tackles pressing challenges. Kickstart recently held its 9th Closing Ceremony. The event marked the end of an 11-week program. Kickstart worked with leading companies, organizations, cities, foundations and universities. Together, over 30 innovative projects were presented in Switzerland.
Over 340 deals concluded for new projects
Since its inception in 2016, the program has supported over 490 start-ups and facilitated over 340 deals in the form of pilot projects and commercial projects. Kickstart start-ups have raised more than CHF 2.8 billion in investment for innovation since the program began, including over CHF 245 million this year alone.
"The spectrum of deals is broadening and increasingly encompasses different sectors. From core business to ground-breaking innovations driven by AI and sustainability. The finance and insurance sector, for example, needs technology-driven solutions to continue to meet the high individual requirements of its customer base," explains Katka Letzing. She is CEO and co-founder of Kickstart Innovation.
The core idea of the Kickstart program is to promote the innovation potential of start-ups. At the same time, the aim is to collaborate with established companies. The aim is to respond to increasingly complex market conditions. The solutions this year are diverse. They range from carbon-neutral materials to advanced AI applications. These innovations are driving efficiency and change in various industries. The program shows how important it is to break down silos. Combining expertise produces the best results. Innovation and partnership play a central role in this. In total, more than 30 deals were concluded. These are spread across the areas of Finance & Insurance, Food & Retail, New Work & Learning, Health & Wellbeing, Smart Cities, Climate Positive Mission and Intrapreneurship.
Consumers are becoming increasingly demanding
More than 30 promising deals were agreed with the renowned companies AXA, Coop, Swisscom, Mobiliar, PostFinance, Sanitas, the City of Zurich, the Canton of Vaud and MSD Switzerland, as well as with IKEA Switzerland and Romande Energie.
"Consumers are becoming increasingly demanding when it comes to digital services and technological advances. This year, we have seen numerous compelling use cases where AI is being used in conjunction with effective sustainability solutions. Sustainability is in our DNA and focusing on new customer trends is essential for us. This year, we are working with many start-ups. We are proud to announce new commercial projects with alumni such as Kern Tec. The starting signal has been given and marks a further step towards innovation and progress," explains Adrian Giger. He is Project Manager in Corporate Development at Coop.
Selected synopses of the public partnerships 2024:
Kickstart Innovation's partnerships cover a wide range of topics and industries. In Finance & Insurance, it is working with companies such as Hypt, Neur.on and Multimodal on AI-supported solutions to improve customer feedback, lead generation and document management. Food & Retail focuses on sustainability, with projects to extend the shelf life of food, the use of recycled ingredients and research into alternative packaging materials.
In the area of Health & Wellbeing, collaborations such as those between MSD and AllyWell promote access to psychological support and improve diagnostic procedures for rare diseases. In New Work & Learning, the focus is on initiatives to optimize processes, promote female managers and improve the corporate culture.
Smart cities benefit from PoCs to improve water efficiency, extend the lifespan of infrastructure and build resilience in the energy sector. In addition, alumni and partners such as Ikea are committed to sustainable solutions, such as the reuse of wood waste and bio-based materials, to promote a climate-positive future.
Source: www.kickstart-innovation.com
