TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award: The best startups of 2022
On September 7, the TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award was presented for the 12th time. This prize is awarded to the best startups in Switzerland. A selected audience of startups, investors and TOP 100 partners attended the award ceremony at startup space in Schlieren. The award ceremony was also broadcast live for a worldwide audience.
What was launched in 2011 as a ranking and event to honor the best Swiss startups has since become a benchmark in Switzerland as "TOP 100 Swiss Startup". Today, TOP 100 offers an Investor Summit, several matchmaking events throughout the year, the only startup magazine translated into five languages, and the benchmark event TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award, often referred to as the "Swiss Oscar for startups". This ecosystem provides a platform to connect promising Swiss startup CEOs, executives, investors and journalists to gain insights into the latest concepts, strengthen networks and forge new business relationships. The 512 Swiss deeptech startups included in the TOP 100 ranking over the past 12 years have created 16,149 jobs and raised CHF 11.1 billion. 71 exits and eight IPOs round out the achievements of these innovators.
Honored with the TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award: Yokoy, Planted Foods and Ledgy
For the first time since the TOP 100 ranking was established, a fintech startup has taken first place, highlighting the rapid growth of this field in recent years. With more than 40 new nominees, the 2022 ranking provides a unique overview of this innovative ecosystem, which is among the best internationally. The three top-ranked startups in fintech and foodtech, Yokoy, Planted Foods and Ledgy, represent the diversity and potential of Swiss startups: they are on average three and a half years old, have already created over 420 new jobs and raised a total of CHF 153 million from investors. Here is a brief portrait of the three top startups:
- Yokoy (www.yokoy.ai): This fintech company uses artificial intelligence to automate the entire process for corporate spending and corporate credit cards. The Zurich-based startup was founded in 2019 by Melanie Gabriel, Devis Lussi, Thomas Inhelder, Philippe Sahli and Lars Mangelsdorf and landed in 20th place in 2021.
- Planted Foods (www.eatplanted.com): Turning plants into "meat," Planted Foods is revolutionizing the food industry by creating plant-based protein from 100% animal product-free ingredients. The vegan meat alternatives contain no additives. Planted Foods was founded in 2019 by Christoph Jenny, Eric Stirnemann, Lukas Böni and Pascal Bieri and ranked 37th in 2020.
- Ledgy (www.ledgy.com): Ledgy is an equity management platform that helps startups manage their equity investments, employee stock ownership plans, funding rounds, and investor relations. The fintech startup was founded in 2017 by ETH Physics graduates Yoko Spirig, Ben-Elias Brandt and Timo Horstschäfer and ranked 13th in 2021.
Investors discover Swiss startup gems at TOP 100 Investor Summit
100 hand-picked Swiss and international super angels, venture capitalists, corporate investors and family office representatives, representing an investment potential of more than 20 billion Swiss francs, attended the TOP 100 Investor Summit 2022, which took place before the awards ceremony. This event, to which only accredited investors are admitted, provided those in attendance with what they described as a unique platform to identify the future gems that have what it takes to be among Switzerland's best. The TOP 100 Alumni include several Unicorns - such as Climeworks, GetYourGuide, MindMaze or wefox.
Along the growth curve
Since the TOP 100 Startups ranking is limited to startups up to five years after founding, a growth jury was asked to select the best 25 scale-ups. These companies, which are between five and ten years old, create thousands of highly skilled jobs and have made Switzerland a hotspot on the global innovation map. The scale-ups show the greatest potential and follow in the footsteps of TOP 100 alumni such as Bcomp, Doodle, Insphero, Kandou Bus, On, Optotune or Sophia Genetics. "This year's ranking reflects the strength of the Swiss ecosystem," says TOP 100 Program Director Stefan Steiner. "With a record CHF 2.6 billion in venture capital already flowing into startups in the first half of the year, we are on our way to new heights, and we intend to continue on this path despite the current crises in the global economy."
Click here for the TOP 100 rankings
