ETH spin-offs in the fast lane
The top 100 Swiss startups of 2014 were announced yesterday evening, and 18 ETH spin-offs were included in the list. What’s more, the startup with the best prospects of success started life at ETH Zurich.
Many young people dream of founding their own company. Despite the associated risks, more and more university graduates are choosing to set up spin-offs and transfer their knowledge and ideas to the market in the form of products and services.
Over 300 spin-offs have been launched at ETH Zurich since 1996, and many have become some of the most successful startups in Switzerland. This is also evident from the fact that several have been earmarked as takeover targets by large-scale enterprises. For example, the ETH spin-off external page Covagen, which was founded in 2006 by doctoral candidates from ETH Professor Dario Neri’s group, was bought out by a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson in August this year. The company develops new pharmaceuticals for treating cancer and inflammatory diseases. According to Handelszeitung, the takeover was worth more than CHF 200 million.
Three ETH spin-offs in the top 10
ETH spin-offs are regular recipients of awards, and yesterday’s announcement by IFJ (Institut für Jungunternehmen) of the 100 most promising startups of the year was no exception. A total of 18 companies which started out at ETH Zurich made the grade – three were even listed in the top 10.
First place went to external page InSphero, 2014’s startup with the greatest prospects for success. Founded in 2010, this ETH spin-off produces pinhead-sized tumour and liver tissue which scientists can, for example, use to test whether a particular substance attacks the liver. Up to now, preclinical tests have only been able to detect whether a substance damages the liver in half of the cases. InSphero can increase this rate of detection. This would allow researchers to examine the effects of taking a specific substance multiple times over the course of several days. The startup counts several top international conglomerates from the pharmaceuticals industry among its customer base.
CO2 separation and text recognition
Another ETH spin-off among the top ten is external page Climeworks in seventh place. The company has developed CO2 collectors enabling pure CO2 to be filtered from the air and used as a raw material for many industrial applications such as automotive fuels (diesel, benzene or methane, for example). This has the potential to reposition CO2, former scourge of the Earth’s climate, as a key component for climate-friendly fuels of the future.
external page Dacuda rounds out the companies listed in the top ten. Founded in 2008, the ETH spin-off has developed a technology called SLAM Scan, which rapidly scans texts, images and tables, and enables them to be directly edited and shared at the touch of a button with other people and platforms. The LSM 100 Scanner Mouse produced by electronics giant LG Electronics is one of the first products based on this technology and marketed around the world.
Top 100 Swiss Startups Award
The ranking was established by IFJ (Institut für Jungunternehmen) in 2011. Each year, a panel of 100 experts from the world of startups selects the 100 most promising new companies in Switzerland founded since 2009 from a pool of over 100,000. Each expert can nominate and award points to ten startups with the greatest business potential. They are free to make their selection based on the companies’ products, services or business models. The full list of winners can be viewed at external page startup.ch.
The project is supported by the Gebert Rüf Stiftung, the Swiss Private Equity & Corporate Finance Association (SECA) and Switzerland Global Enterprise. Handelszeitung serves as the media partner for the German edition, while PME Magazine is responsible for the Romandie region.