Switzerland's TOP engineering startups 2020

The TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award ranking has become a benchmark in Switzerland’s startup ecosystem. To make sure the startups get all the attention they deserve, we will feature the top startups in each vertical. The TOP engineering startups in Switzerland showcase innovative solutions in 3D printing, augmented and virtual reality, and robotics that will improve our everyday lives.

Every year, the 100 most innovative and promising Swiss startups are picked by a panel of 100 leading investors and startup experts. Each jury member nominates 10 Swiss startups that are less than five years old and show the greatest commercial potential. The first-placed company gets 10 points, the second 9, and so on. All these individual rankings are compiled to generate the final TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award ranking, which recognizes the startups that have most impressed all 100 jury members. In the coming weeks, we will look at the top startups in each vertical.



1. 9T Labs
Even though 3D printers are standard equipment in industrial development departments, additive manufacturing has not yet made the leap into series production. The production of 3D printed parts in quantity requires in-depth knowledge of simulation software, certification, and materials science, which is what 9T Labs, founded in 2018 and based in Zurich, offers as a complete package on a leasing basis. The startup closed a financing round of CHF 4.3 million at the beginning of 2020 and will deliver the first series of printers later this year, targeted at the medtech and aviation sectors.

2. CREAL
The glasses that enable an augmented and virtual reality experience can make one feel very nauseous. EPFL spin-off CREAL has developed a patented invention that projects images similarly to a hologram and helps to cure the feeling of nausea while providing lighting effects and high-resolution depth that has not existed in the virtual world. After the Venture Leaders Technology investor roadshow to Silicon Valley, venture capital and private investors injected CHF 4.3 million at the end of last year, along with CHF 2.5 million in EU support. 

3. Sevensense Robotics
Manually controlled, mobile machines are normally still used for industrial cleaning, material transport, delivery, monitoring, and inspection. Sevensense offers a turnkey solution that turns manual machines into self-driving robots and enables them to move into crowded and fast-changing spaces and support humans. The ETH spin-off, supported by Innosuisse, InnoBooster, Venture Kick, and Venture Leaders, is domiciled in the Wyss Zurich Accelerator. Sevensense CEO Gregory Hitz was a Venture Leader Technology 2020.
 

The best engineering startup according to the TOP 100 Public Vote

The TOP 100 Public Vote runs parallel to the expert jury ranking and allows the public—everyone with a LinkedIn account can cast one vote—to choose the most promising startup.

Engineering winner Public Vote: ANYbotics
ANYbotics redefines how machines are able to support industrial operations. The ETH spin-off’s four-legged walking robot ANYmal C moves independently through industrial environments, walks up and down steps and stairs, and climbs over obstacles and gaps, expanding industrial operations and cloud-based solutions with the safety, reliability, accuracy, and endurance of a robot. ANYbotics’ autonomous robot inspector, which is used for routine monitoring tasks in the energy, oil, gas, and processing industries, is scheduled to go into series production next year.