The TOP Swiss Medtech Startups 2021

The TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award showcases the most promising Swiss startups. The annual ranking has become a benchmark in Switzerland’s startup ecosystem—and beyond. Discover the top medtech startups that impressed the expert jury and the public, and find out how the companies improve the well-being and quality of life of humans and animals.

Every year, a panel of 100 leading investors and startup experts chooses the 100 most innovative and promising Swiss startups. 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 nine points, and so on. The individual rankings are compiled to generate the final TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award ranking. In parallel, the TOP 100 Public Voting allows everyone with a LinkedIn account can cast one vote and choose the most promising startup per vertical.
 
Discover the 17 medtech startups that made it into the TOP 100 Ranking 2021 and were celebrated at the TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award 2021: 
 


6. Piavita
Piavita aims to digitalize the veterinary industry by combining combined sensors, big data, and AI to form a platform for the remote monitoring of sick and convalescent horses. The technical basis is a sensor technology in which the sensor, strapped to the animal’s chest, allows vital signs, such as pulse and temperature, to be measured through the coat. As a next step, Piavita will make its telemedicine solution available for dogs. Piavita was a Venture Leader Technology (2017) and a Venture Leader China (2019).

9. Resistell
Resistell proposes an alternative to culture-based antibiograms, the current gold standard in antibiotic susceptibility testing: The EPFL spin-off offers a diagnostic device, the rapid AST method, which is based on the detection of movement caused by living bacterial cells. The new method reduces the time taken to get a result from days to minutes, shows which specific antibiotic is effective against the bacteria, and significantly improves the chances of patients’ survival. The first clinical studies are underway, and market entry is expected for 2022. Resistell was a Venture Kick winner in 2018 and a Venture Leader Life Sciences in 2019. 

12. Volumina Medical
Volumina Medical has developed an injectable implant that enables minimally invasive breast reconstruction. As two million women develop breast cancer annually worldwide, the market for the product is huge. The company’s word-of-mouth recommendations from the first doctors to use the new technology will be decisive in the breakthrough. Volumina Medical was a Venture Kick winner in 2018 and a Venture Leader Life Sciences in 2019. 

26. IDUN Technologies
IDUN Technologies, an ETH spin-off, develops a sensor that monitors human emotions through headphones. Along with Sony in 2020, the company has announced another prominent investor: Japanese pharmaceutical company Takeda. The potential of the new partnership is huge: The IDUN earphones are able to analyze how a drug works—an critical step in personalized medicine. IDUN Technologies was a Venture Kick winner in 2018, a Venture Leader Life Sciences in 2018, and a Venture Leader China in 2019. 

35. flowbone
More than 600,000 hip fractures occur in Europe every year, and many lead to permanent walking difficulties. EPFL spin-off flowbone, founded in summer 2020, is working on an injectable biogel that strengthens brittle hip bones locally and in a minimally invasive manner. Clinical studies are planned to start at the end of 2022. Flowbone received Venture Kick support in 2020 and is a Venture Leader Medtech 2021. flowbone was a Venture Kick winner in 2020 and a Venture Leader Medtech in 2021. 

37. hemotune
When a body cannot fight off an infection, it spreads throughout the body via the blood; the immune system overshoots and directs itself against healthy tissue. ETH spin-off hemotune has developed a blood purification system based on nanospheres: The magnetic particles dock with the pathogens—viruses or bacteria—and are then filtered out of the blood. Thus, HemoSystem prevents blood poisoning from leading to septic shock, organ failure, and death. A Series A financing brought the Zurich startup CHF 5.1 million last summer. hemotune was a Venture Kick winner in 2017 and is a Venture Leader Medtech 2021. 

40. Aktiia
Elevated blood pressure affects 1.3 billion people and is the leading cause of heart attacks and strokes globally. The Neuchâtel CSEM spin-off Aktiia has developed a measuring device that is worn on the wrist; it monitors individual blood pressure continuously and displays it via an app. The device received the CE mark at the beginning of the year and has since been sold in more than 40 countries worldwide.

45. Artiria Medical
Every year, 13 million people suffer a stroke, which often leads to severe disability or death. Currently, the standard treatment uses the patient’s arteries as an access route to insert a microcatheter into the brain. The guidewire developed by EPFL spin-off Artiria Medical promises better navigation in the tiny cerebral arteries and, thus, a higher quality of treatment. Artiria Medical was a Venture Leader Life Sciences in 2018 and a Venture Kick winner in 2019. 

47. LifeMatrix Technologies
More than 2.1 million patients receive artificial heart valves or other cardiovascular implants every year, with the diseased tissue replaced by synthetic or animal-derived materials. Zurich startup LifeMatrix Technologies’ biomimetic implants are obtained from human cells and thus lead to fewer complications and fewer deaths. The startup’s founding CEO is renowned cardiac surgeon Maximilian Emmert. LifeMatrix Technologies was a Venture Leader Life Sciences in 2020 and a Venture Kick winner in 2021.

53. Scewo
Our built environment is anything but wheelchair-accessible. So, a team of Winterthur students set themselves the goal of developing the wheelchair of the 21st century: A wheelchair that climbs stairs and, thanks to self-balancing technology, moves quickly and agilely on both flat and uneven terrain. Sales of the first series models started last summer, and in March 2021, the Scewo BRO wheelchair received the German Design Award in the ‘Excellent Product Design’ category. Scewo was a Venture Kick winner in 2017.

55. Adiposs
Cancer cachexia is an emaciation syndrome characterized by involuntary weight loss. It affects more than half of all cancer patients and is the cause of death in a fifth of those affected. Adiposs, a spin-off from the University of Geneva, is developing a contrast agent that makes changes in brown and beige body fat visible in a computer tomograph and thus enables early detection. Clinical trials should begin this year after approval by the UK regulatory agency. Adiposs was a Venture Kick winner and a Venture Leader Life Sciences in 2020.

56. Terapet
Proton therapy is the most precise radiation therapy available. However, no solution exists to date to verify the radiation dose administered during tumor treatment or its location. Terapet, founded in 2019, is developing a system with which doctors will be able to monitor the proton dose in vivo, non-invasively, in 3D, and in real time, thus saving hospitals time and money. Terapet was a Venture Kick winner and a Venture Leader Life Sciences in 2020.

65. Altoida
Alzheimer’s disease is not curable, but physical activity and memory training can slow the process down in the early stages. Altoida operates a platform for brain health data that supports the early detection of Alzheimer’s up to 10 years before the onset of the disease. The Altoida app is an FDA-approved and CE-marked medical product. Altoida was a Venture Kick winner in 2014.

66. TWIICE
Research in the field of exoskeletons has been carried out at EPFL’s Laboratoire de Systèmes Robotiques since 2015. But it was not until the end of 2020 that Tristan Vouga’s team got serious and founded TWIICE. Its goal is to develop and market exoskeletons that enable people with spinal cord injuries to stand up, walk, and climb stairs. TWIICE was a Venture Kick winner in 2017.

71. RetinAI Medical
Machine learning, computer vision, and signal processing: Bern-based medtech startup RetinAI bundles the latest IT technology to discover eye pathologies earlier than is possible with current diagnostic methods. After several successful pilot projects, the RetinAI founders, with CEO Carlos Piller, signed a long-term cooperation agreement with Novartis. RetinAI Medical was a Venture Kick winner in 2017, a Venture Leader Life Sciences in 2017, and  Venture Leader China in 2018. 

84. EarlySight
Many eye diseases—for example, age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma—begin with the degeneration of the cell structure of the retina. But until now, this impairment has not been visible with the available diagnostic devices. The imaging technology developed by EarlySight now enables a 10 times more detailed view of the retinal tissue. EarlySight was a Venture Kick winner in 2020.

Public Voting: Spiden 
Spiden advances human well-being by monitoring health indicators and supporting timely and individualized diagnostics. The startup combines advanced spectral techniques with state-of-the-art data analysis and a novel approach for technology miniaturization to continuously measure biomarkers and drugs in real time.