Solothurn, March 4, 2025. The competition for Switzerland’s most prestigious startup award is heating up. Fifteen outstanding startups have advanced to the next stage of the W.A. de Vigier Awards, bringing them one step closer to securing one of up to five coveted CHF 100,000 prizes.

Selected from a pool of 50 promising young companies, the top 15 startups impressed a live audience, online viewers, and the foundation board with their groundbreaking ideas during Selection Day in late February. The rigorous selection process began with over 200 applications spanning eight industry clusters.

“The quality of the pitches was astounding. These young CEOs confidently tackled even the toughest questions from our jury. Their innovation, determination, and business acumen are truly inspiring,” says Céline Bedu, COO of the W.A. de Vigier Foundation.

Now, the Top 15 will undergo further evaluation through expert reports and in-depth interviews with the foundation board. The next milestone? The selection of the Top 10 during two presentation days in early May, leading up to the grand award ceremony on June 18, 2025, where Switzerland’s most promising entrepreneurs will take the stage.

These are the Top 15 CEOs and their startups (in alphabetical order)

Emmanuel Akpakwu / Axmed AG
Access to medicines for all
Axmed is a B2B medicines marketplace transforming healthcare access for underserved communities worldwide. By consolidating demand across public, private, and third sectors, the platform enables bulk purchasing, reducing costs and improving supply chain efficiency. It connects pre-approved manufacturers with buyers, ensuring access to high-quality medicines at competitive prices. Through strategic partnerships with governments, NGOs, and logistics providers, Axmed streamlines procurement and distribution.

José Luis Bala / Precise Health SA
Reducing antimicrobial resistance with bacteriophage therapy
Precise Health SA is making it easier for doctors to find life-saving bacteriophage treatments for dangerous infections. Their platform connects doctors to global phage biobanks with a single click, cutting out long search times. Using AI and genomics, it quickly identifies the right phages without the need for weeks of lab testing. If no suitable phages exist, the platform can design new ones digitally, offering hope for drug-resistant infections.

Julie Böhning / PAVE Space SA
Improving space mobility and logistics
This startup addresses the growing challenge of sustainable space operations by providing efficient orbital logistics solutions. With more satellites aging in orbit and increasing space debris, PAVE’s Satellite Life Extension (LEX) service will extend the lifespan of satellites by offering refueling, repositioning, and maintenance – reducing waste and replacement costs. To prepare for this, PAVE is launching an in-orbit demonstration in 2027, entering the Space Situational Awareness (SSA) market to track satellites and debris.

Estelle Clerc / CellX Biosolutions
Using bacteria as master recyclers
Chemical waste is mostly treated by burning or filtering, which is expensive, inefficient, and releases harmful CO₂. This startup offers a natural alternative by using special bacteria that break down toxic chemicals like PFAS, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals. Developed at ETH Zurich, their technology finds and captures the best bacteria for the job, turning them into eco-friendly products that safely remove pollution. Starting in 2025, they will launch pilot projects with industry partners to make chemical waste treatment more sustainable and affordable.

Bilal Fares | Azure Cell Therapies
Regenerating neurons to defeat Parkinson’s
Every 9 minutes, someone is diagnosed with Parkinson’s, a disease that destroys brain cells with no cure. Current treatments only manage symptoms and become less effective over time. Azure Cell Therapies is changing this by developing a breakthrough regenerative treatment: lab-grown neurons that can be safely transplanted into patients’ brains. Their technology ensures scalability, safety (low tumor risk), and long-term survival of these neurons. With 18 years of research, $8M in funding, and 5 patents, they are redefining the future of Parkinson’s treatment.

Simona Fehlmann | sallea AG
Revolutionizing cultivated meat and fish
Most cultivated meat today can only be made into unstructured products like burgers, sausages and nuggets because the cells grow in flat layers. sallea has found a way to grow real, structured steaks and fillets using edible scaffolds—a special support system that helps the cells grow just like in nature. Founded by an all-female team from ETH Zurich, sallea’s solution makes high-quality, sustainable meat and fish without harming animals or the planet.

Moritz Geilinger| Flink Robotics
Robots for material handling
Many industries, from e-commerce to pharmaceuticals, struggle with labor shortages, rising costs, and increasing demand for faster deliveries. Traditional warehouse operations rely on manual material handling, which is slow and difficult to scale. Flink solves this by providing smart, adaptable robotics systems that automate tasks like sorting, picking, and loading. Unlike rigid industrial robots, Flink’s AI-powered cobots adjust in real time, seamlessly integrating into existing workflows. This allows businesses to boost efficiency, reduce costs, and ensure faster, more reliable deliveries.

Edwige Guinet | Visienco AG
AI-powered organoid handling
Traditional drug testing is slow, expensive, and unreliable, with 90% of animal-tested drugs failing in humans. Organoids—miniature lab-grown human organs—offer a better alternative, but their use is limited by manual, inconsistent workflows. Visienco solves this with Orgadroid, an AI-powered benchtop device that automates organoid sorting with precision and scalability. Developed at CSEM, this technology ensures high-quality organoids, accelerating drug discovery, diagnostics, and personalized medicine—while reducing the need for animal testing.

Freddy Hunziker | New Roots
Vegan dairy made in Switzerland
Milk production has a major environmental impact. New Roots offers a sustainable alternative by replacing cow’s milk with lupins—protein-rich legumes that naturally enrich the soil and grow efficiently. Using natural biotechnology, lupin milk is produced and can be processed in existing cheese dairies without additional investment. The cheese is traditionally fermented and aged but with 80% lower CO₂ emissions and 6,000 times less water consumption. This innovative approach provides an ethical, healthy, and eco-friendly solution for cheese production.

Christian Jünger | YQuantum GmbH
Making Quantum Computing Scalable
Quantum computers could revolutionize industries like medicine, finance, and logistics, but today’s systems are too small to unlock their full potential. YQuantum solves this by developing scalable hardware that allows quantum computers to grow from 100 to 100,000 qubits—a 1,000x improvement. By miniaturizing and integrating cryogenic components, YQuantum is paving the way for practical, large-scale quantum computing. This breakthrough could lead to faster drug discovery, optimized supply chains, and advanced AI, transforming technology as we know it.

Matthew Lapinski | Clee Medical SA
Advancing precision and efficiency in neurosurgical tools
Clee Medical is transforming brain surgery with an advanced platform that combines ultra-high-resolution real-time imaging, AI-based navigation, and machine learning. This technology allows surgeons to operate with extreme precision, reducing risks and improving patient outcomes. By offering better visualization of complex brain structures, it enables safer, more effective treatments for neurological conditions. The system also lowers healthcare costs, speeds up recovery, and expands access to life-saving therapies.

Hugo Meley | Inteeth SA
Truly invisible behind-the-teeth aligners
Braces and aligners help straighten teeth, but they come with trade-offs: metal braces are visible, lingual braces are costly and uncomfortable, and clear aligners must be removed constantly. InTeeth solves this with InLiner™, a truly invisible, behind-the-teeth aligner that combines comfort, precision, and faster treatment. It reduces chair time by 50%, making invisible orthodontics more accessible and affordable. With its patented design and proven results, InTeeth is set to transform orthodontic care.

Ulrike Pfreundt | rrreefs AG
Rebuilding and regenerating coral reefs
rrreefs restores dying coral reefs using an innovative 3D-printed modular system that helps marine life thrive. Their reef regeneration packages offer companies a simple way to invest in ocean health, meet sustainability goals, and comply with regulations. By combining marine science, technology, and business engagement, rrreefs drives long-term positive change for coastal ecosystems. Fully scaled, their system could protect 700 km of coastline within a decade. Through restoration and policy work, rrreefs helps safeguard ocean biodiversity and coastal communities.

Donato Rubinetti | lonic Wind
Silent, energy-efficient device cooling
This startup is transforming how electronic devices stay cool by replacing traditional fans with a silent, energy-efficient technology called Ionic Wind. Instead of using spinning blades, it moves air using an electric field, reducing noise, energy use, and wear and tear on devices. This means laptops and other compact electronics can stay cooler, run longer on battery, and last longer overall. With 48% more airflow and lower power consumption, this innovation makes modern technology quieter, more efficient, and more sustainable.

Michael Schacher | Alligator AG
Efficient Charging of Semi-Trucks While Driving
The company enables the charging of semi-trucks while driving by relocating batteries to the trailer. These batteries can be charged independently of the towing vehicle while being loaded with cargo. A specially developed planar connector replaces traditional cable connections, ensuring safe and reliable power transmission. This allows for more efficient use of solar energy, extends the range of electric trucks, and helps preserve battery life. The solution contributes to a more sustainable and cost-effective future for heavy-duty transportation.

About the W.A. de Vigier Awards

The W.A. de Vigier Award is the oldest award for young entrepreneurs in Switzerland and, with annual prize money of up to CHF 500,000 (five times CHF 100,000), is one of the most highly endowed startup prizes in Switzerland. Over the past 36 years, the foundation has distributed almost CHF 15 million of seed money. The results are over 150 flourishing startups, successful IPOs, multiple company exits and above all, many newly created jobs.

The following aspects are relevant for the evaluation of the projects: The entrepreneurial personality, the degree of innovation, the value for society as a whole, the technical and financial viability, market prospects and the potential for job creation.