Ava is once again best startup in Switzerland

Ava once again takes first place in the Top 100 Swiss Startup Awards. The Zurich startup has developed a wristwatch that helps women trying to get pregnant. It does so by collecting data on nine different physiological parameters while the wearer is sleeping, including skin temperature, breathing rate and resting pulse rate. Algorithms then determines the fertile window. The startup has previously raised funding of US$ 42.3 million.

In second place after Ava is the Lausanne startup Bestmile, which has developed a platform for the integration of autonomous and conventional driven vehicle fleets. This platform is used by PostAuto, SBB and Californian Robotaxis. Third place went to Lunaphore Technologies, also from Lausanne, for its technology that aims to revolutionise the field of tissue diagnostics. The other startups in the top ten are CUTISS, Piavita, Advanon and Versantis from Zurich, Wingtra from Zug as well as Flyability and Gamaya from Lausanne.

On the whole, the ranking of 100 most promising Swiss startups is dominated by companies from the Greater Zurich Area, with an impressive 46 based in Limmatstadt. The canton of Vaud follows with 24 startups on the list.

For the past eight years, startups in Switzerland have been recognised by the Top 100 Swiss Startup Awards. The competition is organised by  Venturelab​​​​​​​  in partnership with the Handelszeitung newspaper and PME Magazine.  This year, more than 700 guests attended the award ceremony in Zurich, including investors, company representatives and industry experts.

“The Swiss startup ecosystem is in great shape,” says Stefan Steiner, Co-Managing Director of Venturelab, commenting on the situation. Co-founder and Managing Partner of Venturelab Jordi Montserrat agrees: “We are seeing a veritable explosion in venture capital in Switzerland at the moment.” Jordi Montserrat predicts that 2018 will be a record year for investment. The inflow of so much capital enables startups to “survive in the face of global competition and play their part in driving forward Swiss industry for the future”.