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MassChallenge Switzerland announces the Top 12 startups for 2017!

(Renens) – MassChallenge, the most startup-friendly accelerator on the planet, today announced the top 12 finalists out of the 75 startups accelerated this summer in Renens. These selected high-impact startups will continue to the final round of judging, taking place on October 12th.

Thanks to our unique and robust selection process, we ensure that each year we have a cohort of startups that is both varied and qualitative. We believe this years edition is no different with the top 12 startups selected said Thierry Duvanel, Managing Director of MassChallenge Switzerland. The pre-final phase is a very important step of the MassChallenge acceleration. It offers a strong representativeness of the most emblematic projects of the edition with a success rate of about 2.5%, which is close to that practiced by the investors from venture capital.

The 2017 cohort in Switzerland were selected from 450 applications. Selected startups come from 13 countries, with founders from more than 30 nations and work across a range of industries, including high tech, healthcare, clean tech and social impact. The cash-prize winners of the MassChallenge Switzerland cohort will be announced during the Awards Ceremony on November 16th, as part of the Swiss Innovation Forum in Basel.

The 75 startups participated in MassChallenges four-month accelerator program where they received world-class mentoring from industry experts, tailored programming, free co-working space, and unrivalled access to corporate partners. MassChallenge takes no equity from its startups, and through an annual million-franc competition, it gives cash awards to the top startups.

Participating startups join MassChallenges established international community. Through accelerator programs in Boston, Israel, Mexico, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Austin, and its Bridge to MassChallenge program, MassChallenge has supported 1,211 alumni from 81 countries. To empower more of the worlds high-impact entrepreneurs, MassChallenge is committed to expanding to 12 locations by 2020.

The complete list of the 2017 top 12 startups is below:

  • Alogo Analysis SA (High Tech Sports Technology) – A Swiss incorporated company dedicated in analysing equestrian sports and provide innovative statistics.
  • ChemAlive SA (High Tech Internet & Web) – Software driven by machine learning that allows the chemical industry to model chemistry, improve yield and generate new chemical leads.
  • HaYa Therapeutics (Healthcare/Life Sciences – Therapeutics) – Developing a first-in-class biopharmaceutical therapy to treat heart failure.
  • Imverse (High Tech Gaming & Consumer) – From a single 360 photo to a volumetric VR room-scale interactive movie. We are democratizing virtual and mixed reality content creation.
  • Infrastructure Systems Managers / Dechets a lOr (Social Impact Poverty Alleviation) – Dechets a l’Or uses tech to that brings infrastructure services to African cities. We create cleaner cities with brighter futures.
  • Lymphatica Medtech SA (Healthcare/Life Sciences Medical Devices) – Lymphatica develops a micropump-based medical device for treatment of lymphedema, a chronic, disabling side effect of anti-cancer therapies.
  • MagicTomato.ch (General Retail) – Local online groceries delivered the same day. 100% non-industrial, 100% no GMO 100% never frozen food
  • MEMBRASENZ GmbH (Energy / CleanTech – Generation) – R&D, production and commercialization of novel membranes used in electrolysis for the production of hydrogen, as a new energy carrier.
  • Moka Studio Sl (High Tech Gaming & Consumer) – Mosketch is a disruptive software that allows to quickly and easily create top quality 3D animations.
  • Precision Vine (General – Agriculture) – Precision Vine improves quality and efficiency in the wine industry by using remote sensing services to create valuable information.
  • Sleepiz (Healthcare/Life Sciences Medical Devices) – Measuring patient vital signs in a contact-free manner to allow for clinical grade diagnosis of sleep disorders in a home based setting.
  • TasteHit (High Tech Internet & Web) – Data-driven user engagement tools for online shops.

About MassChallenge

MassChallenge is the most startup-friendly accelerator on the planet. No equity and not-for-profit, we are obsessed with helping entrepreneurs across any industry. We also reward the highest-impact startups through a competition to win a portion of several million dollars in equity-free cash awards. Through our global network of accelerators in Boston, the UK, Israel, Switzerland, Mexico, and Texas; and unrivaled access to our corporate partners, we can have a massive impact – driving growth and creating value the world over. To date, 1,211 MassChallenge alumni have raised over $2 billion in funding, generated approximately $900 million in revenue, and created over 65,000 total jobs. For more information, please visit masschallenge.org.

We would also like to thank our MassChallenge Switzerland founding partners for their support: Barry Callebaut, Bler, GEA, Givaudan, Inartis Foundation, Nestl and Swiss Economic Forum.