And the winners 2022 are…
Almer Technologies, Ecco2, mobileup, SmartHelio und Swiss Vault. Congratulations! More about the StartUps
By 2025, Swisscom wants to save a further 1 million tonnes of CO2 per year in addition to its net zero target. That's why we are looking for early and extension-stage tech start-ups from all over the world that contribute to climate protection with their innovations and technologies.
Our common goal: to help our customers save 1 million tonnes of CO2 by 2025 as well, through climate-friendly and innovative ICT solutions. From the ten finalists, the five best start-ups will win an Exploration Programme tailored to their needs.
10th Swisscom StartUp Challenge: In 2013 Swisscom launched the StartUp Challenge, because we believe in the power of Switzerland as a location for innovation and in profitable cooperation between young companies and the corporate sector.
Almer focuses on bringing High-Tech augmented reality glasses using Swiss-made hardware/software to businesses. Almer Technologies is currently offering its remote assistance service to companies with subsidiaries all over the world. With its service, Almer alleviates several problems that companies face: time spent by an expert to go to a foreign subsidiary; the expert's transportation costs; and finally reducing the company's carbon footprint. Almer Technologies is therefore focusing on a B2B market and wants to diversify its B2B use cases in the medium to long term.
ECCO2’s reduces heating energy consumption in buildings by an average of 15% with an IoT/AI/data-based solution, and compiles ESG-relevant building data. Institutional real estate owners are challenged by high energy consumption. Energy cost, legal obligations, and social pressure are real pains. Energy efficiency impacts market value for tenants and investors. ECCO2 Solution is fast, affordable, fits anywhere and is subsidized by Swiss government.
Mobileup is a platform for selling and buying used smartphones and tablets. All devices come with a 12-month warranty and 30 days right to return. When it comes to buying a refurbished device, price and product range are key factors for customers. Thus, we established APIs to the largest European suppliers of refurbished smartphones and tablets. Our algorithm identifies the devices with the best price-quality-ratio. This mechanism helps to match our supply with the customer's demand.
SmartHelio is the fastest growing cleantech data intelligence company in the world. A Bcorp and Y Combinator company, their solution is used by top solar developers in Europe, Asia and USA to make solar assets profitable and sustainable. Having invested $15 Mn in R&D, they have developed a software which predicts faults in solar PV plants in real-time to prevent downtime and increase revenue up to 10%.
Swiss Vault is a data innovation company that helps the world efficiently manage their data forever with low environmental impact. Our mission is to provide organizations with technology that combines hardware and software solutions for better, economical, resilient and environmentally sustainable data management.
What awaits the winners during the Exploration Programme
Access to Swisscom services
Access to applications and existing Swisscom services and infrastructure, including in the customer environment.
Pilot project opportunity
Possibility of a pilot project with Swisscom Business in the event of sufficient synergies in areas such as smart home, smart city, decarbonisation of business customers.
Access to expert knowledge
Support and mentoring by Swisscom sustainability and ICT experts and partners.
New cooperation opportunities
Exploration Programme. Building a network of potential customers and business partners. Consideration given to an investment from Swisscom Ventures.
What applicants offer
- A prototype, product or solution from the field of climate protection and energy efficiency
- The team must be able to present the prototype or product in action during the Exploration Programme (if it makes sense, in the Swisscom environment)
- It must be possible to use the application in Switzerland
- An ambitious and visionary research or start-up team
What the winners can expect
- A one-week Exploration Programme with sustainability and ICT experts from Swisscom and access to the Swisscom ecosystem.
- Mentoring by Swisscom experts and partners
- Development of marketing and sales skills
- Individual pitch training and coaching from our partner Venturelab
- Sharing of experiences in climate protection and energy efficiency with top entrepreneurs and venture capitalists
- Building a network of potential customers and business partners
- Consideration given to a business partnership with Swisscom as well as investment from Swisscom Ventures
- Participation in the NOAH Zurich 2022 Conference
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«I was thrilled by the commitment and level of support the entire Swisscom team has invested into the startup challenge to help us and fellow startups along our journey.»
Max Lüpertz, Sales Director
Code Intelligence GmbH StartUp Challenge Winner 2021
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«I never imagined that the Swisscom StartUp Challenge would provide myself and qiio with such an abundance of insights.»
Felix Adamcyk, CEO qiio
StartUp Challenge Winner 2020
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«We received valuable feedback on our future developments and increased our network to possible partners and customers.»
Dominic Jud, ETH Robotic Systems Lab
StartUp Challenge Winner 2020
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«Our collaboration with Swisscom is always very supportive and is based on trust and respect. »
Stefan Merz, CEO of Swisscom Venture
SEC Consult (Schweiz) AG
14 April to 31 May 2022
Application
Is your start-up contributing to a climate-neutral future? Then apply now.
1 June to 8 August 2022
Selection
Swisscom will select the 10 finalists from all applications.
9 August 2022
Announcement of the 10 finalists
18 August 2022
Pitch Training
The 10 finalists profit from a Pitch Training with Swisscom and Venturelab (remote option).
1 September 2022
Pitch Session
The 10 finalists pitch in front of the jury (remote option)
1 September 2022
Announcement of the 5 winners
9 September 2022
Short briefing – Exploration Week
19 September 2022
Individual briefing for Exploration Week
Preparations are now underway. The joint cooperation begins.
7 to 11 November 2022
Exploration Week
This is the Hall of Fame from 10 years of the Swisscom StartUp Challenge.
The Swisscom StartUp Challenge’s jury and mentors
The jury consists of members of the Swisscom Group Executive Board, Group Responsibility, Swisscom Ventures and our programme partner Venturelab, among others. The sustainability experts from Swisscom and Venturelab will accompany the five winners during the Exploration Programme.
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Peter
IbbotsonInvestment Director, Swisscom Ventures
Roger
Keller
Head of SME Division, Swisscom
Walter
RennaChief Product Officer, Fastweb
Alice
Sauerer
Head of Marketing Strategy & Steering, Swisscom
Beat
SchilligCEO, Venturelab
More insights
Five Swiss start-ups win the Swisscom StartUp Challenge 2022, based on their commitment to climate protection
The winners were Almer Technologies Ltd, ECCO2 Solutions Ltd, mobileup, SmartHelio Sarl and Swiss Vault Ltd from the regions of Basel, Berne and French speaking Switzerland. They will now benefit from a customised Exploration Week with Swisscom and Venturelab.
StartUp Challenge: how innovations improve IT security
The five winners of this year’s Swisscom StartUp Challenge have been announced. But who will now benefit from these start-ups’ innovative security solutions? The jury has the answers.
No rose-tinted glasses here: how Silvia and Simon became full-time entrepreneurs
An idea became a hobby, then a part-time project and ultimately a start-up: Simon Krähenbühl and Silvia Nadenbousch have been working full-time on their glasses label LARS Brillen for several months now.