Kick Swiss Innovation

to Global Markets

Supported by venture kick: Dr. Thomas Müllerand Patricia Fischer, founders of Pearltec AG

Contents

venture kick – closing the gap in the Swiss innovation chain 3

Creating thousands of new jobs – the impact of venture kick 4

How venture kick works – three stages to obtain CHF 130,000 in pre-seed capital 6

Organization – the people behind venture kick 7

Interview with the first venture kick winner – Stefan Tuchschmid, Virtamed 8

Success Stories:

Celeroton 9

Lemoptix and Attolight 10

Poken and InSphero 11

Pearltec and Zurich Instruments 12

routeRANK and Optotune 13

Voices from the Jury 14

International and national awards won by venture kick alumni 15

Supported startup companies 16

The venture kick jury 18

Why we donate 19

Let's start businesses and create jobs

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Closing the gap

Launched on June 12th 2007, on the Swiss television show«startup», the venture kick initiative was created to close agap in the innovation chain. Many research projects carriedout in Swiss universities have the potential to be turned intopromising businesses. Unfortunately, this transfer betweenacademia and the market often fails due to a lack of busi-ness know-how on the part of the potential entrepreneurs,as well as insufficient pre-seed capital to explore the marketpotential and structure a strong business case to attract in-vestors.

venture kick was created to help identify, structure and pro-mote promising business ideas, with a clear set of objec-tives:

Double the number of university startupsWe want more scientists at Swiss universities to explore thestartup potential of their research.

Cut time-to-market by halfWe want to speed up the process of structuring businessopportunities and startup companies.

Secure more startup funding and networkWe want to improve the quality of projects, in order to at-tract and secure investments from business angels and ven-ture capitalists.

venture kick supports potential entrepreneurs by givingthem the opportunity to win up to CHF 130,000 in pre-seedcapital. Startups can also take advantage of the expertiseof experienced coaches and entrepreneurs and gain accessto a national network of investors and startup experts. ven-ture kick provides a unique and cutting-edge approach witha proven track record for creating new high tech startupsin Switzerland.

Uniqueventure kick combines donations «à fonds perdu» with anachievement-oriented awarding procedure to early-stageentrepreneurs. The beneficiaries of venture kick are selectedby a pool of highly qualified jury members that includes in-vestors, entrepreneurs and startup supporters.

Leading venture kick works in close collaboration with all Swiss uni-versities and relevant organizations in the field of high tech entrepreneurship. Strong connections are established,thanks to the jury pool of nearly 100 influential individualswho represent a broad swath of the Swiss startup eco -system.

www.venturekick.ch

venture kick – closing the gap in the Swiss innovation chain

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Patrizia FischerFounder and CEO of Pearltec AG

«Our medtech company Pearltec would simplynot exist without venture kick. We benefitednot only from the 130,000 Swiss francs, but alsofrom the helpful coaching in the kickers camps.»

Impact

Until 2010, a total of 670 projects applied for venture kickfunding, an average of 20 applications every month. Ap-proximately two thirds of these originated in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, and one third from theFrench-speaking part.

A third of the registered projects are linked to the SwissFederal Institutes of Technology in Zurich and Lausanne.The other applications come from 20 other universitiesfrom throughout the country, an indication that venturekick has been able to launch a national initiative within ashort period of time.

An analysis of applications by sector shows that all disci-plines are represented. However, most projects are in In-formation & Communication Technologies (44%), followedby Medtech (11%), Biotech (8%), Cleantech (6%) andMicro/Nanotech (5%). The remaining applications (26%)are difficult to assign to a specific category due to their di-versity and interdisciplinary nature.

The number of applications from women increased from11% – 16 % of the total. This is remarkable, consideringthat the proportion of women remains low among doctoralstudents, professors and postdoctoral researchers in thescientific and technological disciplines.

290 candidates presentedUntil 2010, 290 candidates out of the 670 applicationswere invited to make the stage 1 presentation. Of these, 26spin-offs were granted the final kick of CHF 100,000, i.e.those startups received a total of CHF 130,000 in pre-seedmoney. The chart below gives an overview of the numberof projects supported in the various stages.

100+ new startups with 1,000+ jobsThe quality of the projects supported by venture kick isdemonstrated by the number of effectively incorporatedstartups, as well as in the amount of funds raised by thesecompanies. Out of 151 supported projects with a cumulatedCHF 5.5 million pre-seed money, 100+ projects have turnedinto companies. They have raised more than CHF 80 million.in financing and have created more than 1,000 new jobs.Hence, for each CHF of support granted by venture kick, thestartups were able to raise another 15 CHF.

Taking into account the time lag between support and com-pany creation, the current impact of venture kick is still onlypartially visible. The creation of new companies and newjobs is growing continuously. So far, more than 90% of thesupported projects were incorporated within one year.

Creating thousands of new jobs – the impact of venture kick

CHF 5.5 million in pre-seed capital, donated to 151 startup projects,led to CHF 80 million in financing and more than 1,000 jobs – thisis venture kick's track record since September 2007.

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100 200 300 400 500 600 7000

Applications: 670

Presented to the Jury: 290

Stage 1 (CHF 10,000): 151

Stage 2 (CHF 20,000): 69

Stage 3 (CHF 100,000): 26

The results of venture kick at a glance• 670+ applications, 16% from women

• 151 startup projects supported with a total of 5.5 million CHF in seed-capital

• 100+ new Swiss companies incorporated

• 1,000+ new jobs created in Switzerland

• 80+ million CHF financing volume attracted by the venture kick-promoted startups

• 90+ experts across Switzerland in the jury pool to evaluate and support the startupprojects

151 Supported Projects

Impact

venture kick aims at expanding its successful program andincreasing its impact by kicking-off another 200 innovativestartup companies at Swiss universities, thus creating 2,000more new jobs. Our goal for 2014: 300 successfully growingstartups that provide a total of 3,000 sustainable jobs.

Looking for new donors to increase the impact ofventure kickTo reach this ambitious goal, venture kick needs to raiseCHF 7 million. While the initial funding for venture kick wasgranted by private foundations, the organization is nowlooking for additional funding partners to be able to kickmore of the great Swiss innovation to market.

If you are interested in supporting venture kick, please con-tact:

Beat Schillig, +41 (71) 242 98 68Kirchlistrasse 1, 9010 St. Gallenbeat.schillig@venturekick.ch

Jordi Montserrat, +41 (21) 693 90 71PSE-C, 1015 Lausannejordi.montserrat@venturekick.ch

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Strong future impact on job creation

CHF 7 million in additional funding is needed to kick-off another200 startup companies at Swiss universities, providing 2,000sustainable jobs for Switzerland.

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Our goal: 300 startups with 3,000 jobs in 2014

Arnaud Bertrand, Founder and CEO of Housetrip SA

«Without the kick, we simply couldn’t havelaunched our company! The most useful initiativeever! I can say with confidence that the day I wonventure kick ranks amongst the best in my life.»

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CHF 10,000 FOR A BRILLIANT BUSINESS IDEAStage 1: Every month, eight selected projects are given theopportunity to present their business ideas in front of a juryof successful entrepreneurs and investors. The applicantsneed to have a strong vision and a clear idea of how to turntheir research project into a sustainable business. The fourwinning projects receive CHF 10,000 each, and are auto-matically qualified for the second stage three months later.

CHF 20,000 FOR A SOLID BUSINESS CASEStage 2: During these three months, the project teams struc-ture their business ideas, target initial customers and strate-gic partners, collect feedback and work out a convincinginvestor presentation. The teams are invited to a two-day«kickers camp» in which they are coached by experiencedentrepreneurs. Once again, they will present their businesscase to a jury. This time only two projects out of the fourpass on to the next stage and receive CHF 20,000.

CHF 100,000 FOR A SUCCESSFUL STARTUPStage 3: Six months later the project teams have to be readyfor the market. They have written convincing business plans,formed teams and secured their intellectual property.They’ve also received expert coaching advice in a secondkickers camp. Now all that remains is to convince the juryand investors once more. Two of the four presenting start-ups get the last financial kick of CHF 100,000.

CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATIONThe program is open to individuals with a business idea whoare currently enrolled in a Swiss academic institution (stu-dent, PhD student, post-doc, senior scientist, professor, etc.),in any scientific field, and who wish to start their companyin Switzerland. Applicants must not have already receivedany venture capital.

Process

How venture kick works – three stagesto obtain CHF 130,000 in pre-seed capital

In order to receive CHF 130,000, applicants must prove the potentialof their startup projects in three phases. Each phase ends with apresentation in front of a highly-qualified jury of investors, entre-preneurs and technology experts. In addition, the startups benefitfrom hands-on coaching to further develop their business ideas.

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Presentation in front of a jury:4 out of 8 projectsget CHF 10,000

Presentation infront of a jury:2 out of 4 projects get CHF 20,000

Presentation infront of a jury:2 out of 4 projectsget CHF 100,000

Coaching by experienced entrepreneurs

Selection of 8 projects every month

Application Kickers camp

Coaching by experienced entrepreneurs

Kickers camp

Coaching by experienced entrepreneurs

Kickers camp

3 months 6 months

Working on innovative business ideas

1st Stage: Business idea

2nd Stage: Business case

3rd Stage: Ready for Market

Organization

venture kick is a private donor initiative. Initial financingcame from four foundations: GEBERT RÜF STIFTUNG,ERNST GÖHNER STIFTUNG, AVINA STIFTUNG and OPO-STIFTUNG. New partners are welcome to continue and expand the success of venture kick!

Legal structureventure kick is a sub-fund of the umbrella foundation Fon-dation des Fondateurs (FdF), a non-profit, tax-exempt foun-dation supervised by the Swiss Federal Supervisory Boardfor Foundations. The Board of Trustees of FdF has delegatedall strategic and managerial tasks of venture kick to theventure kick Strategy Board. The FdF Board oversees thebusiness activities of venture kick based on annual report-ing.

Strategy BoardThe Strategy Board defines venture kick’s medium andlong-term objectives. It is composed of representatives ofthe supporting foundations and successful entrepreneurs.FdF representatives hold a majority in the Strategy Boardand select the additional members. Members of the Strat-egy Board: Dr. Pascale Vonmont, representing GEBERT RÜFSTIFTUNG, delegate; Evelyn S. Braun, representing AVINASTIFTUNG; Dr. Roger Schmid, representing ERNST GÖHNERSTIFTUNG and OPO-Stiftung; Dr. Igor Fisch, Selexis SA.

ManagementThe Strategy Board has commissioned the operationalmanagement to the Institut fu r Jungunternehmen in St.Gallen. Two managing directors, Jordi Montserrat (head ofFrench-speaking Switzerland) and Beat Schillig (head ofGerman-speaking Switzerland) share responsibility formanaging venture kick.

Juryventure kick has access to a pool of jury members (listedon page 18) composed of qualified technical and businessexperts. A selected number of jury members evaluate thestartup projects during each jury session.

Organization - the people behind venture kick

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Beat Schillig has been Managing Partner of IFJInstitut fur Jungunternehmen since 1999. As Co-Founder, Investor and Board Member, he hasbeen involved in a dozen startups includingjobs.ch, Brainsto-Ventures, Umantis, Prospective,Exsila and Supertext. In 2004, he was appointedby the Federal innovation promotion agencyCTI to launch the startup training programventurelab. In 2007 he was one of the foundersof venture kick.

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Jordi Montserrat is in charge of the venturelabprogram in Western Switzerland and was alsoone of the founders of venture kick in 2007. Forthe past 15 years, he has been active in the Swisshigh-tech scene, contributing to the developmentof innovative businesses and stimulating the Swissstartup ecosystem.

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How did you invest the 130,000 Swiss Francs yougot from venture kick?The venture kick money came at the right moment! Weused it for the construction of our first devices. The moneyhelped us a lot to speed up the development process of VirtaMed.

venture kick offers not only money but also acoaching program. How did VirtaMed benefit?The coaching we got had at least the same value as themoney we received. Together with experts we developed atrade fair concept that proved itself in practice. We also ap-

preciated the inspiring discus-sions with other startups.

How did the jurysupport your startup?After presenting three times infront of a very challenging jury,we were very well prepared forpitches in front of investors. Theexperience with the venture kickjury helped us improve our pres-entation and strengthened ourself-confidence.

How would you describethe development of yourcompany over the last fewyears?So far we have successfullylaunched two products. We are

globally active and could create a great team with very mo-tivated co-workers.

What is your vision for the next five years?We want to expand our leading position – always with thegoal to improve the quality of patient care. We want to bean innovative company that can offer interesting jobs in thehigh-tech sector in Switzerland and abroad.

Interview with the first venture kick winner - Stefan Tuchschmid, Virtamed

VirtaMed was the first startup company to win the completeventure kick pre-seed capital of 130,000 Swiss francs. A shortinterview with Co-founder Stefan Tuchschmid.

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About VirtaMedTo prepare surgeons for difficult gynecologic and urologicprocedures, VirtaMed has developed highly realistic virtualreality trainers. The surgical simulators allow physicians topractice their skills without risk for patients. Dr. StefanTuchschmid, founder and CEO of VirtaMed: «Our missionis to develop state-of-the-art training tools for endoscopicsurgery of highest possible realism, all with the ultimategoal to improve the quality of patient care.»

Hands-on training tool for urologistsVirtaMed has launched two products: HystSimTM, a simulator that provides instructional teaching and trainingof diagnostic and therapeutic hysteroscopy, and TURP-SimTM, for training of transurethral resection of theprostate. For distribution and marketing of the simulators,VirtaMed joined forces with Simbionix in 2009, the world’sleading company for medical simulation systems.

Successful re-orientation«In 2009, we shifted our focus to the industry, i.e. medicaldevice manufacturers. We can help them to make an in-novative impression at conferences and reduce trainingcosts. Out of this win-win-situation, we developed the Es-sureSimTM», explains Stefan Tuchschmid. This add-on soft-ware module for the HystSimTM simulator teachessurgeons how to correctly place micro-inserts for perma-nent birth control.

Realistic simulation based on surgical experienceThe simulators, developed in close collaboration with theUniversity Hospital of Zurich, are now used all over theworld. From Australia to Switzerland to the USA and China,prospective surgeons rely on the new training tool. The Vir-taMed simulators are primarily user and not technology-driven. Continuous exposure to clinical reality shaped thedevelopment and tailored the simulators to the specifictraining needs of future surgeons.

www.virtamed.com

The VirtaMedsystem in use

Stefan Tuchschmid,CEO VirtaMed AG

Success Stories

This summer Solar Impulse, Bertrand Piccard’s ambitiousproject, became the first manned solar-powered aircraft inaviation history to fly through the night with no fuel. Piccardplans to circumnavigate the world with his plane in 2013.The aircraft conceals a wealth of state-of-the-art technologyand innovative design. More than 80 partners, includingmany Swiss companies, are providing Solar Impulse withthe components of the plane or are helping to build, testand fly the prototype and the final airplane. One of them isCeleroton, working together with ETH Zurich’s Power Elec-tronic Systems Laboratory, where the spin-off company orig-inated, and German partner companies.

A new world recordCeleroton AG, a startup company founded by Martin Bart-holet and Christof Zwyssig, develops and manufacturesultra-high-speed electrical drive systems that can achievemore than a million rotations per minute. This is a worldrecord. The drive systems are designed for highest efficiencyand lowest volume and weight. The innovation lies in theinterdisciplinary design including mechanics, electromag-netics, electronics and software, combined with superiorcustomer support.

Use for many different fieldsIn Bertrand Piccard’s final solar plane, Celeroton’s drive sys-tem is planned to be integrated in the compressor, whichprovides oxygen to the crew. But this is not the only sectorin which Celeroton’s technology can be used. The dentaland medical industry is also a key market for the youngcompany, for example, in dental drills. Martin Bartholet ex-plains: «Until now a standard dental drill rotates with20,000 revolutions per minute and needs an electromotorwith a gear box. With our system, no bigger than a match-box, we can replace the old and bulky systems to make thedrills smaller and lighter and even more ergonomic for thedentist to work with.»

A great opportunity to build a networkCeleroton was founded in 2008, while Martin Bartholet and

Christof Zwyssig were still completing their PhDs. Initially,they had planned to work for a large company, but theirprofessor Johan Kolar and a visit to the venture challengesemester course, which encourages students to developtheir own business ideas, led them to change their minds.

Supported by venture kickIn December 2007, Martin Bartholet and his team passedthe first stage of venture kick. In September 2008 they hadgone through the whole process. The money is helpingCelerotons’s vision come true. Martin Bartholet: «We wantto be the world leader for miniaturized ultra-high-speedelectrical drive systems and replace volume and weight withspeed across all industries!»

Partners around the worldThe company, headquartered in the Technopark Zurich, cur-rently has eight employees and sells its products all overthe world – from France to Russia over to Japan, Korea andthe United States.

www.celeroton.com

Celeroton: more than one million rotations per minute

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Martin Bartholet,CEO Celereton AG

Sucess Stories2210

«The problem with TVon mobile phones?Nobody wants towatch a movie on a 6cm2 display!» NicolasAbelé points out theproblem encounteredby mobile productmanufacturers. Whatis the point of creatingsmaller and smaller

devices if the size of the screens doesn't provide an adequateviewing experience for the user? A key solution to this chal-lenge is to embed a projector into the mobile device. Whenthe device includes projection capability, the user can choose

to use a small display for basic information (such as dialedtelephone numbers) and large projection display for informa-tion-rich media.Created in 2008 by Nicolas Abelé, Marco Boella, FaouziKhechana and Lucio Kilcher, Lemoptix designs, develops andcommercializes plug & play laser microprojection systemsbased on optical MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems)scanning micromirror technology. Lemoptix projectors useRGB laser light sources instead of LED, providing superiorimage quality and high energy efficiency. In addition to themobile phone market, this technology can be used for formrecognition, barcode scanners and information display, forexample on car windscreens. In 2008 Lemoptix received itsfinal 100,000 Swiss francs of venture kick financing.

www.lemoptix.com

«Faster, smaller and beyond.» This could be Attolight'smotto. This EPFL spinoff chose another one to promote itstechnological innovation, however. «We have created thecamera of the nanoworld,» Samuel Sonderegger explains.In 2004, as the young physicist worked with Jean Berneyat EPFL’s Institute of Quantum Electronics and Photonics,the team reached a significant milestone, overcoming theintrinsic limitations of optical measurement techniques.

«The tool we have developed consists of a modified elec-tron microscope and yields combined spatial and temporalresolution of 50 nanometers and 10 picoseconds – a truescientific breakthrough. These limits were unreachable be-fore,» he adds. A wide range of scientific experiments needextremely accurate measurement systems. In fact, any at-tempt to work on new light sources or semiconductor struc-tures – in short, any new form of material – would beunsuccessful if scientists did not have the appropriate

equipment to see what happens in the nanoworld – aunique environment in which the dimensions of time andspace behave differently than they do in our daily life.The EPFL team provides a new, convincing solution workingat the nanometer scale (10-9 meters) and measuring pi-cosecond (10-12 seconds) events. «Our system coupleselectron microscopy and ultrafast spectroscopy and cancharacterize novel nanostructures.»

After publishing the first scientific measurements usingthis technology in the prestigious journal Nature, in 2005,Berney and Sonderegger decided to launch their owncompany.They participated in venture kick, passed allthree stages successfully and founded their company in2008. The startup is currently closing a financing roundand plans to start selling to customers in R&D laboratoriesnext year.

www.attolight.com

Microprojections and great expectations

Beyond the limits of size and time

Lemoptix projectors use RGBlaser light sources instead ofLED, providing superiorimage quality

Samuel Sonderegger andJean Berney (from left toright), the two co-foundersof Attolight

Success Stories

Like many other good businessideas, Poken started as a solu-tion to a personal problem.When Stéphane Doutriaux wasleaving business school, all hisfellows started writing e-mailand social network addresses onbits of paper, and promised tosend each other new cell phone

numbers. He was sure that there must be a better way tostay in contact, and invented Poken, an electronic businesscard based on a simple principle: Hold two Poken palms to-

gether and the data gets transmitted. That was back in2006. In December 2007, Doutriaux entered the venturekick process and founded his company, whose headquartersare in Lausanne. His business case convinced the jury in allthree stages, and Doutriaux won the full venture kickamount of 130,000 Swiss francs. Today Poken is the ac-knowledged market leader in bridging online and real-worldsocial networking. Partners in major countries around theglobe sell the practical gadgets, with which contact detailsare easily exchanged and imported directly into programslike Outlook.

www.poken.com

Poken: bridging online and real-word social networking

Based on culture systems which allow the formation ofthree-dimensional microtissues, the startup InSphero hasdeveloped a new test method for screening biochemicalcompounds that can be integrated into established phar-maceutical development processes. With InSphero’s revo-lutionary and worldwide unique solution, the drugproduction process can be accelerated. In numbers, thismeans that the pharmaceutical industries can save tens ofmillions of dollars.

Founded in 2009, InSphero has already introduced a num-ber of tumor microtissues for efficacy studies to the market.Six global pharmaceutical and cosmetic companies areamong the customers of the young eleven-employee startupcompany. But this is just the beginning. Jan Lichtenberg, co-founder and CEO of InSphero, sets his sights high: «In 5years, InSphero’s biological microtissues will be a gold stan-dard for testing new pharmaceutical and cosmetic com-pounds. They will have replaced a substantial part ofcommon test technologies and some of our customers willcompletely rely on our methods to identify promising drugcandidates at the in vitro stage of their developmentprocess. As a result, drug development becomes safer, moreefficient and requires less animal testing.» After successfullycompleting earlier contest stages in November 2008 andApril 2009, InSphero's management team also convincedthe venture kick jury on August 26, 2009. Jan Lichtenbergcomments: «venture kick offers great support, which helpedus a lot to speed up our way to market and find suitable in-vestors.»

www.insphero.com

Fewer animal tests, thanks to InSphero

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Stéphane Doutriaux,Founder Poken SA

The founders of InSphero: Dr. Jan Lichtenberg, Dr. Jens Kelm, Dr. Wolfgang Moritz

Success Stories

During medical scanning such as computed tomography(CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the patientshould be positioned and immobilized to obtain high-qual-ity images. Although this sounds easy, it can be very un-comfortable for the patient. This is where Pearltec comesin. The ETH spin-off offers a new, easy-to-use patient po-sitioning device/system with high wear comfort and effi-cient patient fixation/immobilization.

Patrizia Fischer and her team have developed a unique sys-tem composed of carefully positioned polystyrene pearlsand inflatable air chambers. When the chambers are filledwith air, the pearls adapt to the patient’s body shape. With

this simple construction, the examination region can bestabilized. The results are better images, fewer sequencesthat have to be repeated, and relaxed patients.

From its origins as a research project at ETH to a workingand successful business model, Patrizia Fischer and herteam were supported by venture kick. «We benefited notonly from the 130,000 Swiss francs, but also from the help-ful coaching in the kickers camps between the jury ses-sions. Pearltec would simply not exist without venturekick!»

www.pearltec.ch

Pearltec: more comfort for patients during medical scanning

With a Bosnian father, an American mother, a childhoodspent in Germany, Saudi Arabia and the USA, and a thesisin Japan and at the ETHZ, Sadik Hafizovic had the corequalities to be elected to the venture leaders team in 2008:a strong experience of how things work in Switzerland andabroad and a strong desire to build his own company.«While I was studying microsystems technology in Frei -burg, Germany, I was earning a living by running a oneman company offering software programming and com-puter installation services. I had to communicate with awide variety of people ranging from programmers and mar-keting to management. With the foundation of Zurich In-struments, I realized a long-standing, long-planned-forproject: a high-tech spinoff with a group of highly capablepeople,» he recalls.

With Flavio Heer and Beat Hofstetter, Hafizovic launchedan innovative technology company that develops and sells

advanced test and measurement instruments for dynamicsignal analysis. These products are used in many fields ofapplication by high-tech research laboratories and industrialdevelopment sites. «Our product philosophy is derived fromobserving the complexity of many laboratory setups; devicesare stacked upon each other and numerous interconnectsintroduce an unnecessary potential for error. We help usersreduce the complexity of their setups by combining the re-quired functions into fewer boxes,» Hafizovic explains.Zurich Instruments' devices can be used in any technologi-cal field in which measuring vibration is crucial: semi-con-ductor manufacturing, quality control for the food industry,and the healthcare industry. Their potential applicationsconvinced many entrepreneurship specialists, including theventure kick jury, which awarded Zurich Instruments withthe full grant of 130,000 Swiss francs.

www.zhinst.com

Zurich Instruments: measuringperformance, supporting innovation

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Patrizia Fischer and Dr. Thomas Müller

The fab' three of Zurich Instruments: Flavio Heer, Sadik Hafizovic and Beat Hofstetter

Success Stories 13

Many online travelling platforms can be accessed on the in-ternet. But only routeRANK considers all factors of the en-tire travel route. The startup company, founded bymathematician Jochen Mundinger, provides a software so-lution for travel planning that integrates rail, road and airconnections. In a single search, routeRANK finds and ranksthe best possible and the least polluting travel routes, al-lowing users to sort them according to their priorities suchas price, travel time and CO2 emissions. Thanks to a collab-oration with the nonprofit organization My-Climate, the re-

maining emissions are easily offset. The success of the EPFL-based spin-off comes not only from its permanent innova-tions and the expansion of its travelling data across theworld, but also from strong partnerships, for example withNokia and WWF. A customized version of the software isalso used by the Swiss Government.In September 2007 routeRANK entered the venture kickprocess and went successfully through all three stages.

www.routerank.com

Travelling green with routeRANK

When hard glass and plastic components reach their limits,soft polymer-based materials offer new solutions. The sameis true for optics. The startup company Optotune has devel-oped and patented a technology based on electro-activepolymers that enables a series of adaptive optical lensesthat imitate the principle of the human eye. Instead of mov-ing lenses back and forth, Optotune bends them by applyinga voltage.

Optotune’s lenses can be used in a number of different in-dustries. At the moment the market for cameras, especiallyin mobile phones, is particularly interesting. The companyis currently prototyping a miniaturized camera lens whichoffers optical zoom, high-speed autofocus and a goodmacro mode in the size of a sugar cube. This means that fu-ture mobile phones will contain cameras with the featuresof today’s digital cameras, without having to compromiseon size, weight or power consumption. The market has em-braced Optotune’s technology, and the company’s engi-

neers now face the challenge of selecting the best markets.Products have been shipped to European countries as wellas to the United States, Japan, China and India. Twenty em-ployees work for the young company, founded in 2008 andlocated in Dubendorf. In a few years this number will likelydouble. Mark Blum, Optotune’s co-founder, is optimistic:«We expect to grow to about 50 people in the next 5 years.Innovation is very important to us. We are continuouslypatenting new ideas and have several new products in thepipeline.»

venture kick supported the Optotune team on its way tosuccess with the full amount of 130,000 Swiss francs. Notonly the money, but also the coaching gave a boost to thestartup company. Mark Blum states: «The kickers camp is agreat opportunity to discuss and improve your businessplan. It's not just a lecture; it's a discussion and workingsession. Very productive!»

www.optotune.com

Revolutionizing the market for optical systems

Jochen Mundinger,Founder Routerank SA

Mark Blum,Co-Founder Optotune AG

Jury statements

Diego A. Braguglia is partner at VIPartners AG, a leading Swiss venturecapital firm that supports universityspin-offs as well as other promisingstartups. The company manages an in-vestment fund of CHF 101 million, with

investors representing 10 blue-chip enterprises from in-dustry and finance.«venture kick is definitely one of the best supports ayoung entrepreneur could find. Not only money but lot ofexpertise and networking is accessible. Even if the projectis not selected, the venture kick application process willprovide the entrepreneur with high value tools to bestleverage his venture. The initiative represents a genuineand smart invitation to add entrepreneurial flavor in hightechnology backed minds. Young students have the op-portunity to access the entrepreneurial world with solidsupport and coaching. The jury members are well con-nected and able to provide entrepreneurs with valid intro-ductions which would not be so easily accessible onstand-alone.»

Pierre Strubin is Director at FONGIT,the high-tech business incubator inGeneva. Prior to joining FONGIT, Pierreworked for many years at ABB, IEC andLEM, as a general manager for the com-ponent division. In 1986 he started his

first experience as an entrepreneur and set up differentstartups.«venture kick is presently the most stimulating initiativefor entrepreneurs in Switzerland, with clear and well-struc-tured steps to move forward with high-tech projects. It al-lows a quick decision process for allocation of funds forvery early stage projects. The great number of supportedprojects demonstrates and publicizes the fact that creatingcompanies is something which is possible in Switzerland.Being part of the support network for startups in the LakeGeneva Region, it gives me the opportunity to contributeto the selection of the most promising projects.»

Prof. Andrea Pfeifer co-founded ACImmune SA in 2003 and serves thecompany as Chief Executive Officer. Be-fore she was head of Nestlé's GlobalResearch in Lausanne. She is an inter-national expert in Biotech and a Profes-

sor of Biotechnology at the University of Lausanne. In2009 she won the «Swiss Life Science/High-Tech Entre-preneur of the Year Award». «For more than 100 years Switzerland has had a leading po-sition in the area of High-tech/Life Sciences. It is our duty tosupport the entrepreneurial spirit in our country. In this con-text venture kick is a very good instrument to ensure thesuccess of emerging companies in the coming decades.»

Philip Bodmer is founder of Bodmer &Partners Consultants AG, vice-presidentof the Swiss Volkswirtschaftsstifung andactive as a Business Angel. He belongsto the members of StartAngels Networkand is board member of several Swisscompanies.

«venture kick is a great program for young entrepreneurs,helping them to build successful businesses which result invital contributions to the growth of the Swiss economy.»

Michael Moppert has founded thecompany Day Software 1993 and madeit into an international, successful enter-prise. In summer 2010 he got a takeoverbid from Adobe, one of the world’sbiggest technology providers, amount-

ing to more than 250 million Swiss francs. «In the jury of venture kick we have the privilege to seean enormous range of ideas and personalities. This is veryinspiring. As I know some of the situations these teamshave to go through, I hope that I can help them with myexperience. In my own career I would have appreciatedthe opportunity to ask experienced experts for their ad-vice.»

Voices from the Jury

Close to 100 investors, entrepreneurs and experts from the Swissstartup scene are active on the venture kick jury. They are convincedthat venture kick has found the ideal way to support youngand innovative entrepreneurs.

«venture kick is a great program

for young entrepreneurs

helping them tobuild successful

businesses.»

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Awards 15

Awards won by venture kickers

International awards

Red Herring 100 Europe Award2010: - SalsaDEV, Stéphane Gamard2009:- KeyLemon, Gilles Florey

Get Funded Show (World Travel Market,London) 2009: - HouseTrip, Arnaud Bertrand

Red Herring Global 2009:- routeRANK, Jochen Mundinger (nominated)- KeyLemon, Gilles Florey (nominated)

Microsoft ICT Award2009: - routeRANK, Jochen Mundinger (nominated)

Tech Crunch Europe-Shortlist2009:- Poken, Stéphane Doutriaux

The potential of our supported projects is not only recognized bythe jury members of venture kick but also by other awards. This isalso evident from the long list of other prizes that have been wonby venture kick alumni. A sampling:

National awards

CTI Start-up Label2010:- Dacuda, Alexander Ilic- InSphero, Wolfgang Moritz- Poken, Stéphane Doutriaux- Palisis, Nico Niesper2009:- Excellness Biotech, Pierre-Jean Wipff- Lemoptix, Nicolas Abelé- Preclin Biosystems, Bettina Ernst- Pearltec, Patrizia Fischer2008:- Basisnote, Manuel Kaegi- ACL Instruments, Fabian Käser- Virtamed, Stefan Tuchschmid- Zurich Instruments, Sadik Hafizovic

Venture 2010:- Malcisbo, Lino Camponovo (2nd Rang)- Swissaudec, Clemens Par (3rd Rang)- Stemergie Biotechnology, Virginie Clément (4th

Rang)- Marmota, Michael Iten (6th Rang)- labseed, Pietro Maggiori (6th Rang)- Virometix, Nina Geib (6th Rang)2008:- Optotune, Mark Blum (1st Rang)- Celeroton, Martin Bartholet (3rd Rang)- Aleva Neurotherapeutics, Andre

Mercanzini (4th Rang)- Preclin Biosystems, Bettina Ernst (6th Rang)

Swiss Technology Award2010:- Malcisbo, Lino Camponovo (1st seed)- Optotune, Mark Blum (1st startup)

Heuberger Winterthur Jungunternehmerpreis2009:- InSphero, Wolfgang Moritz- compliant concept, Michael Sauter- Bioversys, Marc Gitzinger

De Vigier2010:- Pearltec, Patrizia Fischer- greenTEG, Etienne Schwyter- Nanotion, Christopher Latkoczy2009:- Celeroton, Martin Bartholet- Optotune, Mark Blum- Zurich Instruments, Sadik Hafizovic

Tomorrow’s market award2009:- Imina Technologies, Christophe Canales

ZKB Pionierpreis 2010:- Dacuda, Alexander Ilic (nominated)2009:- Optotune, Mark Blum

Swiss ICT Award2009:- Poken, Stéphane Doutriaux

PERL – innovation prize2009:- Excellness Biotech, Pierre-Jean Wipff

Supported startups

ICTAcevedo Manuel MadeInLocal GmbH EPF LausanneBell Dominik Aeon Scientific AG ETH ZurichBertrand Arnaud HouseTrip SA EHL - Ecole HoteliereBurri Nicolas StreamForge GmbH ETH ZurichChristen David ServiceHunter AG Uni ZurichCrivelli Zeno Jime AG EPF LausanneDell'Endice Francesco QualySense AG Uni ZurichDoutriaux Stéphane Poken SA IMD LausanneEgbring Marco EPha.ch AG Uni ZurichFlorey Gilles KeyLemon SA HEVSGamard Stéphane salsaDev SA EPF LausanneJörg Thomas Cinexe AG ZHAW Jouni Kassem Hoskit Solutions Sàrl EHLKuhn Marcus connex.io GmbH Uni St. GallenLakhwani Ajay Namahe GmbH IMD LausanneMundinger Jochen routeRank SA EPF LausanneOdersky Martin Scala Solutions Sàrl EPF LausannePignolet Yvonne-Anne Fybit GmbH ETH ZurichRaps Michael 4DAgent GmbH FHNW Rizzotti Sven useKit AG Uni BaselRoduner Christof Mirasense AG ETH ZurichRump Flavio Goodshine GmbH ETH ZurichSchickel Vincent Prediggo AG EPF LausanneShaame Shaban EverdreamSoft Sàrl Uni GenevaSorci Matteo nViso Sàrl EPF LausanneVolk Martin TextShuttle GmbH Uni ZurichYersin Barbara Minsh Sàrl EPF LausanneZimmermann Philip Nebion AG ETH Zurich

Electronics/MechanicsAngiolini Federico iNoCs Sàrl EPF LausanneAschwanden Manuel Optotune AG ETH ZurichBartholet Martin Celeroton AG ETH ZurichBischoff Reinhard Decentlab GmbH ETH ZurichBornatico Raffaele VirVe, Wilhelm & Bornatico ETH ZurichFavre Cédric RehaxOne Sàrl HEVSHafizovic Sadik Zurich Instruments AG ETH ZurichIlic Alexander Dacuda AG ETH Zurich

Supported startup companies

Have a look at the entrepreneurs supported by venture kick whoincorporated their companies in the last three years.

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Optotune AG wasincorporated 2008.

They plan to grow to a 50+ employee

company by 2014.

Supported startups

Käser Fabian ACL Instruments AG BFH BernNairz Knud Novino Slow-Drink GmbH ETH ZurichNiesper Nico Palisis GmbH Uni St. GallenRohrseitz Nicola ViSSee Sàrl ETH ZurichZufferey Jean-Christophe senseFly Sàrl EPF Lausanne

BiotechAebi Markus Malcisbo AG ETH ZurichClément Virginie Stemergie Biotechnology SA Uni GenevaErnst Bettina Preclin Biosystems AG ETH ZurichGhasparian Arin Virometix AG Uni ZurichGitzinger Marc BioVersys GmbH ETH ZurichGoedecke Nils MicroDuits GmbH ETH ZurichKaegi Manuel Basisnote AG ETH ZurichKasree Behrooz Scientis AG Uni GenevaLütolf Matthias QGel SA EPF LausanneMäder Armin Qvanteq GmbH ETH ZurichMalmstroem Johan Biognosys AG ETH ZurichMas Christophe Phistem Sàrl Uni GenevaMoritz Wolfgang InSphero AG Uni ZurichPinschewer Daniel ArenaVax AG Uni GenevaRuiz i Altaba Ariel Phistem Sàrl Uni BernWipff Pierre-Jean ExCellness Biotech SA EPF Lausanne

MedtechAugsburger Luca StrokeLab SA EPF LausanneBaykut Doan CorasMedical AG Uni BaselBruno Alfredo E. Advanced Osteotomy Tools AG Uni BaselCharrier Rémi StereoTools Sàrl EPF LausanneEng Kynan YouRehab AG Uni ZurichFischer Patrizia Pearltec AG ETH ZurichHug Kurt Anemon SA BFH BernIrminger Irmgard BARDiag AG Uni GenevaKünzler Patrik Inno-Motion AG ETH ZurichMartinek Igor Emanuel Swisssurgical Sàrl Uni LausanneMercanzini Andre Aleva Neurotherapeutics SA EPF LausannePeterhans Matthias CAScination GmbH Uni BernPietramaggiori Giorgio Labseed Sàrl EPF Lausanne

Reinert Michael NanoClosure AG Uni BernSauter Michael compliant concept GmbH EMPASchiess Ralph ProteoMediX AG ETH ZurichSchwenke Thorsten Thelkin GmbH ZHAW Thurner Marc Delta Robotics AG BFH Tuchschmid Stefan VirtaMed AG ETH ZurichVerin Vitali MaestroHeart SA Uni GenevaWeydert Serge Habtronics GmbH ETH Zurich

Micro-/NanotechAbelé Nicolas Lemoptix SA EPF LausanneCanales Christophe Imina Technologies LLC EPF LausanneKoszali Roland Ninart Sàrl EPF LausanneLatkoczy Christopher Nanotion AG ETH ZurichSonderegger Samuel Attolight Sàrl EPF Lausanne

CleantechDupertuis Michael GEROCO SA HEIG-VD Gebald Christoph Climeworks GmbH ETH ZurichLemofouet-Gatsi Sylvain Enairys Powertech SA EPF LausanneSchwyter Etienne greenTEG GmbH ETH Zurich

Materials/ChemicalsFeltin Eric NOVAGAN Sàrl EPF LausanneGonzenbach Urs Thomas de Cavis AG ETH ZurichLichtensteiger Lukas Enexra GmbH Uni ZurichRichards Mark humanikin GmbH ETH Zurich

OtherKapitza Kristin Aiducation International ETH ZurichPar Clemens swissaudec Sàrl ETH Zurich

You can find a full list of all supported projects on the venture kick website: www.venturekick.ch/startups

17

Jury members

InvestorsDr. Bauer Luc-Olivier NanoDimension AGBeauverd Guillaume G2 VenturesBerg Nicolas Redalpine Venture Partners AGBernegger Marc P. Amiando AG / usgang.ch AGBodmer Philip Bodmer & Partner Consultants AGDr. Bomholt Jan BrainsToVentures AGDr. Braguglia Diego A. VI Partners AGDr. Brunner Eduard M. EDBRU AGDr. Burckhardt Peter E. EVA - the Basel Life Sciences AgencyDr. Comte Pierre Sigma Professional SàrLEhrensberger Walter Parkerhouse Finans AGFulpuis Nicolas Affentranger Associates SAGomez Gabriel DEFI Gestion SADr. Grisard Felix Hiag AGGutenberg Daniel VI Partners AGDr. Gygax Rudolf Nextech Venture LtdHeeb Hansruedi FonApp Inc.Dr. Hehli Jos Hehli Jos Management ServicesMebert Roman Caterpillar Financial SàrlNiederhauser Peter Redalpine Venture Partners AGDr. Oswald Markus aventic partners AGPaternot Xavier Vinci CapitalDr. Pfister Peter StartAngels Network Plaisted Don Draper Investment Company (Zurich)Roth Balz Go BeyondDr. Schütz Christian BrainsToVentures AGSchweitzer Florian BrainsToVentures AGDr. Sidler Michael Redalpine Venture Partners AGStrübin Pierre Fongit Seed Invest SAVuilleumier Jean-Pierre CTI InvestZrehen Stéphane Polytech Ventures

EntrepreneursDr. Auf der Maur Rolf VISCHER Anwälte und NotareBonvin Jacques Tavernier TschanzCastle Danièle Genevensis Healthcare Communications SàrlCook Julian FlybabooCoquoz Alexandre Innobridge SADr. Coquoz Didier DRDC Pharma SADe La Rochefoucauld Paul itaste.comDr. Deperthes David Med Discovery SADutheil Pascal Andromede Consulting SàrlGrolimund Dominik Caleido AGProf. Dr. Gunzinger Anton Supercomputing Systems AGDr. Hogenkamp Peter Blogwerk AG / NZZDr. Ihmle Pierre Cinetis SAJones Mark-Eric Innovative Silicon SA

Kyora Stefan Niedermann GmbHLacombe Jean-Pierre EatonDr. Mayer Felix Sensirion AGMazzara Alexander joiz AGMetzinger Peter 4C - Campaigning and Crisis CommunicationsMoppert Michael Day Software Holding AGNiedermann Claus Journalistenbüro Niedermann GmbHDr. Oesch Bruno Prionics AG & Neurotune AGDr. Pelet Thierry Viroblock SAProf. Dr. Pfeifer Andrea AC Immune SARenggli Jost Venture Valuation AGDr. Ribordy Grégoire Id Quantique SASalvato Gian-Franco Aseantic AGSavoy Luc-Alain M-Scan SADr. Selz Dorian Nektoon AG / MemonicDr. Sevinç Paul Doodle AGWismer Jean-Marc Sensimed AGDr. Wyss Ralph Wyss Wiesli Rechtsanwälte

Corporate/InstitutionsDr. Altmann-Jöhl Regula HSRAmiguet Claude Parc sientifique et technologique NeuchâtelBerthie Marie-Laure EPFLDr. Bopp Martin A. CTI Start-upDr. Crittin Frank Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch & CieDizac Gregoire Logitech SADubuis Benoît Eclosion SAFlükiger Raluca UNITEC - University of GenevaGebhardt Erich SwisscomDr. Hausamann René TECHNOPARK WinterthurHenggeler Wolfgang UnitectraDr. Hölling Matthias ETH TransferJenni Mario BIO-Technopark® Schlieren-ZürichKämpfen Kilian media swiss group / Scout24Kern Michael Swisscom InnovationKeusch Charles Technopark LuzernLebret Hervé INNOGRANTS EPFLLedermann Daniel SwisscomLehmann Lorenz Postlab EPFLNahas Aziz Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch & CieDr. Principe Sandro C. Swiss PostPulcrano Jim IMDSabeti Faris CTI Start-upDr. Schütt Corina ETH TransferVogel Paul-André CimArk SA

An up-to-date list of all jury members, including short profiles: www.venturekick.ch/jury

Jury members of venture kick

Experts from the Swiss startup scene are carefully selected to be part ofthe venture kick jury. They decide which projects are selected and whichreceive the grants.

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Why we donate! 19

Pascale Vonmont GEBERT RÜF STIFTUNG«We at the private GEBERT RÜFSTIFTUNG are involved in ven-ture kick for 3 reasons:1. The prosperity of Switzerlanddepends on how knowledgeand innovation are successfullydeveloped into products andbusinesses.

2. However, entrepreneurial support does not yield anyprofit at the very beginning. Venture capital is needed here.3. The funding shortfall is not being resolved by the stateor the economy. venture kick is therefore a perfect way forfoundations and private individuals to get involved. It is ex-tremely effective for the living and economic conditions inSwitzerland.»

www.grstiftung.ch

Dr. Roger Schmid ERNST GÖHNER STIFTUNG «venture kick not only closes arecognized gap in the innova-tion chain, but also ensures aseamless transition with otherfostering initiative thanks to theco-operation with all importantactors in this field. The noveltyalso lies in the open and thus

participative character of the fund. Whether with a largeror smaller contribution, whether as private person, companyor institution - venture kick offers the opportunity for all tocontribute to the development of the "enterprise locationSwitzerland".»

www.ernst-goehner-stiftung.ch

Evelyn S. BraunAVINA STIFTUNG«venture kick helps innovativeand committed individuals usetheir pioneering spirit to servethe success of their business.This corresponds to the credo ofthe president and founder ofthe AVINA STIFTUNG, StephanSchmidheiny.»

www.avinastiftung.ch

Why we donate

Without the initial support of private foundations, venture kickwould not exist. You are welcome to join, if you want to contributeto our growing success.

Donations with impact:3,000 sustainable jobs.venture kick needs to raise 7 million Swiss francs forthe next four years to kick-off another 200 innovativestartup companies at Swiss universities. The goal for2014 is to create a total of 3,000 sustainable jobs.

Contact us to learn more about venture kick and howyou become a part of it!

Beat Schillig, +41 (71) 242 98 68Kirchlistrasse 1, 9010 St. Gallen beat.schillig@venturekick.ch

Jordi Montserrat, +41 (21) 693 90 71PSE-C, 1015 Lausanne jordi.montserrat@venturekick.ch

www.venturekick.ch

New jobs for SwitzerlandPutting innovators at work and turning innovation into jobs. This is the goal of venture kick,an initative started by private foundations. We welcome donations from organizations, companiesand individuals who would like to participate in a key project for Switzerland.

Kirchlistrasse 1 – 9010 St. Gallen, Beat Schillig, +41 (71) 242 98 68PSE-C – 1015 Lausanne, Jordi Montserrat, +41 (21) 693 90 71info@venturekick.ch, www.venturekick.ch