MassChallenge Switzerland presents awards

MassChallenge is a non-profit organization funded by corporate, public and foundation partners to fund promising start-ups of all industries.

UZWIL, SWITZERLAND — MassChallenge Switzerland awarded the six highest impact start-ups in 2016 on Nov. 2. The Bühler Group is a founding partner of the start-up accelerator.

The program is designed to exchange knowledge and best practices between MassChallenge and its partners in some of the world's most powerful start-up ecosystems. With the support of regional partners, Bühler and MassChallenge plan to engage Switzerland’s entrepreneurs.

MassChallenge Switzerland opened its co-working space in June in Lausanne, Switzerland. The innovation accelerator hosted more than 70 start-ups for four months since then. In the closing award ceremony, MassChallenge Switzerland announced the winners of the MassChallenge Switzerland 2016 accelerator program, awarding CHF 400,000 ($410,199) in total in non-dilutive grants to the six winners.

“The ability to continuously innovate and reinvent ourselves is crucial, particularly in developed countries with high cost pressure,” said Stefan Scheiber, chief executive officer of Bühler. “I’m impressed by the level of collaboration and entrepreneurial spirit of the start-ups present here.”

Bühler said innovation is one of its core strategies. The company invests 4% to 5% of its turnover in research and development every year. Bühler supports and fosters open and collaborative innovation initiatives, such as the MassChallenge Switzerland.

Ian Roberts, chief technology officer at Bühler, added “We decided to act as sponsor of the original MassChallenge in Boston, USA, and founding partner of MassChallenge in Switzerland because innovation is a key pillar in our business strategy. In this fast moving and complex world, collaboration with partners, customers, and science partners has become essential.”

The award winners are:

CHF 100,000 Winners (Diamond)