Fusion start-ups selection for 2017-2018

Fusion start-ups selection for 2017-2018 is now public: 23 start-ups are joining the go-to-market acceleration program across Fintech, Proptech/Smart City and Lifetech.

The start-ups come from 13 countries including Singapore, Germany & Russia as well as southern Europe (Italy, Spain and France) and Switzerland. Fusion launched the first Swiss-based Fintech Accelerator – Fintech Fusion – in 2015 (read the story) and has recently added 2 new industry-focused accelerator programs – Lifetech & Proptech/Smart City to help build the future of the Healthcare and Real Estate industry.

Startups joining Fusion are named *Fellows* to indicate the long-term relationship between the startup teams and Fusion.

“Startup ecosystems outside of Silicon Valley have developed intensively over the past 10 years. What we see is rich verticals where core technologies and local ecosystem players make it a perfect seeding ground for interesting companies. Fusion partners with local incubators & accelerators and leverages its network of ambassadors to identify companies that have validated early product/customer fit and focuses its fellowship program on Go-To-Market fit. A company like Bambu – for example – which has strong early stage successes in Asia joins Fusion to get European reach and gain deeper understanding on the specificities of the European and Swiss marketplaces”, says Sal Matteis, CEO of Fusion.

Since October 2017 the 23 companies have been engaging with the Fusion network of Swiss, European and American mentors & partners who are there to engage openly and support startups through their growth phase.

“With Temenos we work with startups in the Fintech space to build a marketplace of global solutions that we provide as a plug & play to our customers. Fusion enables to reach many of these companies and create a structured process to build and integrate on the marketplace”, says Ben Robinson – Chief Strategy Officer at the Temenos Marketplace – who also helps the startups as a mentor.

At Notz Stucki, we believe that our membership in Fusion puts our feet in the fast developing FinTech ecosystem and gives us opportunities to identify better ways of working and new business lines.

Switzerland is the place for Frontier Tech

Switzerland missed a bit the .com wave, however the Swiss Ecosystem is a much more fertile ground for startups that have a stronger technological core like AI, VR/AR, Big Data, Robotics, Genomics and Blockchain. Fusion is focusing on Frontier Tech to help shape the future of traditional industries with adoption of new technology.

The Lemanic region – stretching from Geneva to Lausanne – has a critical mass of global-headquarters in Bio, MedTech, Health-related and food corporations which added to Financial Services, Real Estate and Insurance industries has become a strong attractor for startups wanting to build their European presence.

“Fusion is perfectly positioned to enable the engagement and co-development between corporations in these industries and startups. The movement we started in Fintech in 2015 is now becoming a clear advantage to anticipate and drive the digital transformation of the Insurance, Health and Real Estate industries. Fusion partners with the likes of Temenos, Notz Stucki, Swisscard, Mobiliere,Investis to build the ecosystem. Most recently counting the addition of EPFL and Digital Switzerland in our effort, we have expanded our reach and continue to see accelerated momentum in enabling the evolution of these industries in Switzerland and globally”, says Sal Matteis, CEO of Fusion.

“We are experiencing a new wave of change for the real estate industry. Digital technologies are changing the playing field. With Fusion we are accelerating our path to working with proptech startups and building an ecosystem for real estate innovation” say Stephane Bonvin, CEO of Investis Group.

“With La Mobilière we created a Life Tech ecosystem to identify and work with the best innova- tions of this space and drive our vision to be a trusted partner in the life of our customers. Fusion enables to reach many of these companies and help us to initiate new services and to collaborate with start-ups to create new ways to interact and bring value to our customers”, says Thomas Boyer – Responsible of Life and Pensions business at La Mobilière.

“The collaboration with Fusion allows us to quickly learn about and fasttrack disruptive, game- changing innovation. We greatly benefit from Fusion’s local and global network that gives us access to relevant startups, key experts and other corporates who are keen to jointly innovate”, say Markus Feller, Head of Corporate Development & Business Transformation Swisscard.

Please find below the 23 companies joining Fusion:

Fusion Fintech Fellows 2017

BAMBU

Bambu offers an Intelligent Robo-Advisor for high net worth investors, White-Label Robo for affluent investors and Robo-in-a-Box for retail investors.

FRED DE LA COMPTA

Fred de la Compta allows centralization of all admin data in a single platform.

HELLO IZI

Hello iZi is your personal Stock Investing Assistant

SYSTEMKREDIT

Systemkredit creates an ecosystem of rated credit risks that benefits lenders and borrowers.

WEALTHINITIATIVE

Wealthinitiative is a peer-to-peer digital tool for high-end tangible assets & direct equity.

YAWAVE

Yawave helps companies leverage social-crowd activation to increase consumer engagement and brand equity.

Fusion Lifetech Fellows 2017

FENNEX

Fennex enables augmented hearing through its innovative seamless integration with AirPods and sound algorithms.

GERO

Gero develops omics data analysis methods to identify targets for therapeutic intervention against age-related diseases and aging.

HEARTWATCH

HeartWatch detects silent cardiac and respiratory problems through a common camera that looks at your face.

MEDICSEN

Medicsen is a personalized and automatic system to improve diabetes control through deep learning and real time telemonitoring.

MOJO

MOJO is a virtual life & business coach that accurately assesses the nature and evolution of the user’s psychological functioning.

NEUROSPHERE

Neurosphere is a neurotech company specializing on EEG brain-computer interfaces. Automated neurofeedback for brain training.

NUTRILOG

Nutrilog is a nutrition software for professionals through Meal Planning, Diet Assessment & Recipe Analysis.

PRYV

Pryv enables fully-compliant collection, structure, distribution and storage of data for health applications & products.

STUWARD

From recognizing Dementia and Alzheimer’s symptoms to managing specific behaviors. Stuward helps support people living with dementia.

Fusion Proptech & Smart City Fellows 2017

ADVISAY

Advisay is an automated assistant/chatbot for real estate management allowing for effective customer personalization. acquisition & engagement.

IS IT FRESH

Is it fresh provides a fully digital platform that makes packaging smart by the integration of chip and sensor technology.

NEHO

Neho helps property owners sell their house through a simple and efficient online platform.

TWINGZ

Twingz provides Smart Energy solutions for houses and buildings through integrated IoT Solutions.

WE HIKE

WeHike is a social platform helping hikers optimize their hikes. Powered by satellite technology for real time insights. WeHike’s data infrastructure can be leveraged for Real Estate and Smart City applications.

YETI VISIT

YetiVisit enables high quality 360° virtual tours for real estate professionals and photographers.

1AIM

1aim’s hardware-software stack enables any door to be opened with any phone providing an all-in-one solution to manage entrance, security and insights.

Final demo day at Fusion

The Fintech Fusion Demo Day took place on September 7th 2016, concluding the first year of the Fintech acceleration program in Switzerland.

And we can say with enthusiasm that the start ups presented in a very professional and convincing manner their company and solutions to business angels, corporate investors and venture capitalists. We had the impression that we were in a TED conference or an Apple Keynote!

All these entrepreneurs have a vision, strong technical skills and great motivation. And dreams! And this day was not only the occasion to celebrate a group of entrepreneurs by recognizing their achievements to date but also an opportunity to make their dreams come true.

This is certainly one goal of the Fintech 12-month acceleration program. As Guillaume Dubray, Founder of this incubator, mentioned in his welcome word: “acceleration is a hard work where start ups must show determination and commitment, acceleration is all about building better products, validating customer interest and accepting to make changes when things do not work. It is about sharpening the business proposition, learning how to pitch well and convincing buying interests”.

What we can bring home from that Demo Day ?

First, solutions are being developed and offered by innovating companies. All these people are participating to the reshaping of the asset management and banking industry.
Second, we start feeling that the advisory services are being redefined to a more collaborative approach and closer relationship between the providers and the customers. Not only do we see solutions that facilitate the profiling of clients’ needs but also a willingness to democratise offerings that were offered so far only to high net worth individuals.
Third, these start ups are positioned in the B2B segment and target to help traditional actors to improve their processes by evolving from artisanal and subjective tasks to accurate, automated and objective processes. This is called digital efficiency or, in other terms: faster, better and less expensive.
Fourth, without any surprise, a lot of solutions are related to big data. These aim to increase portfolio management facilities by enabling deeper and broader analyses of investment universe when it comes to build or to monitor clients’ assets.

Technology seems to be magic but it has to remain built on core competences, understanding of clients’ needs and commitments to quality. We still need all these ingredients to build and maintain trust and long term relationships with clients.

@ to all the entrepreneurs participating to the Fusion Program : make your dreams come true ! Find the right partner and let’s make Switzerland a strong and successful financial center.

Final Demo Day at Fusion – KYC3 during its pitch

Fintech FUSION and Swiss Startup Factory join forces

Zurich based Swiss Start Up Factory and Fusion announce a partnership to boost the acceleration of startups in Switzerland

The two independent accelerators commence a close cooperation in order to build a unique bridge between the French and the Swiss German parts of Switzerland. Zurich based Accelerator Swiss Start Up Factory and Geneva based Fusion complement each other very well in their goal orientation and set up. In joining forces the accelerators will collaborate on the startup selection process, startup acceleration, cooperation with universities, mentor network exchange, joint events, and shared office space for startups.

As Guillaume Dubray, Founder and Director of Fintech Fusion, points out

The digital transformation is everywhere. Switzerland, a leader in innovation, provides excellent conditions for new and existing entrepreneurs to thrive. Startups have an enormous selection of development programs, Startup Hubs, and coaching platforms. With our new partner, the Swiss Start Up Factory, we will kick off the effort to bring the strongest business driven platforms in Switzerland together to join forces.

Mike Baur, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Swiss Start Up Factory, says about the partnership:

Due to the linguistic diversity and the cantonal and regional separation Switzerland often lacks effective efforts to concentrate these very strengths and resources. The collaborative efforts of Fusion and Swiss Start Up Factory signifies the first partnership that transcends the aforementioned barriers by bringing together two independent accelerators from diverse linguistic and geographical regions. This is just the beginning of strengthening the Swiss Startup ecosystem by breaking the regional traditions.

A promising partnership that will definitely help startups move from idea to prototype (@ Swiss Startup Factory), and from Beta to Revenues (@ Fintech Fusion)!

Text: Sébastien Flury – originally published by FUSION on May 19, 2016

Fusion, the Swiss FinTech accelerator, has oppened the application process for the 2nd batch of startups!

Fusion, the Swiss FinTech accelerator, has opened the application process for the 2^nd batch of startups for the program starting in October 2016

On March 31st, Fusion announced that it has opened the application process for its second intake of financial technology startups. Ambitious startups have until June 12^th to apply for a place in the accelerator, which will start 2nd class program in October this year.

Fintech Fusion is a 12-months acceleration program offered to about 10 FinTech startups per year that enables them to move from a beta product to revenues. The program includes workshop and trainings, supported by a network of mentors, experts and partner companies that provide startups with the resources they need to accelerate their development.

The first batch of startups, coming from all over the world, is currently in the middle of the program and by now, have already generated a couple hundreds of thousands of Swiss francs in turnover thanks to Fusion.

Matthias Vanoni, CEO of Biowatch, who is taking part in the first class, said: “Fusion is a decisive turning point in the development and growth of our company!”. Marcelo Garcia Casil, from DXMarkets, based in Singapore, added: “Fusion is an outstanding program, helping us to refine our go-to-market strategy and to accelerate our revenue growth”.

The aim of Fusion is to create a thriving ecosystem of FinTech startups, which will boost and reinforce Switzerland’s reputation as a financial hub. Unlike most accelerators, Fusion takes no upfront equity stake in startups it accelerates. Fusion’s unique multi-sector and multi-partner approach, brings together a broad group of stakeholders: corporate members such as Temenos, Notz Stucki, Swisscard and BNP Paribas; resource partners, such as Capco, id est avocats, Kudelski Security; and academic partners, including IDIAP, Heig-VD and HEG Genève.

Guillaume Dubray, founder of Fusion and Managing Partner at PolytechEcosystem Ventures, commented: “We are pleased to see the positive results Fusion is generating. And we are very keen to discover and interview the future startups of our second batch.”

Fusion is accepting applications from startups from all over the world, not just Switzerland. Applications are made through the accelerator`s website and must be made before June 12^th in order to qualify for the intake of 3^rd October. Fusion expects to host about 10 startups for its 12 months programme and is especially interested in B2B companies working in areas such as asset and wealth management, blockchain, risk management, cybersecurity and data privacy, as well as insurance and commodity trading. To qualify for Fusion, startups need to have a working prototype and have a big market potential.

Twitter: @fintechfusion

For further information you may contact the program manager, Sébastien Flury (+41 78 822 96 47; sflury@fintechfusion.ch)

Fusion start-ups selection for 2017-2018