The Week in Swiss Startups (8-12.4.2024) - Week #14
The second week of April '24 features 6 startups and 1 exit. Lakestar closes a $600M fund. AI news from Google Cloud. Yamo has ceased operations!
Hi there,
I just came back from an exciting week in Las Vegas at Google Cloud Next, our premier cloud conference of the year. The spotlight was on AI, and I've condensed the key highlights for you here: Day 1, Day 2.
ICYMI: Gemini 1.5 (Google LLM) is now available in Public Preview. This multimodal model boasts 1M tokens and can handle an impressive array of tasks, such as processing 1 hour of video, 11 hours of audio, codebases exceeding 30k lines, or over 700k words!
Beyond the Google Cloud buzz, I'd like to shine a spotlight on two other noteworthy items today:
💰 Lakestar (VC) announces the closing of its latest fund generation for $600 million. This capital will fuel investments in European startups focusing on AI, digitalization, deep tech, healthcare, and fintech.
a16z launched a new AI podcast, and the first two episodes are out now!
On a different note, yamo, one of Switzerland's prominent foodtech startups, has ceased operations. Having raised CHF 10M+ to date, Tobias Gunzenhauser, CEO and founder, shared a heartfelt reflection on his entrepreneurial journey. Entrepreneurship is no easy feat, but Tobias and his team created a product that thousands of people loved. My full respect goes to Tobias and his team for their dedication and efforts! 🙏
Anything missing? Text me on LinkedIn!
Gian
P.S.: Do you want to support/sponsor the weekly newsletter? Discover your options here!
Financing rounds
Agritech
Kidemis: CHF 150k - Convertible Loan
AI/ML
TestResults.io: CHF 1.3M - Seed
Biotech
Oculis: $59M - Private Placement
Cleantech
LEDcity: CHF 2M
Openversum: CHF 500k - Grant
Drones
Fotokite: CHF 10M - Series B
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Exit
Axpo acquires drone startup LINIA
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Resources
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Swisspreneur Podcast
Listen to Pascale Vonmont, director of the Gebert Rüf Stiftung & Roger Wüthrich-Hasenböhler, non-executive vice-president at Swisscom: Why Swiss Innovation Isn’t Living Up to Its Full Potential - EP #390
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News
Jobs
Head of Early Investment - Italy, France, Switzerland, UK, US - Recordati
Associate, Leading Venture Leasing Fund, Basel, Switzerland - Recruiting company
Venture Capital Associate (m/f/d, 100%) - Advanced Blockchain AG
Investor Engagement Manager | 10% - Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley
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