With seven start-up competing, Valais ranked 4th in the Top100 Swiss Startup Award, the results of which were announced last week in Zurich. DePoly came second and missed the opportunity to secure a historic double, after last year’s victory. However, the start-up is number 1 in the cleantech category. Meanwhile, Urbio won in the proptech category, and WattAnyWhere and Noosh-Drinks won the Public Voting in the cleantech and foodtech fields. This is a great success for Valais, which is ranked right behind Zurich, Vaud, and Geneva. This result is a well-deserved reward for these young companies and their ecosystem, which includes The Ark Foundation, that supports its start-up and, more broadly, Economic Promotion Valais.
The Top100 Swiss Startup Award is Switzerland’s reference start-up list. This year, the top spot goes to Corintis, a Vaud-based start-up, with DePoly, based at the Energypolis Campus in Sion, close behind in second place. With 39 employees, the company specialised in plastic recycling imposes itself in the Swiss start-up landscape, after ranking first last year. DeepJudge (Zurich) completes the 2025 podium.
Urbio is ranked 36th, ahead of Divea (38th), Emissium (40th) and WattAnyWhere (64th). All of these start-up are all located in the Energypolis Campus. In addition to its presence for the second year in a row in the ranking, WattAnyWhere won the Public Voting in the cleantech category. This proves the popularity of its fuel cell-based, pollutant-free generator that converts ethanol into clean electricity. As for Emissium and Divea, they made their first appearance in the Top100.
MobyFly’s boats also in the ranking
MobyFly and its “flying” boats are ranked 76th, while the biotech start-up Bioscibex, based in BioArk Monthey, enters the ranking for the first time and takes the 81st place. All the Valais-based start-up appearing in the Top100 are supported by The Ark Foundation in their technical and economic development. It is also important to mention Noosh-Drinks, which is not included in the ranking, but won the foodtech prize by the Public Voting. This is great visibility for this Sion-based start-up, which sells kefir-type drinks.
Unsurprisingly, Zurich (52 start-up) and Vaud (20) top the rankings at canton level, given their proximity to the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ) and the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne (EPFL). Geneva (8) completes the top three, ahead of Valais (7), Basel-City (6), Fribourg (2) and Solothurn (2). Valais occupies the same position as last year, only with three additional start-up. In recent years, it has consistently ranked between 3rd and 5th. However, this is the first year that so many Valais-based start-up have been recognised. This is further proof of the attention given to technology start-up in the region, and to investment made by young companies and support organisations.
The Top100 celebrates its 15th edition this year
This year, the Top100 Swiss Startup Award celebrates its 15th anniversary, marking a decade and a half of showcasing the most promising Swiss start-up. Since its launch in 2011 as a simple ranking, the Top100 has become one of the most influential innovation platforms, offering events for investors, one-to-one meetings, a magazine published in five languages, and an active community of founders, investors, and sectorial experts. Since its inception, 638 start-up have received awards, attracting CHF 17.8 billion in venture capital and creating 20,870 jobs.
The full list of the Top 100 Swiss Startup for 2025 is available at: https://www.top100startups.swiss/
