Early-stage startups incubated at USI Startup Centre collectively raise close to CHF 12M

Science-driven startups incubated at the USI Startup Centre, mainly from the Life Sciences and ICT sectors, have collectively raised close to CHF 12 million in the first nine months of this year in both dilutive and non-dilutive funding. These figures make 2025 a record year in terms of the total amount raised by incubated startups since 2021.

The first nine months of 2025 have been particularly rewarding for several early-stage science-based startups incubated at USI Startup Centre, which are developing innovative solutions across different fields, ranging from biotech to vertical AI.

From January to September 2025, five companies raised a total of almost CHF 9 million in pre-seed and seed equity funding from Swiss and international investors to support further growth. At the same time, another six startups secured approximately CHF 2.8 million in non-dilutive funds through various instruments, including research grants and financial support for market entry.

Among the recently funded companies, the majority come from the Life Sciences domain, which represents one of the two key verticals in the USI Startup Centre’s portfolio. The solutions developed by these startups span diverse areas, from innovative drug delivery systems developed by InkVivo and an AI-enabled drug discovery platform created by InVirtuoLabs, to new oncology therapies designed by Bimini Biotech and a combined approach for acute spinal cord injury repair created by Regenera. The second key vertical, ICT, comprises diverse vertical applications of AI. In this domain, Sartiq raised a pre-seed round to accelerate the development of its enterprise platform that transforms fashion content creation workflows through AI. Including these latest funding rounds, over 60% of currently incubated startups have already received some form of dilutive or non-dilutive funding.

The ability to raise funding is an essential element for deep-tech ventures, as it unlocks growth opportunities and enables them to accelerate both product development and commercial activities. However, non-dilutive funding that does not involve selling company shares by founders and previous investors is also crucial for capital-intensive verticals such as Life Sciences and ICT. It is therefore important for early-stage startups to thoroughly plan their grant strategy in line with the funding requirements. This is one of the areas that startups joining the USI Startup Centre incubation programme work on closely with dedicated coaches.

In addition to purely dilutive and non-dilutive funding, there are hybrid instruments such as the Venture Kick programme, which starts with an initial grant and then continues as a convertible loan for projects that progress to stages 2 (CHF 40'000) and 3 (CHF 100'000), that have been also included in the total amount raised. This year, two startups from the USI Startup Centre entered this programme: Flycatcher reached stage 2 and Sartiq advanced all the way to stage 3. Besides providing additional financial resources for project development, research grants, awards and similar instruments are often highly competitive and therefore confirm the quality and high potential of the beneficiary projects.

In terms of non-dilutive funding, three startups, MicThera, MethylX and UrbanMetrix, secured grants provided by Innosuisse. MicThera, a spin-off of the Institute of Oncology Research (IOR) developing a drug discovery platform for microbiome-inspired therapeutics, received financial support through the “Innovation Project with implementation partner” instrument. MethylX, a spin-off project from the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB) designing gene therapy for undruggable transcription factors in cancer, on the other hand, was granted an “Innovation Project without an implementation partner” funding. In both cases, the funds will be dedicated to advancing preclinical studies. Finally, UrbanMetrix, a startup focused on driving the integration of environmental information into the design process of urban architecture, received funding through the “Start-up Innovation Project” (SIP) instrument also offered by Innosuisse to accelerate market entry. In the ICT domain, InCatalyst and Sartiq were both awarded grants through the “Innovation Booster Fashion & Lifestyle”.

These recent fundraising milestones, which set the new record of CHF 12 million in capital raised, are a testament to the high potential of innovative ventures supported by the USI Startup Centre, which are built on solid scientific foundations and designed for scalable growth. These projects are examples of successful technology transfer, where high-potential research is transformed into investable companies with market traction.