Lausanne, Switzerland · Startup Astrocast is a Lausanne-based satellite IoT company founded in 2017 by Fabien Jordan and Jonas Weiss as an EPFL spin-out and ESA BIC Switzerland resident. The company designs, builds, and operates a constellation of nanosatellites in low earth orbit that provide two-way data connectivity to IoT devices in the most remote locations on Earth — including maritime vessels, agricultural sensors, and remote infrastructure monitoring systems. Astrocast's network eliminates coverage gaps where terrestrial mobile networks cannot reach, enabling clients in agriculture, maritime, utilities, and environmental monitoring to track assets and collect data globally. The company has launched multiple satellites, maintains commercial operations, and is listed on Euronext Growth Oslo, making it one of Switzerland's few publicly traded space startups.
Lausanne, Switzerland · Startup Distalmotion develops Dexter, a hybrid robotic surgery platform intended to make robotic-assisted minimally invasive procedures more accessible to a broader hospital base. The system allows surgeons to move between robotic and laparoscopic workflows during operations to improve flexibility and operating-room integration.
Lausanne, Switzerland · Event A two-day summit at EHL's Lausanne campus with 600 participants, themed on human-centric leadership and innovation; the second day is an open-innovation and investor track run by the EHL Innovation Hub. Useful for founders in hospitality, food, and experience tech seeking corporate pilot partners in the Romandie.
Lausanne, Switzerland · Innovation Hub EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) is Switzerland's second federal technical university, situated on the shores of Lake Geneva. Ranked among Europe's top research universities, EPFL has become one of the continent's most prolific generators of deep-tech and life-sciences startups, producing over 400 spin-off companies since 2000. Notable alumni companies include Nexthink, SOPHiA GENETICS, Astrocast, and Distalmotion. EPFL Innovation Park, located adjacent to the main campus, houses hundreds of startups and bridges academic research with commercial application across quantum photonics, precision health, robotics, and digital finance. The park includes an ESA BIC Switzerland programme that incubates space-tech startups. For founders in the Lake Geneva region, EPFL provides a uniquely dense combination of technical research infrastructure, institutional support, venture-ready talent, and direct access to EPFL's technology transfer office.
Lausanne, Switzerland · Person Co-founder and CEO of Astrocast, the Lausanne-based satellite IoT company he co-founded in 2017 as an EPFL spin-out and ESA BIC Switzerland resident. Jordan led Astrocast from a nanosatellite concept to a publicly listed company on Euronext Growth Oslo, building a LEO constellation that provides two-way IoT connectivity to remote locations across agriculture, maritime, and infrastructure sectors.
Lausanne, Switzerland · Person Co-founder and CEO of SOPHiA GENETICS, the Lausanne-based clinical AI company he co-founded in 2011 as an EPFL spin-out. Camblong led SOPHiA GENETICS for over a decade from a university genomics project to a Nasdaq IPO in July 2021, raising $228M and building a federated clinical AI network used by over 780 healthcare institutions in 70 countries for genomic analysis in oncology and rare disease diagnostics.
Lausanne, Switzerland · Startup Nexthink is a Lausanne-based Digital Employee Experience (DEX) company co-founded in 2004 by Pedro Bados and Patrick Hertzog as an EPFL spin-out. The company built a platform that captures real-time endpoint telemetry from millions of devices, enabling IT teams to diagnose problems proactively, automate remediation, and measure the digital experience of every employee. After two decades of private growth backed by Lightspeed Growth and Permira, Nexthink listed on the Nasdaq in February 2024, becoming one of the most significant Swiss software IPOs in recent memory. The platform is used by over 1,000 enterprise customers including HP, Bank of America, and Nestlé across 190 countries, processing data from more than 15 million endpoints. Nexthink exemplifies the EPFL-to-global-enterprise trajectory that defines Lausanne's software cluster.
Lausanne, Switzerland · Person Co-founder and CEO of Nexthink, the Lausanne-based Digital Employee Experience platform he co-founded in 2004 as an EPFL spin-out. Bados led Nexthink for two decades from a university research project to a Nasdaq-listed company, raising hundreds of millions from Lightspeed Growth and Permira before the February 2024 IPO. The platform scaled to over 1,000 enterprise customers across 190 countries, processing data from more than 15 million endpoints.
Lausanne, Switzerland · Event Global emerging-market startup summit hosted in Lausanne, connecting founders from 80+ countries with investors, mentors, and corporate partners. Culminates in a pitch competition for the Seedstars Global Winner award.
Lausanne, Switzerland · Startup SOPHiA GENETICS is a Lausanne-based health-tech company founded in 2011 by Jurgi Camblong and Pierre Hutter as an EPFL spin-out. The company built a clinical AI platform — SOPHiA DDM — that enables hospital and laboratory networks to decode genomic data for oncology, rare disease, and pharmacogenomics applications. Its platform standardises and accelerates genomic analysis across a federated network of more than 780 healthcare institutions in 70 countries, turning each new clinical dataset into a contribution to a collectively smarter system. SOPHiA GENETICS listed on Nasdaq in July 2021, raising $228M, and is backed by Salesforce Ventures and Generation Investment Management. The company represents the EPFL ecosystem's capacity to produce globally significant clinical technology at scale.