STAGE UP
DO YOU HAVE A PROMISING BUSINESS IDEA?
Call for projects! We are starting the tenth edition of STAGE UP. Are you in?
Register now with your business idea for the Bern Business Creation Competition STAGE UP. We are looking forward to new, promising projects! The registration window is open until Mon, December 1, 2025.
You are unsure if STAGE UP is right for you and your idea? Then come to our inspirational event Pitch & Punch on Thursday, November 20, 2025. In a relaxed atmosphere and with like-minded people, we’ll talk about pitching and, if you feel like it, you can practice your pitch (perhaps for the first time) in front of an audience: More info & registration
Participation in the competition is free of charge and is open to individuals or teams resident in Switzerland. The company must not have been founded more than 18 months ago, i.e. not before June 30, 2024. You can find the detailed provisions in the conditions of participation (at the bottom of the page).
REGISTER NOW
Are you curious about what happened in the previous year?
Take a look at the 2025 yearbook!
DOWNLOAD
Some impressions of the Award Night 2025
Do you have a promising business idea?
The next entry period for STAGE UP begins on September 1, 2025. From this date, you will find the entry form by clicking on the following button:
The STAGE UP winners 2025 have been announced! The five finalist teams pitched their business ideas and the jury decided on the three podium places live – in front of around 200 guests.
From over 60 business ideas, these teams overcame several selection hurdles and convinced two independent committees. But they all deserved it – as the intensive jury discussion about places 1-3 showed.
The STAGE UP podium places
Beyond Diagnostics aims to revolutionize diabetes care by developing a point-of-care test for insulin efficacy that enables more precise dosing during treatment. This will reduce insulin wastage, reduce serious health complications and healthcare costs, and improve care worldwide.
Team
Maren Schinz
Stefanie Dobitz
Ema Grabenweger
Hanne Ballhausen
Hanna Boëthius
1/3 of food is wasted and is responsible for 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. GoNina helps restaurants, bakeries and retailers reduce waste and costs by using AI to predict demand with 90% accuracy and selling surplus to consumers at a discount through its platform.
Team
Matthieu Ochsner
Ferdinand von Hagen
Luke Tilsley
Shiraz Hasni
Richard Lichtenberg
wearefreemovers is the first one-stop-shop platform for freemovers, connecting independent study abroad students with universities and service providers to usher in a new era of international mobility.
Team
Andrea Pellini
Fabio Pellini
TOP5
The other finalist teams:
Duatic
Duatic AG builds human-sized robots for intralogistics that navigate and handle objects like humans, enabling rapid deployment and low acquisition costs. Using advanced actuators, they have developed a unique robotic arm that provides solutions for industries such as manufacturing, retail and many more.
Team
Eris Sako
Timo Schwarzer
Michael Schlappbach
Antonis Kantounias
Daniel Kaufmann
Dimitris Sako
EPOcell Therapeutics
EPOcel Therapeutics is developing an autologous cellular therapy for the treatment of chronic kidney disease. The therapy is intended to prevent further degeneration of the kidney and thus save patients from dialysis.
Team
Benjamin Lüscher
Faik Imeri
Michael Daskalakis
Mariana Clar
Press reports
TOP13
The other teams in the Top 13 who unfortunately did not make it to the Award Night:
PAWER Solutions
PAWER Solutions offers an innovative technology for the production of plasma-activated water, a liquid enriched with compounds that are highly beneficial for plant growth and development. This transformative solution supports farmers by reducing dependence on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides while promoting sustainable farming practices.
Team
Yacine Babou
Martin Mecchia
Edvin Lund
PhysioSense
PhysioSense is revolutionizing physiotherapy and rehabilitation with innovative sensor technology that records movement data in real time and provides patients with haptic feedback for safe and effective exercise – at any time and from any location.
Team
Cyril David Ferro
Tim Ogi
Christian Zielasek
DigeHealth
DigeHealth helps you listen to your gut better – the wearable medical device monitors bowel sounds and key body metrics to create digital biomarkers. By enabling early detection of post-operative complications such as ileus, it improves patient outcomes through personalized, accurate and objective healthcare insights.
Team
Nour Ghalia Abassi
Lyle Halliday
Soully
At Soully, the Japanese philosophy of elegant simplicity has been incorporated into every sip. The lemonade is carefully crafted using only Matcha +3 ingredients.
Team
Camille Zingg
Maria Theresa Tennigkeit
Examzone
Examzone enables educational institutions to implement secure, digital and practical exams easily and efficiently.
Team
Sebastian Gygax
Anja Mühlemann
Lukas Diener
Auto-Mate Robotics
Auto-Mate Robotics enables the efficient automation of multiple workflows in high-mix, low-volume production. Thanks to the user-friendly interface, employees of SMEs can work independently and contribute to automation without any special prior knowledge of robotics or programming.
Team
Lucas Renfer
Christian Wyss
Charly Blanc
MayQ
MaiQ combines AI-supported testing and real user feedback in an all-in-one SaaS platform – for more efficient, data-based and cost-saving product development. This enables companies to reduce testing resources and bring marketable digital products to market faster.
Team
Cinzia Bonetta
Sandro Toneatto
ValTech Lifesciences
ValTech Lifesciences is a B2B company that helps heart valve manufacturers improve the performance of their devices.
Team
Shaokai Zheng
Till Zeugin
Dominik Obrist
Do you have a promising business idea?
The registration deadline for STAGE UP 2025 has expired. 69 business ideas are currently being evaluated by our expert panel. Who will pitch in front of the jury at the Elevator Pitch on January 28, 2025? We will keep you up to date in our newsfeed and on our social media channels!
The next entry period for STAGE UP begins in September 2025.
Do you have a promising business idea?
The registration deadline for STAGE UP 2025 has expired. Over the past few weeks, our expert panel has evaluated the 69 business ideas received and nominated 25 teams for the elevator pitch on January 28, 2025. You can find out more in our newsfeed.
The next entry period for STAGE UP begins in September 2025.
The Award Night is coming up!
Register now to secure your place at the Award Night 2025. The number of participants is limited, so it’s worth registering early!
Over the past few weeks, the teams have been working diligently with their coaches on their business models in order to face another round of evaluation. Our experts then assessed the projects again. The selected teams will pitch in front of our renowned jury at the Award Night on May 20 to compete for the podium places. We are delighted to announce the Top 5 of this year’s STAGE UP edition:
The coaching sessions are in full swing!
On January 28, 2025, we spent an exciting day in the dome room of the University of Bern and listened to 25 innovative pitches.
After intensive discussion, the jury reached a consensus and nominated 13 teams for the next round. The next step for the top 13 is the coaching and workshop phase.
The final business models are being evaluated!
After the next round of evaluation, only the best of the best make it through to the next round and are allowed to take part in Award Night 2025. From the original 69 projects, only 25 teams were selected after intensive evaluation and assessment in the pre-selection by our experts. These then presented their business ideas in just a few minutes at the Elevator Pitch on January 28, 2025 and 13 teams qualified for our workshops and coaching sessions. They recently had to submit their final business models, which are currently being assessed again by the experts. The top 5 will then be announced on Friday, May 2, 2025.
At the Award Night, only the five finalist teams will be left to pitch for prize money worth a total of CHF 18,000. The tension mounts as we prepare for the big evening. Be there when these talented teams present their innovative ideas. This will be an evening you will never forget!
TightValve
TightValve is a novel surgical device for aortic valve repair. Today, there is no established and reproducible way to measure intraoperatively if a repaired valve is really closing tightly. The device offers the surgeon immediate feedback during the critical phases of surgery.
Team
Pascal Buchs
Dr. Silje Ekroll years
Dr. med. Emmanuel Zimmer
Dominik Obrist
Pathy
Pathy aims to simplify medical image analysis in histopathology. Their Software-as-a-Service platform provides AI-powered digital staining solutions that enable pre-screening of patients in urgent biopsy analyses, and assist pathologists in both diagnosis and research.
Team
Rina Mehmeti
Nhi Luong
Aous Khadhraoui
Oussama Ben Ghorbel
Kidemis
Kidemis produces a fish and animal feed ingredient based on fermented mycoprotein. The ingredient has both functional and nutritional properties, and was developed as a sustainable alternative for fishmeal and soy. The innovative bioprocessing solution allows for a zero-waste conversion of low-value agricultural side-streams into high-quality ingredient.
Team
Constantin Marakhov
Sean Wassermann
painbreaker
The aim of painbreaker is to offer people with chronic pain additional support in the form of an online course. The online course is the ideal complement to existing pain therapies and allows patients to work on their symptoms at their own pace.
Team
Sandra Zimmermann
Oliver Ludwig
CleanStent
Obstructions of the ureter can increase pressure in the kidney, leading to potential kidney failure if left untreated. Current ureteral stents restore urine flow but their frequent clogging requires stent replacement every few weeks. CleanStent’s innovative technology eliminates this need, ensuring long-term stent performance.
Team
Pedro Amado
Dr. Cornel Dillinger
PD Francesco Clavica
Daniel Ahmed
Press reports
Beyond Diagnostics
Ema Grabenweger, Maren Schinz, Alumnae STAGE UP 2025, Co-Founders "Beyond Diagnostics"
STAGE UP helped us refine our business model, challenge assumptions, and grow beyond our comfort zone. The mix of tough questions, sharp feedback, and warm support created the perfect environment to grow. Winning this competition gave our mission real momentum – and a moment we’ll always remember.
Team GoNina
Matthieu Ochsner, Richard Lichtenberg, Alumni STAGE UP 2025, Co-Founder / Head of Venture Development "GoNina"
Stage Up has been a great journey for us as a team. From our initial pitch at the University of Bern to the Award Night at Bierhübeli, our passionate coach, Iris, and our topic experts supported us in refining our pitch to ensure our message was as clear and memorable as possible. We are very happy with what we learnt, the award we received and the connections we made through this initiative – well done!
Andrea Pellini
Andrea Pellini, Alumnus STAGE UP 2025, Co-Founder "wearefreemovers"
STAGE UP was an incredible journey for our team at wearefreemovers. The program not only gave us access to top-notch mentorship but also helped us refine our business model and sharpen our investor pitch. Placing 3rd was a great milestone, but the real win was the support and network we gained along the way!
Team GoNina
Stage Up has been a great journey for us as a team. From our initial pitch at the University of Bern to the Award Night at Bierhübeli, our passionate coach, Iris, and our topic experts supported us in refining our pitch to ensure our message was as clear and memorable as possible. We are very happy with what we learnt, the award we received and the connections we made through this initiative – well done!
Team TightValve
Emmanuel Zimmer, Silje Ekroll Jahren, Pascal Buchs, Alumna & Alumni STAGE UP 2024, Co-Founders "TightValve"
The STAGE UP competition served as the optimal gateway for transitioning from our medical device idea to embarking on our business journey. The coaching sessions gave us invaluable guidance and feedback, aiding in the strategic planning of our business project. The award ceremony and the happiness of winning the 2024 edition will surely be an unforgettable experience for us!
Team Pathy
Aous Khadhraoui, Nhi Luong, Rina Mehmeti, Oussama Ben Ghorbel, Alumnae & Alumni STAGE UP 2024, Co-Founders "Pathy"
STAGE UP has been a great opportunity of gaining valuable knowledge and support for our entrepreneurial path. We are especially thankful for having a dedicated coach for our team, whose advice helps unlock valuable insights and refine our business plan. The award night was a recognition we will always cherish and appreciate whenever we look back in our journey!
Team KIDEMIS
Sean Wasserman (l.) & Constantin Marakhov (r.), Alumni STAGE UP 2024, Co-Founders "KIDEMIS"
“STAGE UP really amazed us on how well organized everything was, everything worked like the finest Swiss watch! Also what we really liked was that it didn’t really feel like we were competing, but rather that all participants were part of a great entrepreneurial family. We definitely recommend STAGE UP to all entrepreneurs.”
Team TasteMatch
David Kilchenmann, Alumnus STAGE UP 2024, Co-Founder "Taste Match AG"
“Thank you very much for letting us be there. We have learned an enormous amount and benefited a lot from this format.”
Christelle Robert
“The STAGE UP program granted us the opportunity to share our vision and to fine-tune our business strategy. The victory of ENZOXA garnered substantial visibility among stakeholders, and created invaluable connections with key players in the field. Overall, STAGE UP has accelerated our development in developing a novel plant-based medicine targeting H. pylori.”
Jürg Germann
“STAGE UP challenged us, inspired us and fortunately also awarded us! The serious feedback from seasoned entrepreneurs is a highlight, and the networking is super valuable. Getting all this support for our mission to restore wetlands gives us momentum and extra motivation to push forward on our journey to help solve the climate and biodiversity crisis.”
Felix Baier
“The STAGE UP program and competition brought our team in contact with experts, which helped us to improve our financial plan and pitching skills. We also established valuable connections within the Swiss start-up ecosystem. The final pitch competition was a great opportunity to promote our project to the public and receive feedback from the jury.”
Jonas Urwyler
Alumnus STAGE UP 2022, Co-Founder "Capt'n Greenfin"
«Thanks to STAGE UP, we were able to make our vision known. Renowned personalities from the bernese business community have approached us and assured us of their support. From that point of view, the prize is a door opener.»
Noemi Zbären
Alumna STAGE UP 2022, Co-Founder “ATANIS Biotech”
«The coaching, the workshops, the pitch opportunities; the whole STAGE UP process gave us a lot of new inputs. It allowed us to refine our allergy test and our strategy. For us it was a fantastic experience, a great opportunity to build a broad network inside and outside the Swiss startup scene and to popularize our technology.»
Peter Brunner
Head of Research Berner Fachhochschule
«With STAGE UP, our talents from the technical disciplines get the tools they need to become entrepreneurs and they can also present their innovations.»
Virve Resta
Expert in Innovation Promotion, Office of Economic Affairs of the Canton of Bern
«The Bernese Business Creation Competition «STAGE UP» offers you as a star-up learning and coaching opportunities and a great Award Ceremony with the Bernese start-up scene.»
COURSE OF THE COMPETITION
ELEVATOR PITCH
January 27, 2026
If your business idea is convincing in the pre-selection, you are admitted to the elevator pitch. Present your business idea in three minutes to our jury of renowned Bernese entrepreneurs. If the idea is convincing again, you will be invited to take part in the rest of the competition. Coaching sessions and workshops permitted.
AWARD NIGHT
MAY 19, 2026
With your developed business model you apply for a presentation of the top 5 in the final round in front of the audience and the jury. First place winners receive CHF 10,000, second place winners CHF 5,000 and third place winners CHF 3,000.
NETWORK
JURY
A high-caliber jury of well-known personalities from the world of business, with a track record from their own business activities and public commitment, independently evaluates the business ideas and models of the participating teams. In both the elevator pitch and the final round, the jury evaluates the quality and potential of the business idea or business model.
Dr. Antje-Christin Knopf
Director of the sitem-insel School
sitem-insel AG
Dr. Nina Hobi
Founder, Scientifc Director & Co-CEO
AlveoliX AG
Dr. Patrick Hofer-Noser
Owner & Managing Director
3S Solar Plus AG
Dr. h.c. Eva Jaisli
Owner & CEO
PB Swiss Tools
Andrea B. Roch
Owner & Managing Director
Business4you
&
Initiator and advisory board member
Entrepreneur Club
Roger Siegenthaler
CEO
mb-microtec AG
Representative of the Board of Directors
Traser
Philippe Stüdi
Founder and Managing Partner
COACHES
People with many years of practical experience and a connection to entrepreneurship support the qualified participants in the business management development of the idea into a business model. As sparring partners, they accompany the participants and are available to answer specific questions about the positioning of the project on the market and the next steps towards success.
Christian Brand
Partner & CEO
Patrick Perler
Holder
Perler Consulting GmbH
Roderich Hess
Business Project Key Account Manager
Thomas Meier
Managing Director / CEO
TRAINERS
Experts share their specific knowledge and valuable tips & tricks on topics such as financial planning, legal matters and design in our workshops and are available in the evenings for a general exchange, specific professional feedback or further recommendations.
Cristina Zimmermann
Senior Manager I Assurance I Audit Service
Fabio Studer
Senior Manager Audit Services
EY
Kathrin Enderli
Attorney at Law and Counsel
Kellerhals Carrard
Marcel Hofstetter
Scientific Officer in the Start-up and Next Generation Innovators Division
Start-Up Internationalization, Innosuisse
Marta Gehring
HealthTech business development and marketing strategist
Melchior Glatthard
Attorney at Law and Notary Public
Law Office & Notary Glatthard
Michèle Remund
Attorney at Law and Partner
Kellerhals Carrard
EXPERTS
The experts bring practical knowledge and experience in start-up promotion. They support the jury in evaluating the business models and their feedback benefits the further development of the projects.
Anita Jörg
Head of Marketing/Communications
Switzerland Innovation Park Biel/Bienne AG
Anna-Leena Marti
Entrepreneur, Coach & Expert Entrepreneurship
Anthony Smith
Managing Director & Owner InnoSmith GmbH
Innovation Coach at be-advanced
Beni Hirt
CEO OF
Decomplix AG
Christine Weber
Owner & Founder
Venturize
Elsa Callini
Innovation & Startup Advisor
Emanuel Roth
Co-Founder & Managing Partner
Youngpreneurs Association
Florian Baumann
Innovation Manager
Florian Kühni
Head of Innovation
Julian Liniger
Co-Founder & CEO
Linda Aerne
Innovation & Opportunity Manager
Manuel Fankhauser
Co-Founder & Managing Partner
Arven Partners GmbH
Monika Sattler
Managing Director, Change & Performance Coach & Trainer for Leaders, Keynote Speaker
Nicolas Gasser
CEO & Co-Founder
IMPLANZ
Patrick Felder
Head of Region Bern-South
Berner Kantonalbank AG
Peter Brunner
Head of Research & Services
BFH – Engineering & Information Technology
Philippe Wenger
Partner Audit Services
EY
Ralf Müssig
Senior Project Manager
Sébastien Hug
Head Innovation Office
Simon Nobs
PhD Candidate and Corporate Entrepreneurship Scholar
Department of Management and Entrepreneurship, University of Bern
Stefan Moser
Leiter Marktgebiet Bern, Emmental, Oberaargau sowie Leiter BEKB fokus@kmu
Thomas Bähler
Lawyer, Partner & Investor/Business Angel
Kellerhals Carrard
Tom Schlup
Partner / CFO on Demand
Yacine Michaelis
Expert for entrepreneurship
Yasmin Wieland
Project Manager
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