Crìa Technologies Winners of a 2026 W.A. de Vigier Award

A Geneva-area startup has earned a place among Switzerland’s most prestigious recognitions for young entrepreneurs. Crìa Technologies SA, based in Plan-les-Ouates (GE) and led by CEO Giancarlo Mattiello, was named one of five winners of the 2026 W.A. de Vigier Award, each receiving CHF 120,000 in seed funding. The awards were presented on June 10 at the Annual Award Ceremony in Solothurn, selected from a pool of more than 200 applicants.

Crìa Technologies is the only life science project from Western Switzerland to receive this year’s award, putting the canton of Geneva on the map alongside winners from Zurich, Bern and Solothurn.

Crìa Technologies tackles a critical gap in modern medicine: the safe transport of sensitive biological materials. Therapies such as cell and gene treatments, IVF samples, stem cells and advanced diagnostics require extremely stable temperatures during shipping, yet many transports still rely on dry ice—a solution that is cumbersome to handle and prone to temperature fluctuations that can compromise irreplaceable samples. Crìa’s answer is a line of high-vacuum insulated containers that dramatically reduce heat transfer. Its first product, Crìa Go, is shoulder-carriable, cabin-compatible, and works with reusable ice packs instead of dry ice—delivering cryogenic-level performance while remaining simple enough to ship through standard couriers. The technology was developed at CERN.

Crìa Technologies joins four other young companies recognized this year. Gwenael Hannema’s OrthoSens SA (Biel, BE) has developed battery-free sensors embedded in orthopedic implants that track healing in real time, helping surgeons catch complications earlier and reduce unnecessary imaging and revision surgeries. Seoho Jung’s Chiral Nano AG (Dübendorf, ZH) is building manufacturing equipment to integrate carbon nanotubes into semiconductors, paving the way for post-silicon chips for AI and quantum computing. Robert Schreiber’s Alpinasana AG (Zurich) combines AI-driven meal-tray analysis with tailored medical nutrition products to detect and address malnutrition in hospitals and care settings. And Arthur Sebesteny’s Dental Robotics GmbH (Gossliwil, SO) has created a portable 3-in-1 dental hygiene system that brings preventive oral care directly to homes, workplaces and care facilities.

Five additional finalists—80SBio AG, Iron Energy AG, Windworks SA, UpGrid AG and Qendra AG—each received a CHF 20,000 Recognition Prize. Thanks to funding partner FERS, the total prize pool this year reached CHF 700,000.

Now in its 39th year, the W.A. de Vigier Award is the oldest prize for young entrepreneurs in Switzerland and one of the country’s most generously endowed startup awards, having distributed CHF 15.6 million in seed money to over 160 ventures since its founding. “It’s a privilege to get to be part of the journey of a group of such truly great personalities,” said Céline Bedu, COO of the W.A. de Vigier Foundation. “To witness this entrepreneurial drive is inspiring, and it’s very meaningful to add additional fuel to it at this early point on their journey.”

➡️ Source: Press Release | 📸 ©W.A. de Vigier Foundation