Catchfree and fortyfour win SGKB award for young companies
St.Gallen/Appenzell - The St.Galler Kantonalbank (SGKB) has awarded catchfree the competition’s "Startfeld Diamant" prize for its plant-based alternatives to seafood for the catering industry. The “Rohdiamant” prize went to fortyfour, a startup using solar energy to filter CO2 from the air to boost crop yields in greenhouses.
(CONNECT) Catchfree and fortyfour are this year’s winners of SGKB’s young entrepreneurs award. The grand prize, the Startfeld Diamant (Starting Field Diamond), is worth 30,000 Swiss francs and is awarded to young and innovative companies in Eastern Switzerland. This year’s winner is catchfree AG from Appenzell.
Founded in 2024 as a spin-off of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, the startup produces plant-based alternatives to fish and seafood for the catering industry. Its products contain natural ingredients such as rice, soy, and microalgae. According to a statement, the company already supplies more than 100 food service establishments with fish nuggets, shrimp, and salmon fillets.
Christian Schmid, jury president and CEO of SGKB, attributes the decision to catchfree’s “exemplary” combination of scientific expertise and experience across the restaurant industry, wholesale, sales, and business management. “The jury was impressed by the company’s high level of expertise and customer focus,” he is quoted as saying. “Catchfree is addressing a market under pressure from overfishing and is creating sustainable value in Switzerland.”
The Rohdiamant (Rough Diamond) award recognizes the best startup idea. This year’s prize money of 10,000 Swiss francs went to fortyfour AG from St.Gallen. The company, which was founded in 2025 as a spin-off from the University of St.Gallen, uses solar energy to filter CO2 from ambient air and channel it into greenhouses, where it is designed to increase crop yields. “Fortyfour’s business idea is compelling, tangible, and sustainable – another fine example of Swiss engineering expertise,” summarized the jury president. “If the idea can be implemented economically on-site, it is highly scalable.”
The two other finalists for the Startfeld Diamant category – Amela Biosciences (St.Gallen) and Ofinto (Gossau, Swiss canton of St.Gallen) – will each receive 5,000 Swiss francs, as will the finalists for the Rohdiamant, Adminity (St.Gallen) and NewsQuant (Chur). The audience award, worth 2,500 Swiss francs, was awarded back in March 2026 to YourStarter (Oberriet, canton of St.Gallen). ce/mm