SGKB awards UpGrain and Brian with Startfeld Diamant

(CONNECT) SGKB has once again honored startup companies from eastern Switzerland. This year’s Starting Field Diamond (Startfeld Diamant) award was presented to UpGrain from Appenzell and Brian from St. Gallen. This is the first time that two companies have shared the award, with the prize money of 30,000 Swiss francs split between them. However, SGKB rounded this up to award 20,000 Swiss francs to each of the two winners. The Rough Diamond (Rohdiamant) award and 10,000 Swiss francs in prize money for the best business idea went to the St. Gallen-based startup Netzoptimal.

UpGrain transforms spent grain, a waste product from beer production, into raw materials for the food industry. The food additives are produced in a processing plant at Brauerei Locher in Appenzell and are sold all over the world.

Brian has developed an AI-based educational platform that generates personalized learning content from teaching materials. The platform is designed to convey complex information and promote active learning and critical thinking. It is currently being used in over 40 courses at the University of St. Gallen.

“UpGrain AG and Brian AG impressed us in every respect, but their business ideas couldn't have been more different,” Christian Schmid, jury president of Startfeld Diamant and CEO of SGKB, is quoted as saying. “The evaluation resulted in a tie with no losers. For the first time in history, we are therefore crowning two joint winners!”

Rough Diamond award winner Netzoptimal develops smart, model-based approaches for optimizing energy networks. The company aims to support energy suppliers and network operators in avoiding network overloads and saving costs.

The three other finalists, Trobart AG from Frauenfeld and the St. Gallen startups Lightlink Instruments and 4xSleep, each received prize money of 5,000 Swiss francs. ce/nta