E77 [AI-Translated] Übermorgen Ventures | Startup Founding&Bankruptcies 2025 | 10y Tenity | Burn Rate Predictions 2026

In this episode, Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi discuss the key developments shaping the Swiss startup and venture capital ecosystem at the start of 2026. The news segment covers the first closing of Übermorgen Ventures’ climate-tech fund at CHF 55 million, a new IFJ report showing record company formations alongside a sharp rise in bankruptcies, and the 10-year anniversary of Tenity, which is repositioning itself with a stronger focus on AI-enabled digital finance built on blockchain technologies.

The focus topic is the team’s predictions for 2026. They outline which sectors are expected to benefit from renewed momentum, including AI as a core infrastructure technology, resilience and security solutions, AI-driven healthcare, and, over longer horizons, robotics, industrial deep tech and defense. At the same time, they highlight areas losing attractiveness, such as generic AI tools without defensible advantages, commoditized feature SaaS, and capital-intensive consumer tech models. For Europe and Switzerland, the discussion points to growing relevance in substance-driven technologies and critical applications, while the US is expected to remain dominant in large platforms. Within AI, 2026 is framed as a year of industrialization, with real value emerging primarily from enterprise AI and enabling infrastructure, increasingly constrained by energy availability. On liquidity, the outlook is for selective IPOs, more strategic M&A activity and a rising role for secondaries. Fundraising is expected to remain demanding but fairer, with a clear focus on fundamentals and execution.