At 26, Julie Böhning heads PAVE Space, which has made it its mission to develop Lyoba, a vehicle capable of accelerating the launch of satellites into orbit. Ranked third in the 2026 TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award, the company began life in a Fribourg barn. Read article

In Fribourg, Venturi Lab, the Swiss entity of Venturi Space, is working on technologies that will soon be heading to the Moon. At the helm is Antonio Delfino, a staunch proponent of agility, audacity and risk-taking. His enthusiasm, however, does not extend to the ‘startup’ label. An interview with the engineer-turned-entrepreneur who prefers the realities of the lab to the polished visuals of pitch decks. Read article

“We could be turning a profit and prioritizing organic growth, but that’s not our goal at this stage.” Frank Bonnet, CEO and co-founder of Bionomous, declares without qualms. His company has recently posted a positive EBITDA (a measure of operating performance) for the first quarter. The company prefers a different kind of growth accelerant: ongoing investment in R&D. EPoS Technologies has chosen a similar path and, like Bionomous, has been based at Le Vivier, the Fribourg-based industrial innovation hub, since 2022. Read article

Docks (Rumex spp.) are a major headache for farmers, but a remedy may be at hand thanks to Overney Technologie. The company has developed a machine that can eliminate as many as 5,000 of these invasive weeds in the space of one hour, the same amount of time it would take to remove 60 by hand. Its high-tech solution consists of a tractor-mounted fork that identifies these nuisance plants using an AI-powered camera. It then deploys a welcome alternative to synthetic herbicides – electrocution – to kill them. Read article

Particle Vision has developed a technology that can detect fine particles in the air and identify their source. Juanita Rausch, director of the University of Fribourg spin-off, which was founded in 2011, looks back on the journey from research to commercialization, the challenges along the way, and how Particle Vision intends to keep its startup mindset alive even after 15 years in business. Read article

From its humble beginnings in a garage 15 years ago, Bcomp now boasts 80 employees, including a team based in China. Currently, it is busy fitting out a new production facility in Romania and partnering with BMW on the German automaker’s latest line-up. Read article

Publishing scientific articles is not the only thing that researchers at the University of Fribourg (Unifr) are involved in. With the support of the Knowledge and Technology Transfer (KTT) service, a growing number of scientists are also going down the entrepreneurship route. But innovation alone is not enough to start a business. “The decisive factor is the team. Successful researchers are those who are willing to go beyond their academic role: understanding users, building a team, raising funds, and above all, making decisions in the face of uncertainty,” Valeria Mozzetti Rohrseitz, head of the KTT service, explains. Read article

The Fribourg bioeconomy has set itself the goal of converting biomass into a renewable alternative to fossil fuels with the aid of cutting-edge technologies. The cantonal government has also made biomass valorization a priority area of its economic development strategy, a commitment that was reaffirmed in spring 2026 when the canton hosted BIOKET, a leading international conference in this field. It was also the first time that this major event was held in Switzerland. Bloom Biorenewables and Seprify, which were ranked among the top 10 Swiss start-ups in 2025, are living proof that the canton’s strategy is already yielding results. The work of both firms shows that innovative solutions developed in Fribourg can generate international demand. Read article

Fribourg has emerged as a powerhouse of innovation and entrepreneurship in recent years. Today, the canton boasts the expertise, infrastructure, and networks needed to support a business project from concept to market. Jerry Krattiger, Managing Director of the Fribourg Development Agency (FDA), reflects on these developments and shows how the entire regional economy is now benefiting from this upturn. Read article

It is hard to imagine a more fitting 125th anniversary gift than an entry in the Guinness World Records. This is precisely what Villars Maître Chocolatier achieved in 2026, when it held the world’s largest chocolate tasting event in Fribourg. The company, whose famed chocolate bars are sold in some 60 countries, may have changed a great deal since its founding in 1901, but its DNA remains the same: “A taste for tradition, a commitment to quality, and the almost exclusive use of local ingredients were, and still are, the hallmark of Villars,” its CEO, Nicolas Forget, explains. Read article