People - 26.03.2021 - 00:00
Dorina Thiess elected Founder of the Year 2021
On the occasion of St.Gallen’s START Summit on Friday 26 March 2021, Dr. Dorina Thiess, representing the Piavita company, was elected HSG Founder of the Year 2021. The prize of the Werner Jackstädt Foundation is worth CHF 10,000.
26 March 2021. Dr. Dorina Thiess founded Piavita together with Sascha Bührle in Zurich in 2016 with the aim of revolutionising veterinary medicine. By now, they are among Switzerland’s best start-ups and are well on track to reach their ambitious goal. The medtech company Piavita provides a medical wearable for horses which substantially facilitates the work of veterinary surgeons. The unique technology provides completely new options in diagnosis and surveillance. The palm-sized Piavet measuring device is equipped with highly developed sensors for the non-invasive recording of the vital parameters of horses in real time. Besides its base in Zurich, Piavita also runs branches in Germany (Berlin) and the USA (Charlotte); in a 2018 funding round, the company also managed to convince investors from Silicon Valley, among others. At present, Piavita is extending its product portfolio for the first time this year, with Piabreed for the early detection of foaling in the horse.
From 2012 to 2015, Dr. Dorina Thiess studied for a Doctor’s degree at the University of St.Gallen. Even then, she advised and encouraged start-ups at the Chair of Entrepreneurship. In previous years, the prize went to the following people:
HSG Founders of the Years 2011 to 2020
- Julian Teicke, founder of Wefox (2020)
- Kilian Wagner, founder of VIU (2019)
- Valentin Stalf, founder of Smartphone-Bank N26 (2018)
- Lea von Bidder, inventor of the Ava fertility bracelet (2017)
- On running shoe inventor Caspar Coppetti (2016)
- Laura Behrens Wu (2015), founder of the Shippo shipping software company
- Alexander Graubner-Müller (2014), founder of the Kreditech mini loan platform
- Soma Analytics founder Johann Huber (2013) with his anti-stress app
- DeinDeal.ch founder Adrian Locher (2012)
- Dr. Alexander Ilic (2011), founder of Dacuda
The jury members of the 2021 founders’ competition
- Prof. Dietmar Grichnik, Professor of Entrepreneurship at the HSG
- Dr. Alexander Fust, Director, FörderVerein KMU-HSG
- Maria-Luisa Fuchs, Project Manager, Startup@HSG
- Diego Probst, Director, Startup@HSG
Further information about the START Summit founders’ conference at www.startsummit.ch
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