Spiros Margaris

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝘚𝘺𝘨𝘯𝘶𝘮 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 26 𝘈𝘶𝘨𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘹 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘚𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱. 𝘛𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥’𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘬. 𝘛𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺: Thomas Eichenberger, 𝘋𝘦𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘺 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘊𝘌𝘖 & 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘺 𝘖𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘳. “When Sygnum became the world’s first regulated digital asset bank on 26 August 2019, it created a regulated bridge between traditional finance and digital assets. That foundation has shaped our global expansion ever since. Today, we hold a Swiss banking licence, Capital Markets Services and Major Payment Institution licences in Singapore, and are licensed in Abu Dhabi and Luxembourg as well as registered in Liechtenstein. Our teams now serve clients across more than 70 countries. In January 2025, Sygnum achieved unicorn status with a USD 1 billion valuation following the final closing of our USD 58 million Strategic Growth Round. This capital supports our expansion into the EU/EEA and Hong Kong, and strengthens the institutional infrastructure we have been building since 2019. It also allows us to expand our product portfolio with a focus on addressing the industry’s biggest opportunities as well as most pressing pain points, supporting the further adoption of Bitcoin and Bitcoin-technology and pursuing strategic growth opportunities. Being first meant we were pioneers. Six years on, our pioneering spirit has remained a core element of our Sygnum DNA that defines who we are and what we do. It is this Sygnum DNA that continues to drive us to build Future Finance – every single day.” Mathias Imbach, Gerald Goh, Luka Müller, Gabriela Maria Payer, Dr., Peter Wuffli, Fabian Dori, Martin Burgherr, Dom Castley MBA MCIM, Fritz W Jost, Dominic L. #FutureFinance #blockchain #bitcoin Disclaimer: https://bit.ly/4edJA1v

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🇨🇭 The Swiss Venture Capital landscape at a glance 🚀 🗺️ The NEW Venture Capital Map 2025, highlighting funds based in and investing in Switzerland. This map provides an overview of managers with VC vehicles that have been in fundraising phase over the last five years, and includes fund offerings for institutional investors. 💰 🤝🏼 Prepared by the Swiss Startup Association presented & based on the Swiss Venture Capital Report 2025 by SECA - SECA - Swiss Private Equity & Corporate Finance Association & Startupticker.ch Stefan Kyora, Thomas Heimann, MSc, Regula Bleuler

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🚀 Building automation software company viboo has successfully closed its second financing round, raising €3.3 million. The round was led by Realyze Ventures, with participation from Zürcher Kantonalbank, existing investors HTGF and Swisscom Ventures, and new investors. 🏘️⚙️ The investment by leading PropTech VC Realyze Ventures underscores confidence in viboo’s potential to make buildings more energy efficient without major interventions, achieve significant energy savings, and accelerate the decarbonization of existing building stock. 💶 The fresh funding will be used to expand into the German market, where strong demand is being driven by the Building Energy Act (GEG). The platform will also be developed from a pure energy management solution into a comprehensive building management tool. 🗨️ Felix Bünning, Co-Founder of viboo, is thrilled about the completion of the seed round: “We have built a strong foundation in Switzerland – with more than 40 satisfied customers, some already rolling out across portfolios, and significant energy savings in existing buildings. Our solution convinces because it is easy to implement, delivers fast results, and generates immediate savings. Now we are taking the next big step with our entry into our first EU market, where a combination of energy prices and regulation creates strong pull. Realyze Ventures was our preferred partner from the start thanks to their deep industry expertise and excellent network. With Zürcher Kantonalbank, we are also adding one of Switzerland’s most renowned early-stage investors.” 💬 Gregor Haidl, Principal at HTGF, adds: “We’re excited to welcome Realyze Ventures and ZKB as ideal partners for viboo’s next growth chapter. Their strategic expertise complements viboo’s entrepreneurial spirit, strong market traction, and pioneering role in driving scalable building decarbonisation through their cloud- and AI-first approach.” 👏 Congratulations to the whole team! Learn more by following the links in the comments.👇

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It’s tech. It’s money. And it can help fix the system. Green fintech explained in 60 seconds. 👇 The term “green fintech” sounds fuzzy. The idea isn’t. We wrote up Green Fintech's Theory of Change. Together with ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences and the Green Fintech Network. Here’s the TLDR: ✅ Green fintech = tech-powered finance that helps solve environmental problems. But what does that actually mean? 🏦 Green fintech solutions do two things: 1. Capital allocation: Move money into sustainable activities (like impact investing, green loans, or crowdfunding) 2. Transformation: Help existing businesses shift through better data, risk tools, analytics, etc As science shows, these two levers are the only to create real-world impact [Heeb & Kölbel (2020) “Investor’s Guide to Impact”]. 💻 Technology makes it all faster, cheaper, and smarter. → It turns messy data into better decisions → It expands access so more people can invest with impact This is where things get practical. And the new study “Green Fintech Theory of Change” (co-authored by Inyova Impact Investing) explains it well. Green Fintech's Theory of Change is a roadmap for how tech + money can help fix the broken link between finance and sustainability. Kudos to the authors Beat Affolter, James Crawshaw and editor Gerrit Sindermann. Proud of how Inyova keeps pioneering Green Fintech since many years.

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Why are Swiss lawmakers pushing back on new AML compliance laws? A look at global financial competition can give us the answer. Switzerland, long the world’s top wealth management hub, is now under pressure from faster-growing rivals like Singapore, Hong Kong, and the UAE. At the same time, new AML and transparency rules demand more disclosure, more due diligence, and more bureaucracy. This reflects the broader dilemma facing European financial hubs, which risk losing their status to rapidly rising Asian hubs. For businesses, compliance is now often seen as a competitive advantage, because, it builds trust, credibility, and long-term resilience. But for certain economies, the same compliance can feel like an additional cost. In a hyper-competitive world, every extra burden risks driving clients and capital into the hands of rivals. The solution is not to abandon AML. Transparency and trust are non-negotiable. The solution is using the right tech infrastructure to ensure that compliance prevents de-risking both at micro at well as macro level. Technology that allows businesses to comply without adding friction that drives users away. Technology that allows countries to uphold global AML standards without losing their edge as financial hubs. Because in today’s world, compliance and competitiveness don’t have to be trade-offs — if technology bridges the gap. #AML #Compliance #FinancialHubs https://lnkd.in/d4iJ4QRy

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🇨🇭 Swiss Circular Economy – Turning Strategy into Action (Status Report 2024) The 2024 Status Report on Switzerland’s Circular Economy, released by Berner Fachhochschule BFH in collaboration with the ETH Zürich’s KOF Swiss Economic Institute of ETH Zurich economic research institute, offers both optimism and realism: → Leading in Strategy: 25% of surveyed companies have integrated circular economy into their core strategy—marking solid progress in strategic awareness. → Lagging in Execution: Only ~10% are actually implementing circular models today. Key barriers include high investment costs, limited skilled workforce, and market uncertainties. → Policy and Practice, both are needed: overcoming these hurdles requires coordinated effort: - Companies must innovate and drive circular solutions internally. - Policy-makers can catalyse change through targeted public procurement, enhanced knowledge transfer from academia, and support for social innovation. Why this matters: 1. Strategic interest ≠ Action: Switzerland is gaining momentum—but execution still lags behind ambition. 2. System-level solutions needed: Structural hurdles demand both institutional support and business-led innovation. 3. BFH & ETH KOF leading the way: Through this representative survey, they provide a clear, data-backed snapshot of where the Swiss economy stands—and what’s needed next. A few quick takeaways: Switzerland is building a strong foundation in circular mindset, but now must bridge the gap from strategic alignment to real-world execution. Collaboration across industry, academia, and policy will be key to unlocking the next phase. Congratulations to the authors! cc Tobias Stucki #CircularEconomy #Sustainability #Innovation #FutureOfBusiness #GreenEconomy #Kreislaufwirtschaft

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