Mobile apps have become an integral part of our lives. On average, we spend almost five hours a day with our mobile device. The market will continue to boom in the future: Fintech apps, mobile commerce, augmented, mixed and virtual reality are driving innovation. Unic is strengthening its positioning and expertise in this growth market by acquiring Zurich-based software specialist iAgentur. The three owners Martin Schawalder, Marco Ghinolfi and Roman Haag are new partners in Unic's shareholder structure, and the 28 employees also remain on board.

iAgentur has 15 years of experience in developing business-critical mobile applications for Swiss companies. The move is forward-looking for both companies, it said in a statement.

Michael Isaac will head the PR & Communications department of Microsoft Switzerland from October 1. He reports directly to Catrin Hinkel, CEO of Microsoft Switzerland, and complements the Swiss management team. Marsel Szopinski, who has headed the communications function on an interim basis since May, will report directly to Isaac.

In his role, Isaac is responsible for leading, promoting and protecting Microsoft's image and reputation, both externally and internally, as well as developing and implementing the global communications strategy for operations in Switzerland.

Michael Isaac joins from Johnson Controls, where he served as Head of Global Public Relations & Media and Head of Sustainability Communications. Prior to that, he was Global Media Relations Lead at companies such as ABB, Sonova, Syngenta and Zurich Financial Services.

Nexoya welcomes a new member to its Advisory Board: Chris Boorman is to support the Swiss SaaS start-up with his experience at international B2B SaaS companies such as Salesforce or Huddle, but also as Marketing Executive at Informatica, Automic, CA and NTT. The Advisory Board sees itself as a sounding board for the discussion of all areas of the young company - from product to customer success to the strategic direction of sales and marketing and in the expansion into new markets. As recently as April two more new members added.

Internationalization and B2B marketing

"Chris Boorman's experience and expertise are valuable for our plans to set up in further European markets such as the UK and in the USA. But it is not only for the internationalization of Nexoya that we are relying on his support. Chris Boorman will also advise us on the strategic direction of our marketing in the B2B sector. In addition, his large professional network offers valuable potential for us," says Marco Hochstrasser, co-founder and CEO of Nexoya.

"I have relevant experience in building, coaching and leading high-performance teams; aligning sales, marketing and customer success functions; and managing cultural differences across geographies," Boorman says.

Nexoya optimizes multi-channel digital marketing campaigns in real time based on artificial intelligence, enabling up to 70 percent more conversions.

With the E-guma voucher system, over 1200 businesses from Swiss tourism and trade have been selling, managing and marketing their vouchers since 2005. The cloud software developed by the E-guma team based in Zurich is now used throughout Europe. Now E-guma launches with E-surprise.ch a platform for gift vouchers from all over Switzerland.

Among the offers are "romantic candlelight dinners, breathtaking paragliding flights, enjoyable brunches or relaxing wellness stays": As of now, a large selection of experiences from Swiss vacation and leisure providers can be found on E-surprise.ch. The list includes renowned companies such as the Lenkerhof Gourmet Spa Resort in the Simmental, the Gurten - Park im Grünen, the Hotel Belvédère Scuol, the Zürichsee Schifffahrtsgesellschaft, the Tschuggen Grand Hotel Arosa, the Stanserhorn cabriolet railroad on Lake Lucerne, the Emmental show dairy, the Appenzell show dairy as well as the St. Beatus caves, the Niesenbahn and the Niederhornbahn in the Bernese Oberland.

"The demand for vouchers has been rising steadily, and not just since the Corona era," says Co-Founder and Managing Partner Martin Gerber. "Enjoying time together or giving a special experience to a loved one is a trend. Gift vouchers are very often the first choice there."

From voucher system to sales platform

E-guma employees say they are often confronted by their partners with the desire for additional sales channels. e-guma wants to meet this need for more visibility and new sales channels. Martin Gerber is proud of the new offering: "With the new store, we are strengthening our expertise in the voucher business and making the use of e-guma even more attractive for our partners." Every Swiss e-guma customer can offer their vouchers for sale on the new platform with little effort.

Despite its entry into the end customer business, the company remains active as a software developer. Gerber clarifies: "We will continue to develop E-guma as a voucher software according to customer wishes so that our software remains the most popular voucher tool in Switzerland. Everyone benefits from our experience with E-surprise." E-guma is also an official partner of Hotelleriesuisse.

Give experiences directly from the Twint app

From now on, E-guma's range of experiences is also available in the Twint app. With the "Give Experiences" function, which can be accessed via the "Twint+" button, users can quickly and easily purchase a suitable experience gift for any occasion, personalize it, and send it to the person to be gifted.

Hiring private workers should not be a gray area - according to Swiss law, and this was also the clear opinion of Quitt and Stuiq. Together in a collaborative process, after winning the pitch, Stuiq developed a national and multimedia awareness campaign with a very clear, powerful and human message: "We are Quitt."

Quitt's full-digital solution is designed to be not only straightforward, but also social and smart. The software-as-a-service start-up takes care of the complex process involving registration, payroll, insurance and many other bureaucratic activities. So that private workers are employed fairly, legally and safely. The visuals and spots are not only intended to raise awareness of the quitt brand and push the services, but also to raise awareness of the socially relevant issue. After all, it's about fairness and togetherness.

As part of the campaign development, Stuiq also analyzed the user journeys and the customer experience of quitt users and implemented concrete optimization proposals in the areas of UX/UI. This is to ensure that, in addition to brand awareness, the conversion rate is also sustainably increased.

"We are convinced that Stuiq's campaign is really awareness-boosting. Fresh, colorful look and super bold appearance. All with a holistic mindset. It was an exciting, inspiring, collaborative process. And most importantly, we can't wait to see our first spots on TV," says David Christen, Co-Founder and CMO of quitt.

Responsible at quitt./ServiceHunter AG: Marie-Christin Kamann (CEO), David Christen (CMO), Andres Roost (Sales and Growth Manager).
Development and implementation: Stuiq

Gambling is by nature an activity that does not tolerate distraction. With Digastro Casino ordering software, Grand Casino Basel guests can now place orders directly at their seat using a tablet or via QR code using their own smartphone.

Thanks to this digital solution, the staff focuses on the order and good service, the players are not slowed down from their fun just because the little hunger called. The game of chance needs concentration and does not tolerate unnecessary distractions. The bill for the catering can be settled with the Digastro Casino ordering software right online or directly on site at the bar.

Malak Beshai - Gastronomy Manager Grand Casino Basel: "Why did we choose Digastro's software? On the one hand, the perfect communication through personal contact with the suppliers makes digitization a breeze. And for another: Unlike the other software solution providers in the gastronomy industry, the Berlin-based company does not share in our revenue."

A fundamental advantage of digitization is and remains the fast and uncomplicated processing of business transactions. Every order is recorded digitally, which means no more paperwork.

Digastro Founder & CEO Barkin Baksel on working with Grand Casino Basel: "We have already helped over 100 small restaurants and large restaurant chains in Germany to secure their existence in this ongoing Corona crisis with our digital solution. Now we are looking forward to our first big customer in Switzerland."

DiGastro GmbH is a young Berlin-based IT company that has set itself the goal of digitizing the German restaurant industry. The company founders are two computer scientists in their mid-20s. Three years ago, while still studying, Barkin Baksel and Samir Schafii came up with the idea of developing digital menus and tablet ordering systems. With their new product - delivery service software - the IT entrepreneurs from Neukölln are starting the second chapter of their exciting company history. Significant difference from well-known delivery services dominating the market: no revenue sharing by DiGastro GmbH. Instead, the IT company offers service in all digital concerns.

The Grand Casino Basel is one of the eight A-casinos in Switzerland. It is located in Basel-St. Johann in the immediate vicinity of the French border.

This corresponds to growth of 11 percent. With 22 new talents and 24 new customers, BSI continues its success story, which received additional tailwind from the entry of the Swiss investment company Capvis in August of the year.

In a year under difficult auspices, the software specialists at BSI are pleased about new renowned customers and a continued high willingness to invest as well as the subsequently strong company result: "The Corona pandemic definitely revealed the need of companies to further digitalize their customer relationships and was an accelerator in this respect. This has significantly increased the demand for our solutions in the market," commented Markus Brunold, CEO of BSI. "In some cases, the pandemic also created a very specific need: for example, in April 2020, as part of the crisis management for the Zurich Social Insurance Institution (SVA), we launched a portal within a weekend that enabled the self-employed to apply for compensation for loss of earnings."

BSI was able to further strengthen its business in the three core sectors of retail, insurance and banking, and in particular also expand its cloud business. "In addition to the strong growth and the new partnership with Capvis, we were able to keep our values and culture unchanged - always with a 100 percent focus on our customers," adds Brunold.

BSI Customer Suite in high demand

The reasons for this growth can be found in particular in product innovations such as the newly launched Customer Data Platform, the BSI Insight analytics tool, and investments in the further development of CRM, Customer Experience and Artificial Intelligence.Solutions from BSI. With its various solution modules, the BSI Customer Suite with its zero-code approach offers comprehensive support to marketing, sales and service - and has generated strong growth.

Team at BSI grows again

The drivers of these brilliant figures are, of course, BSI's software architects and developers: The team, which has grown to 344 heads, is now spread over eight locations in Germany and Switzerland and also pulled together from the home office: "We are pleased that our passion for software and our customers is also transported in remote times and that we were able to pass on these values to 22 new talents," says CEO Brunold. "Despite local distance, the cooperation with our customers was close at all times and worked smoothly. We stand by our customers as partners -. that also proved to be a success factor in 2020," sums up Brunold.

Focus industries strengthened

Customer focus and comprehensive industry expertise paid off for BSI: In the banking community alone, several new customers were acquired, including well-known financial institutions in Switzerland and Austria. In the insurance sector, BSI benefited from the unabatedly high demand for its CX and CDP digitization solutions - for consolidating inventory data systems and managing customer relationships. Individualized customer targeting on the right channel at the right moment supported by automation and artificial intelligence was also a trend in the retail industry. BSI 2020 supported numerous retail customers with advice and solution applications in their reorganization on the way out of the crisis.

On the side of Capvis, Markus Brunold is optimistic about a promising 2021: "With Capvis' large network and know-how behind us, we will use the year to invest in the further development of the BSI Customer Suite. Following the launch of BSI CDP and BSI Insight, our Enterprise Integration Platform (BSI EIP) will be available by the end of 2021. We also plan to further expand our partner network, connect additional platforms and ecosystems, and continue to grow our focus industries. Our expectation is that the pandemic market situation will accompany us for some time. However, we are optimistic about this year's business performance - not least because of our motivated team and our many great customers".