Info Patronale · No. 340 · September 2026

Cortexia: reinventing itself to accelerate its impact

Founded in 2016, at a time when few companies were using artificial intelligence, Cortexia has established itself as one of Europe's pioneers in the objective measurement of urban cleanliness. Deployed in several cities in Switzerland and Europe, its technology has shown that it is possible to improve the quality of services while optimising resources. Today, the Fribourg start-up is opening a new chapter: having proven the value of its innovation, it is developing its offering to accelerate adoption and take on a new environmental challenge.

Your technology is recognised. Why reinvent yourselves now?

Our mission remains the same: putting artificial intelligence to work for concrete environmental solutions.

We have shown that a cleaning service can be managed on the basis of objectively measured results rather than rounds defined by habit. Our technology had proved itself. The challenge now was to accelerate its adoption despite naturally long decision-making cycles.

So we innovated a second time. First with E.C.O.S., a management tool that turns data into operational decisions and makes results-based management accessible to all local authorities, even without data analysis expertise. Then by adapting our platform to a new field: the quality of biowaste.

Why biowaste?

When properly sorted, biowaste produces biogas and natural compost. However, its potential is reduced by contaminants that can end up as microplastics in agricultural soils.

With the FOEN, Biomasse Suisse, several cantons, pilot municipalities and industrial partners, we have created an alliance to improve its quality at source. Our Clean Biowaste Index (CBI) provides, for the first time, a common language linking biowaste quality, prevention and treatment costs.

Who are your customers and what are your priority markets?

In cleanliness, Swiss municipalities and cities such as Brussels are already demonstrating the benefits of results-based management. With E.C.O.S., we want to make this approach accessible to all cities, whatever their size.

For biowaste, the first projects are being carried out in Switzerland, and our partnership with Remondis opens up important prospects in Germany. We are targeting countries where separate biowaste collection is already well developed.

What benefits do you bring your customers?

This approach has enabled Zurich to save several tens of millions of francs every year. In Basel, the cleanliness index is published on the city's website, strengthening transparency and dialogue with citizens.

In biowaste, most solutions take an essentially technical approach, detecting contaminants. We offer a genuine management tool that helps local authorities and operators improve biowaste quality over the long term.

Rooted in Fribourg

What role does the canton of Fribourg play in your development?

Entrepreneurship is a collective adventure. The City of Fribourg was one of the first to trust us as an innovation partner. Capital Risque Fribourg has supported us for several years as a genuine venture capital investor, providing financial resources and decisive credibility with industrial partners and international investors.

Innosuisse's Swiss Accelerator, one of the most competitive innovation programmes in the country, then enabled us to accelerate this new phase by adapting our platform to the biowaste market.

Our ambition is simple: to turn technologies developed in Fribourg into international benchmarks serving local authorities and the environmental transition.