Dexterous Endoscopes has been named Top100 Newcomer of the Year 2026. Entering the Top100 Swiss Startup Ranking at #36, the Vaud-based medtech won the audience vote after pitching live alongside Bewe Lab and Calico Biosystems. Its technology tackles a familiar challenge in minimally invasive surgery: how to combine the flexibility needed to reach difficult areas with the stability surgeons need once they get there.
Flexible or rigid? For surgeons working with endoscopes, the answer usually involves a compromise. Rigid instruments provide stability and precision but make difficult anatomy harder to navigate. Flexible endoscopes can reach those areas more easily, but offer less stability during a procedure. Dexterous Endoscopes wants to combine the advantages of both.
The Biopôle-based startup is developing a variable-stiffness endoscope that can switch from soft to rigid within seconds. The instrument remains flexible while navigating towards the target and can then be stiffened once in position, giving the surgeon a stable platform to work with. The company is initially targeting ENT procedures, including sinus and larynx surgery, and is advancing its technology towards clinical validation. Its approach has earned Dexterous Endoscopes #36 in its first Top100 Swiss Startup Ranking and a place in the final of the new Top100 Newcomer of the Year.
The audience makes the final call
Introduced in 2026, the Top100 Newcomer of the Year gives young companies entering the ranking for the first time an additional stage. After the public vote, Bewe Lab (#30), Dexterous Endoscopes (#36), and Calico Biosystems (#87), three Biopôle-based companies, remained in the running. The three finalists pitched live at the Top100 Swiss Startup Award before the audience made the final decision.
Dexterous Endoscopes took the title.
The other finalists approached healthcare from very different directions. Bewe Lab applies neuroscience to cravings and metabolic health, while Calico Biosystems is developing a new way to predict the potential of cancer therapies using native patient tumors.
