Company portrait

Overview

Flisom's goal is to produce and market flexible solar modules based on CIGS photovoltaic technologies. The company was founded in 2005 as a spin-off of the Laboratory of Solid State Physics of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich). Flisom is headquartered near Zurich, Switzerland.

Management

The management team includes current and former members of the Thin Film Physics Research Group where Flisom's photovoltaic technologies were initially developed.
The co-founders of Flisom include:

    Prof. Dr. Ayodhya Nath Tiwari, Chairman
    Anil Sethi, Board Member, Former CEO
    Dr. David Brémaud, Head of Product Development
    Dr. Marc Kaelin, CTO and interim CEO

Partners

Flisom has several partners in research and industry:

	EMPA, Switzerland's material science and technology centre, hosts the Laboratory for Thin Films and Photovoltaics, our main research partner. The laboratory was formerly hosted at ETH Zurich. The laboratory has expertise is many photovoltaic technologies and produces samples that achieved world record electrical conversion efficiencies.
	Axpo, Switzerland's leading energy company, sponsors Flisom via its Naturstrom Fonds dedicated to renewable energies. This partnership is essential for Flisom's innovations and production.
	BKW, a major electricity supplier in Switzerland, supports R&D at Flisom. This partnership is in line with BKW's activities in renewable energies.
	EKZ, Switzerland's largest electricity supplier, sponsors Flisom via its EKZ Innovationsfonds dedicated to renewables and energy saving technologies. This partnership contributes to Flisom's key technologies.

Investors

Tata Group, one of India's largest conglomerates, is Flisom's largest investor. This investment is strategic with respect to several of Tata's industrial sectors.

Awards

	CTI/KTI is the Swiss agency that promotes technology transfer between academia and industry. Flisom is certified "ready for sustainable business development" and was awarded the CTI Start-up Label.
	The World Economic Forum Technology Pioneers Programme selected Flisom in the category "energy" in 2007 in recognition of its innovative technologies. Flisom is the first Swiss company to obtain this recognition.
	Red Herring recognized Flisom in 2006 as being among the top 100 firms driving the future of technology in Europe.
	Cash, Switzerland's business daily, and SECA, the Swiss Private Equity and Corporate Finance Association, elected Flisom as Switzerland's second best new company for their 2006 annual issue of "Private Equity Magazin". The electing committee was composed of 38 innovation experts who elected the 50 top ventures and the 10 top newcomers in Switzerland.
	ZKB Pionierpreis Technopark, a joint award of the Zürich Kantonal Bank and the Zürich Technopark, was awarded to Flisom in 2006. This prestigious award is given to outstanding pioneering technological projects at the threshold of market entry.
	The Venture Phase 1 award was presented to Flisom in 2006 for "best business idea". The Venture Award is a joint initiative of McKinsey & Co. and the ETH Zurich Engineering School. Flisom was also awarded a special prize for its innovative product and business plan.