At home in two worlds
ETH alumnus Christoph Schr?ter plays guitar in Hecht, a pop rock band that performs in Swiss German dialect. Equally at home in music and mechanical engineering, he also runs a start-up focused on the digital transformation of healthcare.?
Christoph Schr?ter sits at a dark, heavy wooden table in the conference room of his start-up Evoleen, which is based in a historical building in Zurich’s Enge district. The space is a showcase of the company’s work, with wall-mounted screens displaying logos of healthcare apps, and a solid-looking mirror in the corner, kitted out with smart digital tech. Rather than launching straight into the idea behind the business and the digital transformation of healthcare, our conversation begins with music. That’s because Schr?ter is the guitarist in Hecht, currently one of Switzerland’s biggest bands.
“The Gurtenfestival in 2016 was the real turning point,” he says, recalling the set they played on a mountain near Bern. At the time, the band was still relatively unknown and scheduled to play an afternoon slot on a small side stage. Their name didn’t even appear on the festival poster. Yet people turned up in droves to see the five musicians – and the response was fantastic. “Back then, no one imagined that three years later we would be the first Swiss German dialect band to sell out the Hallenstadion in Zurich,” he says. Hecht was on a roll: the band stormed the Swiss charts, landing one award after another, and was soon headlining festivals.
Knowledge with global reach
Despite this success, Schr?ter can still walk down the street without being recognised, and he’s clearly relieved that fans tend to focus their fervour on frontman and singer Stefan Buck rather than him. “I’m really grateful to Stefan for doing such an amazing job,” says Schr?ter. Their friendship runs deep: the two have known each other since their schooldays in the Seetal region of Lucerne and have been making music together for almost 30 years. “I’m not a solo artist,” says Schr?ter. “What inspires me is being part of a team. There’s no better feeling than working really hard on something as a group, and then everyone enjoying that success together.”
A full suite of services
Team spirit also plays a central role at his start-up. With sites in Zur?ich, Munich and Riyadh, Evoleen develops innovative health-tech solutions for pharmaceutical companies, doctors and public providers. Unlike conventional pharmaceutical products, which operate on cycles of several decades, these new technologies are all about speed. “When you’re dealing with such different timescales, it’s difficult to drive both types of product forward within the same framework,” Schr?ter explains. That’s why Evoleen doesn’t just develop products. It also offers a full suite of services – from ideation and clinical validation to market approval and commercialisation.
“I’m convinced that the only reason our projects have been so successful is because we have so many smart and dedicated people working here,” he says. “Everyone has their own area of expertise and contributes in their own way.” And however much he values Evoleen’s success, he adds, it’s the people that matter to him most. The company’s offices feel homely: the corridor leading to the kitchen is lined with postcards, birth announcements and wedding photos, and even the Wi-Fi password sounds suspiciously like “home sweet home”.
But for all his love of teamwork, Schr?ter also appreciates quiet, focused moments working on his own, mulling over ideas and fine-tuning technical details. It’s a trait that dates back to his student days at ETH Zurich, where he did a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, followed by a Master’s in Biomedical Engineering. “The Master’s was the perfect combination for me,” he says, recalling his struggle to choose between engineering and medicine when going on to higher education. “I’d still love to work as a doctor,” he admits. “But it would be tough combining that with my music.” The current setup means he can pursue the band alongside the start-up – two worlds in which he feels equally at home.
About
Christoph Schr?ter was born in 1980 in the Seetal region of Lucerne. He completed a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Master’s in Biomedical Engineering at ETH Zurich. After a six-year stint at ETH spin-off Pearltec, acquiring his first taste of working life, he joined US manufacturer Advanced Bionics, now part of the Sonova group. In 2018, he co-founded the start-up Evoleen. He serves as COO of the company, which now has offices in Zurich, Munich and Riyadh.
From pioneer to professional
After completing his Master’s degree at the Institute for Biomechanics in 2009, Schr?ter realised that an academic career wasn’t for him. Nonetheless, he maintained a link to his alma mater, joining Pearltec, a start-up recently founded at the Institute. He was their first employee. “I was something of a pioneer!” he recalls.
It was a role that took him to different areas of the business, enabling him to acquire skills well beyond his core area of expertise. Engineering was only part of the job: at times he focused on marketing, at others on building up supplier networks or securing regulatory approval for medical devices. “After six years doing a bit of everything, I decided I wanted to join a large international company where I could specialise in one area,” he says.
In 2015, he moved to Advanced Bionics, a US manufacturer of cochlear implants that has since been acquired by Sonova. There, he was able to focus on what he enjoyed most: the regulatory side of things. “From the regulatory perspective,” he explains, “an implantable hearing aid is fascinating because it combines an entire range of medical technologies in a single system: audio processors, software, wireless transmission, data protection, biocompatibility.” It was here that he was able to broaden his knowledge and experience. “It was the perfect job for me,” he adds. “At least, until Chris came along!”Chris Gugl, CEO of Evoleen, studied mechanical engineering with Schr?ter at ETH. They had kept in touch, meeting up a couple of times a year for sushi and sake. “He was always going on about founding our own healthcare start-up, and that really grabbed my attention,” says Schr?ter.
Founding a business – and a family
In 2018, they took the plunge and founded Evoleen, together with several other co-founders. Schr?ter’s career was taking off, yet he remained determined to combine it with his music. His two passions were never a secret from his wife, whom he’d met when Hecht was still a student band called Seng, playing their first gigs and singing in English. She also runs her own business, and together they now juggle family life with two small children.
The children are still too young to understand that their father is one of Switzerland’s most successful musicians. And it’s something that Schr?ter himself still finds hard to believe. Last year, he trimmed his time at the start-up to concentrate more on his music. “It’s official: I’ve finally become a professional musician,” he says, shaking his head in disbelief. “Let’s see where this goes!”
And so the conversation ends where it began: with music.