Startup Stories: Meet the Founders at RUNWAY Startup Incubator

Simon is the Co-Founder of Thervia, where he supports institutional owners in decarbonizing their real estate portfolios efficiently, economically, and sustainably. His expertise lies at the intersection of real estate, the energy industry, and technical implementation—spanning everything from analysis and planning to realization, operation, and continuous optimization. He is driven by the goal of reducing CO2 emissions and making the world a little "cooler." Prior to founding Thervia, Simon spent several years as Project Manager for Innovation at Renera (formerly Energie Zukunft Schweiz). In this role, he was responsible for establishing new energy services, developing IoT-based monitoring solutions for heating optimization, and managing projects in photovoltaics, e-mobility, and operational optimization for professional real estate portfolios. Before that, Simon founded the data-driven startup Prognolite, which developed machine-learning-based demand forecasts for the gastronomy sector. In addition to product development, fundraising, and team leadership, he served as the lead negotiator during the company’s successful exit. His experience is further complemented by earlier positions at Elektrizitätswerke des Kantons Zürich (EKZ), where he focused on the energy industry, forecasting models, and portfolio management. Simon holds an MAS in Energy Economics and a Bachelor in Business Administration, supplemented by advanced training in Sustainable Real Estate and energy-efficient construction and renovation. Additionally, he volunteers for energy and sustainability projects, particularly in the areas of photovoltaics, heating optimization, and electric mobility.

Ivy Zhao is a Zurich-based founder and HSG MBA graduate with a background in digital strategy and product leadership at National Australia Bank, BCG, and UBS. She is now the COO of Fridge, a social platform for habit tracking and accountability.

Diego Prado is a Zurich-based founder and HSG graduate with a background in senior management at NZZ and in the MedTech industry. Starting his career as a construction worker, he later moved into business leadership and entrepreneurship. He is now the CEO of Fridge, a social platform for habit tracking.

Josef is part of the M-Cred team, working with researchers and administrative staff at several universities to understand their needs in design, issuance, management and revocation of MCs as well as mapping them to technology. He is also a senior lecturer / associate professor for computer science. His research activity focuses on distributed application computing paradigms within digital infrastructures, in particular for education. With novel system designs including FIPE, Edushell, CPILS and d-gree, he is innovating on the intersection between distributed systems research and education. He is a senior member of IEEE, and member of ACM/GI/SI/SBC.

Viet Ha is part of M-Cred and an entrepreneurial lead at ZHAW, working at the intersection of education innovation, product development, and market adoption. He collaborates with university stakeholders, training providers, and policy contacts to understand practical needs around lifelong learning credentials, including how micro-credentials and skills recognition can be issued, verified, and reused across institutions and borders. With a background in entrepreneurial activities and venture building, he focuses on translating stakeholder requirements into product strategy, partnerships, and go-to-market execution.