The idea for the Cyltronic electric cylinder was born in 2017. Three mechanical engineers, including our CEO Jeremias Wehrli, decided to develop an electric cylinder that would allow industry to move away from inefficient and expensive compressed air.

In partnership with the ZHAW School of Engineering, a technical market research and a bachelor thesis on the development of the electronics of the electric cylinder were carried out as part of a project work.
The business plan for Cyltronic was developed during an MAS degree in Business Administration, prepared by Jeremias Wehrli and Severin Oehler. Daniel Baumann, our CTO, joined Jeremias at that time as co-founder. The two founders worked tirelessly in their spare time to advance the development of the Cyltronic cylinder.

The company was initially registered in the commercial register as a sole proprietorship, and Jeremias Wehrli supported customers from various industries with engineering services in order to finance the prototype phase. The prototype of the cylinder was put into operation and development of the series product continued. In his master's thesis on the market launch strategy for Cyltronic, Jeremias Wehrli laid the right foundation for the market launch.

The development of the cylinder and the handling of projects for external customers are being continuously improved. Another prototype was put into operation, bringing the company a big step closer to series production. Once development of the series product was complete, the first pilot series was procured. In October 2020, Cyltronic reached another milestone when Cyltronic AG was founded and entered in the commercial register.

In 2021, the two founders decided to go all in and focus solely on their product idea—no more services and no more working for other employers. The first financing round with three business angels and a venture capitalist was completed in June. Two pilot projects with well-known customers (Migros, Coop, STIHL) were implemented in August. A third pilot project (Ricola) was then implemented in autumn. Cyltronic then launched the CTC electric cylinder in October and received the first orders from customers. The Cyltronic project was also financially supported by Swiss Climate Foundation and the Stadtwerk Winterthur Climate Fund. The Federal Office of Energy (BfE) also strongly accompanied and supported Cyltronic with a financial contribution.

In April 2022, Cyltronic AG launched the world's first freely positionable IO-Link servo actuator with its CTC-_-IOL electric cylinder. This was followed shortly afterwards by the launch of the IO-Link linear axis CTL, the second product group from Cyltronic, opening up new possibilities for mechanical engineering. In the spring, Cyltronic AG also successfully completed its second round of financing in the amount of CHF 1.2 million with renowned investors from the industry, thereby fueling its entry into the DACH-I market (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy).

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The product portfolio was strategically expanded to include the CTC-080, a stronger and faster assembly in the electric cylinder series.

In addition, the CTR-060 IO-Link Servo Motor, a special development for rotary applications, was launched on the market. In the area of short stroke applications, the Dynamag DYM was introduced in collaboration with Isliker Magnete.

Another significant success was the commitment from the Federal Office for the Environment's Technology Fund in October, which provided a guarantee of 1.8 million francs.

In order to strengthen the presence, investments were made in the development and, in addition to the DACH-I region, further distributors were set up in France, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

In 2024, the clear focus was on market penetration. Cyltronic succeeded in acquiring exciting new customers with great follow-up potential. By the end of 2024, Cyltronic had already delivered its products to over 140 customers and is delighted with the growing number of follow-up orders from series machine manufacturers, special machine manufacturers, and machine end users.

At trade fairs such as All About Automation in Zurich and Friedrichshafen, Cyltronic is positioned as a technology leader. This has led to many inquiries from a wide range of industries in mechanical engineering and beyond.

Production has been relocated to a new assembly partner in order to improve quality and efficiency and to be able to deliver on our brand promise of high-quality drives.

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2025 was a year of scale-up for Cyltronic. Despite a difficult environment in the industry, we grew by more than 50 percent and continued to develop our organization in a targeted manner. Lean structures, focused teams, and clear priorities are bringing us closer to breaking even. We have set a new course in the market.

We have entered into a licensing and development partnership with a market leader in the servo press business. At the same time, norelem is adding our IO-Link servo actuators to its product range and distributing them worldwide. We have expanded our sales network: new distributors in Finland, Israel, Turkey, and Portugal are opening up further important markets.

More and more series machine manufacturers are relying on our drives – from compact automation to demanding applications in the mobility and infrastructure sectors. Cyltronic is thus taking a clear step from technology pioneer to scaling industrial supplier.