Innoguer GmbH wins the 2025 InnoPrix SO! for its biodegradable high-performance golf ball

Solothurn, 25 November 2025. Innoguer GmbH has been awarded the prestigious InnoPrix SO! by the Baloise Bank Ltd foundation in recognition of its development of the Loop golf ball, the world’s first biodegradable high-performance golf ball. Founded in Münchenbuchsee (canton of Bern) in 2013, Innoguer won over the judging panel with The Loop Project, an innovative solution that offers a unique combination of sustainability and sporting performance.

It is estimated that around a billion golf balls are lost every year. This equates to approximately 46,000 tonnes of plastic waste ending up in the environment, with Switzerland alone accounting for roughly 140 tonnes of this total. Many of these golf balls are never found again and, over time, sink into the ground where they remain as waste. Innoguer’s Loop golf ball is a more sustainable alternative that, at the end of its lifecycle, leaves behind no residues that are harmful to the environment. The Loop golf ball is made from biodegradable, non-toxic and yet high-performance biopolymers. It has been designed to offer the usual playing quality and to satisfy regulatory requirements.

Innovation with international potential

Innoguer intends to be ready to go to market with the Loop golf ball by 2027. It is receiving financial support in this endeavour from Innosuisse, Switzerland’s innovation agency, and is also backed by other strong partners: the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW), which is helping with further development of the ball, and industrial partner Hänggli Thermoplast AG, based in Niedergösgen (canton of Solothurn). It is also supported by Swiss Golf, Switzerland’s national golf association.

The product is to be launched on the market in stages, starting in 2027 with Switzerland as the test market, followed by other European golfing nations and the major markets in North America. Innoguer is aiming to reach a broad range of customers with its Loop golf ball, namely golf clubs and companies that genuinely want to increase the sustainability of their activities and amateur golfers who wish to play the game in a mindful and responsible manner.

“Our objective is to make the sport of golf more sustainable, but without having a detrimental impact on performance. And we will not compromise on that,” explains Pedro Torres, founder and co-owner of Innoguer GmbH. “We are closing the loop with the Loop golf ball. Once it has reached the end of its life, it will have no lasting effects on nature.”

Long tradition of promoting innovation

The InnoPrix SO!, which the Baloise Bank Ltd foundation has been presenting since 1987, is awarded annually for transformational projects that will add momentum to the Solothurn economy. The prize is endowed with CHF 25,000. Innoguer, this year’s prizewinner, demonstrates how regional innovation and global sustainability goals can go hand in hand to make an effective contribution to economic and environmental development.

During the award ceremony at Stadttheater Olten on 24 November 2025, Jürg Ritz handed over the baton as the foundation’s managing director to his successor Thomas Schöb, CEO of Baloise Bank Ltd.

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About Baloise

The focus is firmly on the future at Baloise. We aim to make tomorrow more straightforward, safer and more carefree for our customers, and we are taking responsibility for this today. Baloise is more than just a traditional insurance company. Through our smart finance and insurance solutions, we offer a complete service package. Dependable support, reliable cooperation and trust-based relationships are key aspects of our stakeholder interaction. We take care of financial matters so that our customers can concentrate on the important things in their lives and can find inspiration in the everyday. Baloise, a European company founded more than 160 years ago, currently employs 8,000 people at its headquarters in Basel (Switzerland) and across its subsidiaries in Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg. Our services generated a business volume of around CHF 8.6 billion in 2024. Baloise Holding Ltd shares (BALN) are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange.