“I was surprised by the level of development and sophistication of the start-ups”

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Stefan Kyora

11.04.2017
Dominique Gruhl-Begin

Dominique Gruhl-Bégin succeeded Vital Meyer as Head of Start-up and Entrepreneurship at the Commission for Technology and Innovation CTI a few weeks ago. We talked with her about her experiences, her plans and why start-ups should have a closer look at the CTI support offerings and we asked Vital Meyer about his view of the Swiss start-up scene.

Dominique, why did you decide to join CTI?
Dominique Gruhl: As an economist, I decided to engage myself in the area of the economy in which I believe there is the highest potential to influence, reshape and strengthen our economy. I can’t think of any more stimulating job than to develop and implement support measures to entice students to pursue their innovative ideas and become entrepreneurs as well as to help promising young enterprises based on science to thrive both here in Switzerland and abroad. It may be an idealist view but I believe that every little success in this area is building a better world for tomorrow.

What is your background? Did you have experience in the field of startups?
Prior to taking on this challenge, I was responsible at the Canadian Embassy to further develop the bilateral Science, Technology and Innovation relationship between Canada and Switzerland. I addition, I assisted Canadian companies in the area of Financial services, Cleantech, Aerospace and Defence as well as in the Innovation field in general wishing to expand their operations in Switzerland through personalised support measures. As such, I supported companies of all sizes, including startups, in their efforts to raise capital in Switzerland as well as gain access to Swiss MNEs to allow them to integrate their global value chain. Previously, I had also worked in the strategic procurement field in the high-tech sector (system on a chip testing) as well as in the management consultancy business in the USA.

Have you ever started a business yourself?
Directly after my studies, as I was living for a short period in the Philippines, I had also launched my own small business mainly offering negotiation trainings to large multinationals.

You are working for CTI now for nine month. Was there anything that surprised you during this time?
I have particularly been surprised by the level of development and sophistication of the startups as well as by the amount of Deep Tech offshoots that are emerging in Switzerland. The market is vibrant and the ecosystem is world class. Obviously, I believe there remains many areas for further development, particularly increased collaboration between different key players in the ecosystem such as more links and interactions with potential investors and large corporates.

Is there anything you noticed that Start-ups don’t know about CTI but should know?
I am not sure if all Start-ups are aware of the possibilities that CTI offers. On one hand side, each qualified Start-up has access not only to one CTI business coach, but also to the whole network of CTI coaches through the so-called “guest coach” system. On the other side, there is a number of additional attractive offerings accessible for Start-ups, including the R&D projects.

How will the transformation of CTI into Innosuisse affect the startup support of CTI?
The most important transformation will be the change of relationship that the CTI has with the startups as this relationship will become much closer with Innosuisse. Indeed, under the current model for the coaching instrument, the CTI has close relationships with the coaches but little with the startups per se. In the future, the startups who are accepted in the coaching program will have a direct relationship with Innosuisse as they will be given a voucher by Innosuisse through which they will have the possibility of procuring the coaching services as well as other services offered by Innosuisse such as the access to internationalization camps.

This means that start-ups will have more liberty in how to shape their own program.
Yes and this will have the effect of offering more flexibility to the startups who are in the program as well as give them the chance to shape and steer their program according to their needs. In addition to this, through the transformation, we will aim to streamline the process to make it as efficient as possible. Ultimately, the goal is to bring the innovations faster to the market, in Switzerland and abroad.

The new BRIDGE programme started last year. Can scientists who are planning to start a company profit from this new program? If yes – how?
Yes, absolutely! The foundation of startup during the project duration or even the existence of a startup at the start is not excluded and this program should by all means be considered by all potential candidates. I recommend to visit the Bridge Program website for further information: www.bridge.ch.

 

Vital, you acted four years as head of CTI Startup. How did the Swiss Start-ups scene evolve during those years?
Vital Meyer: We see a high dynamic in the scene, every year there are new support offerings popping up. Typically, for Switzerland, there are offerings on cantonal, regional and national level. We see also growing international interest from media and investors in the Start-up scene. Generally, the Swiss start-up ecosystem has matured and is internationally more visible.

Some people say that there are too many support offerings for Start-ups today. What is your opinion?
There are many offerings, but not too many in my opinion. I believe that the various offerings bring competition into the system and help to grow the overall quality of the ecosystem.

What were the highlights during your time with CTI?

There were several highlights. To give you an overview I compiled the following list:

  • Onboarding of more than 25 Start-up CTI Start-up coaches and supporters – it was great to see how many successful entrepreneurs are willing to engage in supporting young Start-ups in Switzerland!
  • Expansion of the CAMP program in collaboration with Swissnex – now we can support Start-ups in US (Boston, New York, San Francisco), UK (London), India (Bangalore) and China (Shanghai).
  • Increase of our “trade fairs” offering. CTI offers booths is selected fairs in collaboration with SGE / Swiss Pavilions. I would like to mention the new offering for the “Mobile World Congress” in Barcelona. We integrated MWC 3 years ago on request of some Start-ups into our program and see every year high demand to be get a subsidized booth there.
  • Tender of the “CTI Entrepreneurship” Modules 1&2 – we started with new consortia partners in the various regions of Switzerland and developed a new web platform. The enhanced offering is meeting with great interest from potential entrepreneurs all over Switzerland.
  • And last but not least, we could further develop our partnership with Startupticker which develops very nicely!

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