Debiopharm Group supports venture kick

Established in 1979, Debiopharm and its founders have always been committed to ongoing innovation, to the advancement of entrepreneurial spirit and to the development of the Swiss economic tissue in general, and the economic tissue of the Arc Lémanique area in particular. In this sense, Debiopharm’s support of the venture kick initiative fits perfectly into its past commitments to other programs which support entrepreneurship such as Genilem, Eclosion, la FIT and the START competition.

By Thierry Mauvernay, Managing Director of Debiopharm, it’s a profitable investment for the future of Switzerland: «Switzerland is a great platform for innovation and this not only the case in the life-sciences sector, our field of activity. It remains of paramount importance to support today’s young entrepreneurs who guarantee the jobs of tomorrow by launching new companies. Our institutions of higher-learning and universities are gorged with young talents; enabling them to launch their own projects seems to be an essential contribution to Switzerland’s future. Debiopharm is delighted to partner with the foundations which have launched this initiative and is ready to contribute to the future of Switzerland innovation scene.»

Pascale Vonmont, president of venture kick’s strategy committee and Deputy Director of Gebert Rüf Stiftung, underscores the importance of partnerships between private and public actors as well as foundations: «We are very pleased to welcome Debiopharm amongst the donors who are behind the venture kick initiative. In this day and age, it is essential to work together in order to have a real and sustainable impact on society at large. venture kick is one of the best examples of a successful joint effort between different types of actors. It remains however of crucial importance that even more partners join our ranks so as to continue to support this effort in the years to come.»

venture kick is financed by the Gebert Rüf Stiftung, the ERNST GOEHNER Stiftung, the OPO-Stiftung, the AVINA STIFTUNG, Foundation 1796 of Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch & Cie, and from now on, by Debiopharm. The project is managed by the IFJ Institut für Jungunternehmen which is based in St. Gall, Zurich and Lausanne. Since its inception in the autumn of 2007, venture kick has awarded more than 8.5 million francs in prize money, supported and coached 233 spin-off projects which can trace their origins back to Swiss universities. Our efforts have resulted in the creation of over 171 highly innovative companies in the Medtech, Biotech and IT, which have created more than 1.600 sustainable jobs. Furthermore, the supported startups have been able to attract equity, loans, support and prize money to the total tune of over 250 million francs.