Lausanne branch of a global network for scientists, entrepreneurs, investors and policy leaders established

IF’s main aim is to forward inventions, developed by top scientists and engineers at leading institutes, towards industry, investors and policy makers. IF views itself as an accelerator for high-tech start-ups globally and aims to attract the world’s leading start-ups and entrepreneurs to its global branches. IF has effectively developed branches at leading universities globally that allow for extensive access to scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs at a wide range of departments and institutes. Branches exist for example in Oxford, London, New York, Barcelona, Munich, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

Recently a first branch in Switzerland was established – in Lausanne. The aims of Innovation Forum Lausanne are:

1. To facilitate the interaction of local talents with diverse academic and industrial backgrounds, to encourage them to think out of the box and dream together, thus allowing them to come up with interdisciplinary innovations for a sustainable future.  
2. To forward and promote the innovations of tomorrow towards industry, investors and policy makers within the entire Innovation Forum network, thereby accelerating the appearance of Lausanne’s disruptive technologies on the global scene.  
3. To empower and inspire innovative minds by actively integrating the world of arts and music, thereby fostering an environment in which the new and unknown can be embraced with an open mind.  

The Lausanne branch starts its activities with a launch event on 10 March at the Rolex Forum on the EPFL campus. Topic of the event: Disruptive Innovation for a Sustainable Future.

Speakers include Adrienne Corboud Fumagalli, Vice President of Innovation and Technology Transfer at EPFL, entrepreneurs such as Yann Cotte (Nanolive) and Carlos Ruiz (flatev), and scientists for example, Jeffrey Petty, Professor of Entrepreneurship and director of EMBA, HEC/UniL or Christian Tidona, CEO of BioRN Cluster and Biomed X Innovation Center.

The event is free but registration is required at: www.inno-lausanne.ch