Swiss swarm intelligence

Dear reader

The Swiss ecosystem features a large number of actors, which can make it confusing and even lead to unnecessary duplication. However, it is fascinating to see how the networked but decentralised initiatives strive for the same goals. One of these goals is to become more internationally known and  even federal president Ueli Maurer is helping. During his visit to China, he highlighted Switzerland’s strengths as a fintech hub and emphasised the opportunities for collaboration between the two countries. Swiss start-ups that want to take advantage of this opportunity do not have to look far for support. Almost coinciding with the Minister of Finance’s visit to China, Venturelab launched the tender for Venture Leaders Fintech, which will travel to China in November.

Germany is the destination for 10 digital health start-ups. In May, they will present themselves to a specialist audience in Stuttgart, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Rostock and Berlin. That the opportunities for Swiss digital health start-ups in Germany are in good order is demonstrated by sublimd: the Zug start-up has completed a successful first pilot at one of the largest hospitals in the country.

The NOAH Conference should bring international visitors to Switzerland, as it will take place in Zurich next year for the first time, after Berlin, London and Tel Aviv. NOAH founder Marco Rodzynek travelled to Zurich specifically for Venture DAY to present the plans. Find out what else happened at Venture DAY in our article. The next event from Startup INVEST is already on the horizon with Startup DAY on 28 May.

My interview with digitalswitzerland CEO Nicolas Bürer provided an overview of Switzerland’s positioning in terms of international reputation – we talked about where Switzerland is today and what needs to be done.

A second topic that many initiatives are working on is making better use of scientific knowledge. The EU Commission is currently rebuilding the Horizon2020 research and innovation programme. At an event in Bern, the first changes were presented and showed how Swiss SMEs and start-ups can benefit from pan-European programmes down to local initiatives. A good example is the new Lugano-based Il Litorale centre, which aims to bring researchers and entrepreneurs together. Grégoire Ribordy, CEO and co-founder of ID Quantique, explains in our interview, from an entrepreneur’s point of view, how to master the long road to commercialisation of deep-tech innovations.

The application deadline for the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award ends next Tuesday. Also until Tuesday, life sciences start-ups are invited to submit their Expression of Interest for the Baselaunch Accelerator. And the St. Gallen Startup Forum takes place in Altstätten on 3 May as part of the framework of RHEMA.

Have a good weekend.
Stefan Kyora

Editor in Chief, Startupticker.ch