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Stefan Kyora

13.10.2017
Hardware

More and more companies offer specific services for start-ups. Current examples are two offerings for hardware startups: An industrialization workshop for free by Zühlke and a business trip to the “Silicon Valley of Hardware” in China for startups planning offshore manufacturing organised by Swie.io. And with “Rent a PR” the first PR agency fousing on start-ups was launched recently. 

The Swiss start-up scene is evolving into a normal sector of the Swiss economy. One of the consequences is that not only support organisations but also more and more companies start to launch offerings for startups. Some address all startups such as the new startup communications service by Farner. Another recent example is Rent a PR. The company offers professional PR consulting for startups. In addition to a comprehensive array of PR consulting packages that can be booked online, startups will have the opportunity to participate in the PR4Startups seminars starting in October and thus get a solid grounding in PR work. The Rent a PR CEO, Brigitte Kaps, has an in-depth knowledge of PR based on many years of experience as a Head of Comms & PR representative in inter(national) banks. Since more than two years she is active and well-connected in both the fintech scene and – thanks to her first startup Only1life – in the Swiss startup scene.

Industrializing Workshop by Zühlke
Zühlke is working for start-ups for years. The company helps startups to identify, develop and test new ideas as a strong innovation partner. Now Zühlke and venturelab are looking for hardware projects that have a solid product idea or even a existing prototype. The startups can win an Industrializing Workshop with Zühlke worth CHF 20'000.00 with expert advice on how to further innovate their product and successfully develop it beyond the concept or prototype stage. At the end of the session you will walk away with a plan that will significantly boost your way to successful production.

Lukas Langenegger, CEO and co-founder of Hemotune who participated in the spring Call for Projects: “We really enjoyed working together with Zühlke and we felt that Zühlke understood the problems we face due to their comprehensive experience in the medical device field. The product related questions and the technical input to approach some of our challenges differently, were highly stimulating. All in all, we had a great time during the workshop sessions with fruitful, exciting discussions and also a lot of fun during the coffee breaks.”

More information and application for the Industrializing Workshop to develop your product with engineering experience from Zühlke: http://www.venturelab.ch/index.cfm?&page=133019&event_id=5432

Trip to the “Silicon Valley of Hardware”
Swie.io is creating a platform for agile electronics manufacturing and roots in Switzerland as well as in China. From 10 to 15 November Swie.io is organizing a trip to Shenzen. The visit is centered around 3 main aspects. The first one is visiting the Maker Faire Shenzhen; the Swie.io team will be there with the startups to guide them and help them overcome any linguistic barriers. “This is a fantastic opportunity to see the booming hardware scene in Shenzhen in a very condensed way”, explains Business Development Manager Radu Diaconescu. The second aspect is factory visits. The startups will have the opportunity to visit Swie.io’s Smart Electronics Factory. Apart from that, depending on the startups that are selected and their needs the group will visit other factories such as injection molding, etc. This can help the startups to set up a supply chain in China and ease their way towards manufacturing. Finally, the third aspect is introduction to some local VCs. They will meet, among others, people from 36kr (http://36kr.com/), Shenzhen Valley Ventures, Innoway. Start-ups will have to pay the flight and the accommodation by themselves.

“The trip is a unique opportunity to see in a condensed manner the "Silicon Valley of Hardware". Throughout these days we'll make sure that they get all the insight they need so that they understand the opportunities and the challenges faced when establishing a supply chain for offshore manufacturing”, comments Radu Diaconescu. Interested startups should contact Radu Diaconescu directly via mail: radu@swie.io. 

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