AIT India - Swiss Camp: A week of exchange, training, and pitching boosts Swiss-Indian entrepreneurship

Last November, the promising entrepreneurs selected to participate in the AIT India program had a chance to connect, network, and profit from business development workshops in Delhi and Bangalore. This week, the program was rounded off with the AIT Swiss Camp, which included training sessions, networking and pitching events in Lausanne and Zurich, as well as an opportunity for the entrepreneurs to compete for two grants worth CHF 10,000 each.

The entrepreneurs chosen to participate in the AIT India program last year hail from top academic institutions and are translating research in the areas of biotech, cleantech, engineering, and medtech into innovative businesses. In November, the group was in India to connect with industry experts and profit from various events. Among other things, they went to the Dehli Institute of Technology for an event with the Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT) as well as the Bengaluru Tech Summit, the largest technology and innovation fair in Asia.



For Swiss entrepreneurs, the various workshops and training sessions provided insights into the Indian market while allowing them to have productive exchanges with Indian entrepreneurs.

The Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) mandated the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) to execute the AIT India program in an effort to support promising entrepreneurs from Switzerland and India. Venturelab and Swissnex in India are key program partners.

AIT SWISS CAMP 2023
This week, the AIT India experience was rounded off with a series of workshop sessions with the eight Swiss startup founders, as well as startup visits, and two special networking and pitching events. They were joined by Indian entrepreneur Prachi Kharb, COO of the Delhi-based startup Life and Limb.

In the course of the week, the entrepreneurs visited several startups ClearSpace, Volumina Medical, Topadur Pharma, Exeon Analytics, and Maxwell Biosystems to gain insight into the growth trajectory and experiences of these established startups. They also took part in a number of lively training and coaching sessions on various subjects, like designing a business development roadmap.



There were two special evening events that allows the startups to introduce themselves to a larger audience and compete for two grants each with their pitches. They gathered for the Pitchfest in the Gotham Coworking Space in Lausanne on Monday, and came together for the Swiss-Indian Entrepreneurship event at the Toni Areal in Zurich on Thursday, where Soumya Dash, CEO of Sleepiz, also gave the keynote speech. The event concluded with a panel about the future and potential of Indo-Swiss business collaboration featuring Hanna Brahme of the ZHAW, Rishi Chattopadhyay of the Swiss-Indian Chamber of Commerce, and Jordi Montserrat of Venturelab.

At the end of the week, two winners were chosen by a jury based on their pitches and awarded a grant of CHF 10,000 each: Panagiotis Martakis of irmos technologies, a startup that aims to revolutionize the maintenance and preservation of existing buildings and bridges with real-time, AI-powered assessment of structural conditions, and Anand Verma of PEROVSKIA SOLAR, which innovates solar technology with digitally printed, customizable solar cells made for OEMs.




“Carefully planned, well-executed, invigorating, and equally rewarding experience aimed at bridging Switzerland and India to elevate Startup’s innovative activities to a HIGHER plane," said Rajesh Jayachandran, Co-founder and CSO of NXI Therapeutics about the AIT experience. "It just simply boosted my confidence!"

"We had a very different perception of the Swiss market while sitting in India, it changed a lot after this week, and we were able to update the business strategy based on our interaction with the Swiss companies. Meeting medtech companies at different stages of development allowed us to refine the roadmap for our company and explore possible ways to tackle different challenges posed at each stage," said Prachi Kharb, COO of Life and Limb.

The week ended with emotional goodbyes that spoke to the bonding that took place among the participants. Overall, the program has fostered very fruitful exchanges and was an invigorating experience for all involved.



The AIT India program is powered by: