Meet Venture Leader Martin Eichenhoffer’s carbon fiber reinforced plastics startup
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Ten Venture Leaders will represent Switzerland in Silicon Valley in March. In the first interview with the team, meet Martin Eichenhoffer, chief executive and co-founder of 9T Labs. Learn more about carbon fiber reinforced plastics and Martin's expectations for its expansion on the U.S market.
Can you introduce yourself, how your company started and what your project is?I’m Martin Eichenhofer, chief executive and co-founder of 9T Labs. During our time researching fiber composites at ETH Zurich my co-founders and I realized the huge potential to transform the industry by making such high-performance materials cheaper to produce. About one year later we founded 9T Labs, dedicated to making performance materials like carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP), more accessible for new applications and new industries.
What attracted you to Silicon Valley as a business development destination?
There are a lot of mysteries surrounding Silicon Valley. For me, the most compelling thing is the strong startup ecosystem and the spirit to think big and outside-the-box.
What do you hope to achieve from the trip? What are your expectations and goals?
The Venture Leaders Technology program is the ideal platform to get a glimpse of the vibrant and fast-paced startup culture in the U.S., to understand the global ecosystem better, and to connect with valuable potential customers and investors.
Why is Venture Leaders Technology beneficial for your startup?
It is the right time for 9T Labs to explore options overseas, both in terms of financing and customers. The Venture Leaders Technology program provides exactly the exposure to the U.S. market that we need.
What is pushing you towards international expansion?
Our market isn’t concentrated or limited to certain countries. If we want to transform the industry, we must think global from the start.
What do you foresee as the largest hurdles towards expansion into the U.S. market?
Building a great technical sales team that can communicate well with our headquarters in Zurich.
What makes you most nervous or excited about the trip?
The U.S. startup culture, which I’ve heard about without ever experiencing it first-hand myself.
Do you have a “funny/best day” anecdote about being an entrepreneur?
In the beginning, you are so naive to think that hiring great people is a quick task that you can do on the side.
Read about the Startup Champions kick-off event and follow the trip on Twitter using the hashtag #VLeadersTech
Venture Leaders Technology is sponsored by Rothschild & Co Bank, Kellerhals Carrard, DPD, Swisscom, Canton de Vaud, ETH Zürich and EPF Lausanne.
