Startup Champions 2022: The Venture Leaders Technology pitch to an international audience
The Venture Leaders Technology 2022 made their first big public appearance: The entrepreneurs pitched their solutions via live-stream at the Startup Champions event. Thibaut Weise, a former Venture Leader and ETH Zurich alumnus, delivered the keynote speech and inspired the entrepreneurs and audience members.
Thibau Weise delivered the evening’s keynote speech and inspired the audience with insights and anecdotes from his entrepreneurial career: Thibaut developed a facial tracking technology that led to the creation of the ETH spin-off Faceshift, which Apple acquired in 2015. Thibaut shared his expereinces from being a student at ETH to becoming a successful entrepreneur. Here are some highlights from his speech, edited for brevity and clarity: On startup life
“Startup life is a roller coaster. It has to be a passion, but you can have a life as well. Do not feel that it is just crazy.”
“When you found a startup, you can create something new, and you will learn so much. When you study, you focus on your subject matter, but when you have a startup, you will learn everything—from finance to managing people. It is so valuable. So, go for it. If you fail, you fail.”
“It is important to have people who push you. You might not really want to do it or like to do it, but you know you need it. It is so important to have these people.”
On diversity
“We should have had more diversity. Our team was great, but it was a very computer-science-typical, all-male team in a certain age range. It would have been good to have more diversity. We should have been more conscious of that. I am not just talking about male and female, but also people with different backgrounds.”
On misconceptions
“There is a misconception about protecting your ideas and not talking about them. Having an idea is easy, but doing it is hard, so get as much input as you can. Push forward. Tell everyone. Of course, big companies have more resources, but they also have their own plans, and it will take time to move and make decisions. You are agile. Do not be scared. The moment you create something amazing, the big companies will come knocking on your doors.”
Thibaut Weise demonstrating the Faceshift technology Pitching in front of a small screen and to a big audience
After kicking off the international roadshow to Silicon Valley, the Venture Leaders had the opportunity to practice and polish their pitches in front of an international audience—via live-stream—at the Startup Champions event.
Some of the Venture Leaders "in action": Lattice Flow (left), TYXIT (middle), and qiio (right)
During 90 seconds, the entrepreneur had to win over the audience, who then decided which startup had the most impressive pitch—and which entrepreneur would become team captain. For the first time in the Venture Leaders history, two startups received the same number of votes! Enlightra’s John Jost and xFarm’s Matteo Vanotti received the same number of votes and will the proverbial captain’s armband during the roadshow. In April, the Venture Leaders Technology 2022 will accelerate their global expansion and strengthen their business network through a weeklong roadshow: The Swiss National Startup Team will represent Swiss innovation abroad and meet with international investors and industry leaders in Silicon Valley. “I am impressed how the Swiss National Startup Team is getting stronger every year—in terms of technology and business acumen. I am excited to introduce these startups to American investors,” said Stefan Steiner, co-managing director at Venturelab.
The Venture Leaders Technology 2022 program is organized by Venturelab and supported by dpd Switzerland, EPF Lausanne, ETH Zurich, Kellerhals Carrard, Rothschild & Co, and the Canton of Vaud.
Follow the entrepreneurs and the Venture Leaders Technology roadshow on social media using the hashtag #VLeadersTech or on www.venture-leaders.ch/technology.
Learn more about the Venture Leaders Technology 2022:
Assaia International AG: Making airport operations more efficient and predictable
Assaia's ApronAI manages and optimizes airside processes for airports, airlines and ground handlers. Our solutions make aircraft turnarounds shorter and predictable, drastically improve planning and ... Read more
Corintis SA: Enabling the computing of tomorrow with in-chip cooling
From cloud computing to machine learning: we constantly require more powerful chips that produce highly concentrated heat. Extracting this heat is rapidly becoming a bottleneck for the next generation... Read more
Enlightra Sàrl: Lasers for ultra-fast and low power data transmission
Enlightra develops lasers to transmit data. They are 100x faster and are up to 10x more energy efficient than todays solutions. Providing a need solution to the $10 Billion data center market. Enlig... Read more
LatticeFlow AG: Build and Deploy Trustworthy AI
LatticeFlow (https://latticeflow.ai/) is an award-winning deep-tech spin-off and creator of the world’s first platform for robust AI models. The company was founded in 2020 by globally leading AI rese... Read more
qiio Switzerland AG: Secure edge-to-cloud solution for IoT cellular connectivity
qiio Connecting & Securing assets around the world Secure IoT Solution qiio® delivers proven, edge-to-cloud solutions with intelligent cellular connectivity as a service. You can rely on us to p... Read more
SONIX SA: High-quality audio at the speed of light.
SONIX is an ultra-low latency communication app and the first marketplace for gaming brands and their fans. Our core underlying deep tech reduces audio latency by up to 10x, enabling remote individ... Read more
Tinamu Labs AG: Automated drone-based indoor monitoring
Today, asset owners need specialized inspection companies to inspect their physical assets. Tinamu Labs offers an online platform for automated drone based monitoring. We use drones as flying sensors ... Read more
Veezoo AG: Simple, powerful analytics for everyone - based on questions
We are on a mission to empower individuals to make better decisions based on data. Our solution, Veezoo, is powered by the world's most advanced system for automatically answering questions from th... Read more
xFarm Technologies SA: xFarm is a digital platform for the Farmers
xFarm is a startup focused on the digitisation of the agri-food sector, providing innovative tools that can support farmers and stakeholders in the management of their businesses. Born from a group of... Read more
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