Swiss startups explore US investment in Silicon Valley: Venture Leaders Technology 2026
Silicon Valley continues to serve as a key reference point for global tech entrepreneurship, where access to venture capital, specialized talent, and fast-moving markets influences how startups scale internationally. In April 2026, the Venture Leaders Technology roadshow brought ten Swiss startups to the Bay Area as part of the Swiss National Startup Team. The goal of the week-long program was straightforward: help founders test their approach in the US market, engage directly with investors, and refine their international expansion plans. Venturelab organizes the roadshow in collaboration with partners DPD, EPFL, ETH Zurich, Kellerhals Carrard, Rothschild & Co, and the Canton of Vaud.
The Venture Leaders Technology program offers a week-long entry into Silicon Valley’s startup ecosystem. Over the years, Venturelab has run international roadshows across hubs such as Boston, London, Munich, Barcelona, and various Asian tech centers, connecting Swiss founders with investors and customers in each region. Alumni include startups such as Lemoptix and Composyt Light Labs (acquired by Intel), Faceshift (acquired by Apple), Kooaba (acquired by Qualcomm), Dacuda (acquired by Magic Leap), and Sevensense Robotics (acquired by ABB), as well as scale-ups such as GetYourGuide and Scandit.The 2026 cohort entered a market where artificial intelligence plays a central role in investor and founder discussions. From AI collaboration systems, such as Agent2Agent approaches to voice-enabled tools and workflow automation, investors and founders are focused on how these technologies translate into scalable business models. Throughout the week, the Swiss entrepreneurs participated in pitch sessions, investor meetings, and industry workshops designed to improve how they present and develop their market entry strategies.
The ten selected startups, chosen from more than 200 applications, met with investors including Boost VC, Intel Capital, Playground Global, Plug and Play Tech Center, DCVC, NGP Capital, Swisscom Outpost Silicon Valley, FYRFLY Venture Partners, Partech, Creandum, Cota Capital, and Tenacity Venture Capital. The direct exchanges provided feedback on product direction, fundraising approaches, and US expansion priorities.
Beyond investor interactions, the cohort took part in a scale-up workshop led by Gabor Cselle and a legal session hosted by Silicon Legal Strategy. The program also emphasized peer exchange among founders, strengthening ties within the group as they worked through similar international growth challenges together.
Networking continued across the Bay Area, including the Swiss Business Reception with Jonas Brunschwig, Swiss Consul in San Francisco, and a pitch-and-dinner event hosted by Swisscom Outpost. The roadshow reflects Venturelab’s ongoing effort to connect Swiss startups with global innovation hubs while increasing exposure to US investors and market dynamics.
Venturelab organizes Venture Leaders Technology in cooperation with our partners DPD, EPFL, ETH, Kellerhals Carrard, Rothschild & Co, and Canton of Vaud.
The Venture Leaders Technology 2026 that traveled to San Francisco:
Avientus AG: Autonomous drone-based logistics systems.
Avientus develops superior logistic drones for emergency and disaster supplies, integrating AI systems for autonomous operations in areas, where communication methods are disrupted. The Spin Off of ET... Read more
Benetics AG: Empowering construction professionals!
Our mission is to develop cutting-edge software that simplifies processes, enhances efficiency, and fosters collaboration among construction professionals, ultimately driving success in their projects... Read more
Besso AG: Unlock Hidden Savings in Supply Chains
Besso is an AI-powered platform built to give companies real-time regulatory visibility across their supply chains. Founded in 2023, the Swiss-based company transforms complex trade rules into a strat... Read more
eightinks AG: Building the next generation of lithium-ion batteries.
Existing battery manufacturing solutions limit throughput, efficiency and cell performance. They can't keep up with the rising demand and requirements for better, cost-effective batteries. 8inks of... Read more
Futurae Technologies AG: Real-time fraud prevention and authentication
Futurae Technologies, founded by ETH Zurich security researchers and business leaders (ETH spin-off) protects customers of large enterprises with strong phishing-resistant authentication from sophisti... Read more
LOXO AG: Swiss L4 autonomy for urban goods logistics
LOXO creates the premier Swiss autonomous driving software for commercial vehicles. LOXO Digital Driver, engineered to boost business growth, increase safety, and promote sustainability in city centre... Read more
MATIS SA: AI-driven multispectral imaging for material analysis
MATIS is a Swiss deep-tech startup offering a scalable AI-driven imaging platform for material DNA analysis. Combining multispectral imaging, optics, and machine learning, MATIS enables portable, accu... Read more
NovoViz SA: Single-photon processing detectors for computational imaging
NovoViz designs and manufactures in different technology nodes single-photon computational engines for applications that demand high sensitivity and high speed but cannot handle large amounts of data.... Read more
Reshape Systems SA: Enhanced risk analysis for complex systems using GenAI.
The growing need of using complex systems in modern applications (e.g. self-driving cars, drones) requires enhanced safety measures, as well as shorter development cycles and lower engineering costs. ... Read more
TALPA-Inspection AG: The healthcare system for infrastructure
TALPA-Inspection, ETH Zurich spin-off, builds a hardware-enabled SaaS platform for infrastructure safety — Physical AI that perceives, diagnoses, and predicts the health of the built world. Corrosion ... Read more
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