The Logitech Fireside Chat with Swiss Startups ignited a promising exchange of ideas
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“You all made my day! This is phenomenal and up there with the companies in the Valley,” proclaimed Logitech CTO Dr. Sailesh Chutani’s after seeing the pitches of the 10 selected startups that participated in the Logitech Fireside Chat with Swiss Startups. Without spoiling too much: Venturelab’s first fireside chat was a success, even if the fireplace was only projected onto the screen.
At Venturelab’s first fireside chat, 10 selected Swiss startups had the opportunity to present to Dr. Sailesh Chutani, Logitech CTO, and Jean-Michel Chardon, Logitech CTO Office & Site Leader, how their product or service would work with Logitech’s solutions. The chat was moderated by Jordi Montserrat, co-founder and managing partner at Venturelab.
For the startups, this was an exclusive opportunity to talk to technology and innovation leaders and showcase their expertise. For Logitech, the fireside chat provided an important way to connect with startups: “This is a great opportunity for us to not only stay in-sync with trends and developments but also learn from each other and—in the best case scenario—the beginning of a relationship, “ explained Dr. Sailesh Chutani in his opening remarks.
In between discussion about synergies between corporations and startups, intellectual property, and leading startups during a pandemic, the 10 startups pitched their solutions and showed why Logitech should continue to build a partnership with them. Even though each entrepreneur only got a few minutes to present their product or service, it was enough to leave lasting impressions. Chutani and Chardon were full of praise for the entrepreneurs’ expertise and innovations and were open to engage further. “The fireside chat was an experiment for us, but it made the solutions more real and illustrated the talent. These presentations will help us with future discussions. When the timing is right, we will connect and get to work together,” summarized Chardon.
The Logitech executives were not the only ones who were excited about the fireside chat format. “It is very rare to get a meeting with such influential decision-makers. Venturelab helped us save a lot of time in the future by already learning now what executives care about when looking at new tech. Thank you for this,” said Nikos Kariotoglou, co-founder of Seervision.
With these positive reviews, we hope that some of the fireside-chat startups will follow in the footsteps of Upicto—a Venture Kick winner, Venture Leader, and TOP 100 Swiss startup in 2013—which was acquired by Logitech in 2015.
Startups that were not able to attend the fireside chat did not miss their shot at meeting the Logitech innovators: Logitech will attend the Startup Champions Seed Night 2020 in September, an event that brings together the most promising entrepreneurs, angel investors, mentors, industry leaders, and scientists.
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