Ulf Grawunder: ‘If you have an idea that you feel passionate about, don’t let anyone stop you from creating a great company’

30.05.2022 15:00, Tracy Woodley

Ulf Grawunder is an entrepreneur, consultant, and one of the supporters of the Venture Leaders Biotech 2022 program. In 2012, he founded his Basel-based biotech startup NBE Therapeutics. Nine years later in January 2021, he sold the startup to Boehringer Ingelheim for EUR 1.2 billion. But the journey did not end there for the 56-year-old biochemist and cell biologist— he remained the CEO of NBE Therapeutics through the company’s transition and is currently working as a consultant while founding another biotech venture. To learn from this startup expert and Venture Leaders alumnus, we asked Ulf about this career, his thoughts on the Swiss startup ecosystem, and his advice for the Venture Leaders Biotech.

What is the most important lesson you learned as the founder and CEO of your own startup?
The most important lesson that I learned as a founder and CEO is that nothing can be achieved without a good and highly dedicated team. The success of a startup really is the sum of the successes of its team members, and it is most important for a founder CEO to create an environment in which the team members feel that they are part of the endeavor and that the hard work has a purpose.

How would you describe the current state of the Swiss startup ecosystem?
I would describe the Swiss Startup ecosystem as vibrant. I meet many young entrepreneurs or would-be entrepreneurs with great ideas and spirit. Often, they do not yet know how to start a company and what the important aspects of running and building a company are. They often require a nudge so that their exciting projects can be translated into commercially viable companies.

What have you been up to since selling your company NBE Therapeutics?
For a year after the trade-sale of NBE Therapeutics, I continued to lead the team, as CEO and board member, through the process of integrating into a large pharma organization. It was rewarding to see how well the team managed this transition. 

After a year, I decided to go into consulting and joined Viopas Venture Consulting, a team of consultants with a wealth of experience in building and financing startups. In this role, I am involved in a number of exciting early startup projects, and I have co-invested in some of them. 

I have recently decided to start a third startup in the oncology field that aims to commercialize exciting new technologies and product opportunities in the targeting of cancer using genetically tuned cells from the cancer patient’s own immune cells, known as CAR T cells. This is a concept that has been around for about 10 years with great medical success, but with limited application in cancer due to the complex manufacturing and logistics processes and the challenging scalability of the technology. The proprietary technologies of my new company address the current limitations in order to enable this therapeutic approach to become accessible for many more cancer patients.

You are an enthusiastic champion of Swiss startups and are one of the supporters of the Venture Leaders Biotech 2022 program. Why and how did you get involved with the program?
I have myself been a beneficiary of the predecessor of the Venture Leaders program, which was called New Entrepreneurs in Technology and Science (NETS), where I was mentored by Jordi in my first attempts at becoming an entrepreneur. I think I can say that without this mentorship and the support of the NETS Program (which later became Venture Leaders), I probably would not have started my first company, 4-Antibody, in Basel, which was the venture before NBE-Therapeutics. So, when Jordi told me about the Venture Leaders Biotech 2022 Program and presented an opportunity to support the program as a former alumnus, there wasn’t a second of hesitation on my part.

What advice do you have for the participants of the Venture Leaders Biotech 2022 program?
Learn as quickly as possible about all the exciting aspects of entrepreneurship and building companies. Don’t hesitate to jump into the waters and start your own company. It will be a very rewarding journey, because you will be able to pursue your own ideas and dreams.

What advice do you have for Swiss entrepreneurs in general?
Just do it! If you have an idea that you feel passionate about, don’t let anyone stop you from creating a great company.

Any other advice for rising biotech startup entrepreneurs?
The concern is always that you’ll get too entangled in your own project and forget about the other priorities in life: family and friends. Please make sure that you also set aside some time for them. Maintaining a balance between running a company as founder and CEO and having a personal life can at times be difficult to achieve.

Ulf Grawunder speaking at the TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award 2022

About the Venture Leaders program:
The Venture Leaders – the members of the Swiss National Startup Team— have a clear-cut goal. They envision themselves as global players and want to take the first step to their global expansion. The Venture Leaders’ startup development program is specifically structured to help them achieve these goals. This intense journey offers 10 selected entrepreneurs an accelerated learning curve and a solid network through their exchanges with their peers in the team, as well as market exposure, feedback from investors and experts, and hands-on business development.

Are you part of a Swiss biotech startup that is looking to boost its future? Apply to be one of the 10 members of the Swiss National Startup Team Biotech 2022 for the unique opportunity to participate in an intensive week of entrepreneurship training program in a global hub for health science and biotech. The deadline to register your project is June 19, 2022.