Venture Leaders Mobile 2021: Captain’s blog by Typewise CEO David Eberle

20.07.2021 07:30, Isabelle Mitchell

David Eberle, CEO and co-founder of deeptech startup Typewise, shares his Venture Leaders Mobile roadshow experience.

The whole program commenced with a selection process in March. With corona-related travel restrictions still in place, that happened virtually—rather than in person—this year. I pitched the Typewise vision and business idea to a panel of judges, and we got selected as one of 10 startups to join the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona in June 2021.

The program kicked off in Schlieren—the location of Typewise HQ. This was not only a great way to meet the other nine startups involved, but it was also an opportunity to practice our pitches! Because, of course, we all gave our elevator pitch to each other as we met. At the end of this day, a virtual public pitchinar introduced the team, and the audience voted the best startup. Typewise won—and I was made team captain for the Venture Leaders Mobile 2021. 



On Saturday, June 26, we all traveled to Barcelona. It’s unusual for MWC to happen in summer; usually, it’s in February, but because the congress in 2020 was canceled (COVID-19), we now got to make the trip during the warmer part of the year—which was actually very nice because we could explore Barcelona’s beaches on the weekend. 

On the Sunday before the MWC kicked off, we stepped aboard a boat for a sailing race called the Venturelab Trophy. Two boats were competing: One boat was operated by the law firm VISCHER, one of the sponsors for the Venture Leaders program, and a local team of professional sailors operated the other boat. 



As for us, well, our sailing skills weren’t tested too harshly; we just had to run from one side of the boat to the other to balance out the weight and help catch the curve and maintain speed. But on that day, the winds were not so strong, so neither boat had too much speed. Nevertheless, it became a very interesting race because, despite the lack of wind, somebody still had to win!

So, it came down to who was less slow rather than who was the fastest. It was all about using our technique to get what small advantages we could over our adversary. It was an interesting experience to make the most of what you’ve got and endure factors that you cannot influence—a lesson we can take to our businesses.

After our experiences on the water, it was back to a pitching session. Following that, we attended a dinner, which was an opportunity for us founders to get together and share our stories.

On Monday, the MWC kicked off. In previous years, the Startup fair 4YFN (Four Years From Now) was in an adjacent but different location from the main halls of the MWC. This year, the two events were combined. This setup was ideal, as we were exhibiting with the Venture Leaders booth in the heart of the congress, and so there was a lot of foot traffic passing through. I think our hall was the best-visited hall of all three.

On Monday, there was another pitching event on stage. On Tuesday, there was the Swiss Night, organized by the Swiss embassy at the Royal Yacht Club, where over 100 people gathered with all COVID safety measures in place. Here, Hanspeter Mock, the Swiss Ambassador to Spain and Andorra, who visited our booths that afternoon, delivered a speech on how important Spain is as a market for Swiss companies and how Switzerland has had a long relationship with Spain. (Spain was one of the first countries where Switzerland had established an embassy.)

Proudly presenting the Typewise #smartphone #keyboard #app to the #Swiss Ambassador to Spain and Andorra @embsuizaespana at #MWC2021 in Barcelona ?? pic.twitter.com/uyl71p4z77

— Typewise Privacy Keyboard for Smartphones (@typewise_app) July 2, 2021

On Wednesday, there was another pitchfest with 10 Swiss startups versus 10 Spanish startups. (Little did we know that a few days later, the Switzerland versus Spain football would see the Swiss underdogs almost triumph over the well-established Spanish team!)

Overall, the MWC conference was a really valuable experience for me, for Typewise, and for all the startups that were part of the Venture Leaders program. 

As a CEO of a startup, I think you are often in your own bubble. You’re the only CEO in the company, and I had found that I had not had enough exchanges with other founders, especially those from other industries. So, it was really useful and interesting to be able to discuss successes and challenges together with CEOs who were at a similar stage with their companies. We should keep having such exchanges even after MWC.

From a business perspective, there was a lot of interest; it was ideal for startups like Typewise to get more exposure. I met with many interesting people, journalists, and other businesses intrigued by our vision for future AI products. Indeed, thanks to the MWC event, we have had media interest from various outlets, including German national television and the tech press in Italy, Portugal, UK, USA, Poland, India, Denmark, Slovenia, Chile, France, Austria, and, of course, Spain.

Add this to the fact that it was the first time that many of us were able to socialize in a business setting for some time—and you have a really great experience overall. A huge thank-you to the Venturelab team and the Venture Leaders Mobile sponsors Huawei, Swisscom, and VISCHER for putting on such a well-organized and valuable program. We look forward to our continued relationship.