Wealthreader in Desafía Switzerland 2025: Exploring the Swiss market
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In Spring 2025, the Swiss edition of the Desafía program brought nine Spanish scaleups to Switzerland for an intensive two-week roadshow. Designed to accelerate international expansion and test the competitiveness of innovative deeptech solutions on a global scale, the program was supported by ICEX and Red.es in collaboration with Venturelab and the Economic and Trade Office of the Spanish Embassy in Bern. Participants benefited from tailored meetings with investors, corporates, and ecosystem leaders, as well as mentorship, networking, pitching opportunities, and company visits.
Following its 2024 launch, the 2025 edition welcomed a second cohort of deeptech companies, including Wealthreader, led by David Lozano, which leveraged the program to explore potential collaborations and refine its international expansion strategy.
Company name: WealthreaderLocation: Spain
What was the most surprising difference you noticed between the Swiss startup ecosystem and the Spanish one?
What surprised me the most was that, despite Switzerland being a global leader in private banking and highly advanced in sectors like pharma technology, the banking sector itself still relies on quite legacy systems and shows a relatively low level of technological innovation compared to what we see in Spain and other European markets.
What are the biggest challenges you faced when exploring the Swiss market for your product or technology?
One of the main challenges was the cultural aspect of data sharing. While regulation is actually more flexible than in other European markets, which is a positive, there is a more conservative mindset when it comes to sharing banking data, which can slow down adoption for solutions like ours.
Which part of the Desafía Switzerland program (mentorship, networking, pitching, company visits) was most valuable for your startup and why?
The most valuable part of the program was the combination of networking, pitching, company visits, and the sessions focused on understanding Switzerland as a country. These talks were especially helpful to understand how the ecosystem works, the differences between cantons, and the industries each region specializes in. Altogether, this gave us a much more strategic view of how to approach the Swiss market.
Did you identify any concrete collaboration opportunities with Swiss companies, investors, or research institutions during the program? If yes, which type of collaboration?
Yes, we did. One of the most relevant outcomes was becoming a partner of the OpenWealth Association, which opens the door to collaboration with key players in the Swiss financial ecosystem and aligns well with our product vision.
How did participating in Desafía influence your international expansion strategy?
Participating in Desafía reinforced our ambition to expand internationally and gave us a clearer roadmap to scale beyond Spain. It helped us better understand how to position our product in more mature and demanding markets.
What advice would you give to startups considering applying to Desafía Switzerland in the future?
Go with an open mindset and be ready to challenge your current business model. Prepare your pitch thoroughly, make the most out of every networking opportunity, and most importantly, nurture the relationships you build during the program after it ends.
Describe Desafía in one word.
Disruptive.
