When
March - Sept 2026
Where
Switzerland
Time
tbd.
Topic
Helbling Venture Challenge 2026
Target Audience
Entrepreneurs
Why attend?
Coaching, Biz Dev
Application deadline:
12.04.2026
Program
Following two successful editions, the Helbling Venture Challenge enters its third round in 2026, continuing its mission to support visionary startups at the intersection of technology, engineering, and real-world impact. The 2026 vertical is Physical AI.Our industry partner, Helbling Technik, is a leading product innovation and engineering development company seeking enabling startup ideas in hardware and hardware-enabled software. With a strong global presence across Switzerland, Germany, Poland, the USA, and China, Helbling Technik works closely with international startups and companies to bring innovations to market.
Helbling Technik's technical expertise, combined with the experience of over 500 professionals, ensure efficient development for successful products.
Apply now for the Helbing Venture Challenge to receive a technology due diligence if your startup is innovating in Physical AI. Physical AI refers to intelligent systems that perceive, understand, reason, and act in the physical world. This includes, for example, autonomous systems such as cameras, robots, self-driving vehicles and hardware-enabled software that orchestrates complex real-world actions.
With your application, you will benefit directly from Helbling's extensive experience in product innovation, engineering development, and bringing hardware solutions to market.
Win a tech due diligence and product development consulting worth CHF 25,000
Winners of the Helbling Venture Challenge will benefit from an exclusive consulting package for product development worth CHF 25,000 with one of Helbling's international locations - Switzerland, Boston, San Diego, or Munich.
Next milestones
- Application deadline: 12. April 2026
- Up to 10 startups will be invited to a video call with Helbling experts to review their technical solution.
- Top five startups will pitch their ideas live at Helbling
- Final event & winner accouncement: 15. September 2026
What do previous participants have to say
“The program was highly inspiring and enriching throughout its entire course: from the initial application stage, which allowed us to refine and update our corporate strategy, through the interim pitch that provided valuable recommendations, to the final presentation evaluated by an experienced jury whose pertinent and challenging questions elevated our thinking. The overall organization was excellent, concluded in an enjoyable day in Zurich with Helbling experts who were both professional and approachable. I strongly recommend this program, as its journey offers a valuable development opportunity for all future participating companies.” Thomas Meuriot, Chief Operating Officer of Voltiris, HVC 2025 winner
“The HVC25 jury’s insights gave us the push we needed to sharpen our GTM strategy and make our case more focused, ambitious, and compelling.” Murielle Schreck, PhD, CEO and Co-Founder of qCella.
“First of all, we would like to express our warmest thanks for the opportunity to participate in the HVC25 final. It was a great experience for us as a young start-up, and we truly appreciated the professional organisation, the generous time allocated to review our application, listen to our pitch, and provide such constructive and fruitful feedback from such a broad range of experts. We especially valued how seriously the process was set up and how respectfully we were treated as a fresh company – this made the pitching experience both inspiring and motivating for us.” Joël Béla Bernauer–Bourgeois, Co-founder & Product Designer of twiliner.
Apply for the Helbling Venture Challenge 2026 today
This is more than just a competition; it's an opportunity to collaborate with Helbling Technik, a leader in engineering and product innovation and to accelerate your path from idea to market-ready product.
If your startup is pioneering solutions in Physical AI, we want to hear from you!
