venture leaders: The ambassadors of Swiss innovation
After a successful business development trip to Boston, New York and Philadelphia organized in partnership with swissnex Boston, the venture leaders USA 2015 gathered at the U.S. Embassy in Bern on November 5, 2015. They received their graduation diploma from Suzan G. LeVine, the U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland in presence of Mr. Mauro Dell'Ambrogio, State Secretary for Education, Research and Innovation.
Last June, 20 Swiss entrepreneurs forming the “Swiss national startup team” traveled to the U.S. with the 15th edition of the venture leaders program. During ten days, they represented Swiss innovation in the U.S., pitched in front of potential investors and partners, met local entrepreneurs, got a taste of the American entrepreneurial spirit and took part in many local events such as the Global Pitchfest in Boston. More importantly, the venture leaders were part of a team of entrepreneurs sharing the same experience and internationalization objectives.
Over the past 15 years, the venture leaders program has been a cornerstone behind the success of numerous Swiss startups. Many alumni raised several hundred million Swiss francs from investors and created thousands of new jobs. They entered the TOP100 Swiss Startups ranking, such as L.E.S.S., Abionic, Flyability, Covagen, Climeworks, InSphero, Qualysense or Poken. And this year’s venture leaders are no exception: altogether, they already raised 22 million Swiss francs since they got back from the U.S.! 15 million alone were raised by fintech startup Knip in October 2015.
A unique venue, awesome guests and a very special host
On November 5, the venture leaders and 80 carefully selected guests representing the Swiss entrepreneurial ecosystem were welcomed by Suzan G. LeVine, the United States Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein since 2014. A special guest, Mr. Mauro Dell'Ambrogio, State Secretary for Education, Research and Innovation, was also present to celebrate the national and international success of Swiss entrepreneurs. The guest list of the highly anticipated event comprised entrepreneurs and investors, venturelab’s partners BKW, Swiss Post and Swisscom, the program’s partners Canton de Vaud (represented by Innovaud), CTI and IMMOMIG (a former venture leader USA now a supporting partner of the program) as well as venture leaders China representatives.
Let the graduation ceremony begin
After a welcome drink, the graduation ceremony started. Jordi Montserrat, managing director of venturelab, gave an introductory speech with Suzan G. LeVine. He especially thanked Ambassador LeVine for hosting the event at her Residency. She replied to be impressed by what venturelab does for entrepreneurs and said that the Swiss startup scene is on top of the game, “especially with the 20 entrepreneurs that represented Swiss innovation in the U.S. this year”. She also emphasized the importance of entrepreneurship and risk takers, who yield new ideas and help to connect countries. She added that “entrepreneurs are the fuel of our bilateral economic relations.” Her great speech ended with a wish: “I would like to see more diversity in the entrepreneurial world. We need more women!” Her wish came a step forward this year as the captain of the venture leaders USA team is a woman, Veronica Savu, the CEO of the EPFL based startup Morphotonix.
“Grateful to be part of the Swiss national startup team”
After the great speeches including the one of Mauro Dell’Ambrogio, the venture leaders USA awards were distributed. Each venture leader stepped forward to receive their diploma and introduced their startup in a 30 seconds pitch. And they learned a lot during the U.S. trip, the pitches being all very well done. The event ended with a great networking aperitif.
Deepak Tewari from the startup Privately mentioned: “I’m grateful that I was part of the Swiss national startup team and the venture leaders 2015 journey this year. I met so many new friends and investors, who will help to push my company forward. This can’t be weighted in money.” Congratulations to the venture leaders again and see you next year for the 2016 edition!
Applications for the 2016 venture leaders USA program will start early January (more information).
Our deep thanks go to...
venturelab would like to thank Suzan G. LeVine, the United States Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein as well as the U.S. Embassy in Bern for their great support in promoting Swiss entrepreneurs as well as the venture leaders USA.
Additionally, the venture leaders USA 2015 program would not have been possible without the support of our partners EPFL Innovation Park, EPFL, Canton de Vaud, ETH Zurich, EY Entrepreneur of the Year, IMMOMIG, CTI, Hansjörg Wyss and swissnex Boston.