Today (Feb 28, 2023). I was very happy to present my entrepreneurial journey to a delegation from Switzerland, the VentureLab. The discussion with the Sciencepreneurs was excellent and masterfully orchestrated by Martin Pasquier.
About VentureLab:
Venturelab set sail in 2004. It began as the National Entrepreneurial Training initiative, which was mandated by the Swiss Innovation Agency to IFJ, the Institute for Young Entrepreneurs based in St. Gallen. Today, Venturelab operates as an independent spin-off of IFJ.Since its inception, Venturelab has been improving and expanding the support offered to Switzerland's top entrepreneurs, continuously developing and deploying new tools and programs, including Venture Leaders in 2006, Venture Kick in 2007, the TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award in 2011, the Swisscom Startup Challenge in 2013, and the Innosuisse Start-up Training in 2018. To date, Venturelab has backed more than 1,000 startups in their global growth, supporting over 50,000 people in the startup ecosystem across various programs and events.Venturelab's committed team runs a broad range of impactful startup support programs in partnership with leading organization to build world-class startups, Swiss made.WHY WORK WITH US?
Venturelab has an 19-year track record of developing impactful programs and building relationships with institutions, investors, industry experts, academics, and innovators. Having worked with over 90% of Swiss-based startups, Venturelab has established a stellar reputation within its international network spanning Europe, the U.S., and China.Our network of partners includes corporate institutions such as Credit Suisse, Swisscom, and DPD; leading academic institutions like ETH Zurich and EPF Lausanne; and the most globally renowned venture capitalists such as NEA, Founders Fund, Partech, EARLYBIRD, Redalpine, Atomico, and many more.Get in touch with us for more insights about Switzerland's most promising startups and find out how we can work together.
From their blog:
01.02.2023 16:30, Morgane Ghilardi
On Wednesday, we welcomed ten sciencepreneurs selected to take part in the AIT Singapore program at the startup space in Zurich. The researchers introduced their startups and connected with their peers ahead of their trip to Singapore at the end of February, where they will learn about business development and practices in ASEAN markets.
The Academic-Industry Training (AIT) program supports innovators in translating their academic research and knowledge into entrepreneurial ventures, particularly in the context of cross-cultural collaboration and international expansion.In past years, the program has connected scientists from top institutions in Switzerland and India, helping them expand their international network and enabling access to the most promising markets.
The Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) mandated ETH Zurich to execute the AIT program for South-East Asia. Together with Venturelab, they organized AIT Singapore, which offers exposure to a vibrant and innovative ecosystem at the center of Southeast Asia and will help sciencepreneurs learn about accessing ASEAN markets."The Leading House Asia at ETH Zurich strongly believes in supporting bright young researchers with great ideas on their path to becoming successful entrepreneurs," said Robin Vital on behalf of Leading House Asia at ETH Zurich, which manages Switzerland's bilateral science and technology cooperation with Asia. "That is why we mandated Venturelab to organize a full week of events, inputs, and fun activities to explore the Asian business environment in Singapore.
"A jury composed of industry experts as well as representatives of Leading House Asia selected ten participants based on factors including the quality of the idea, its market potential, and the expected benefit of the program for the participants.
On Wednesday, the ten winners came to the startup space to meet their peers ahead of the trip at the end of February. The team members hail from the BFH, EPFL, ETH, and UZH and are developing research with applications in medtech, biotech, engineering, and foodtech.Expressing what it is they expect and hope from AIT Singapore, many of the participants pointed to the relevance of their innovation in the South-East Asian markets as well as the benefits of accessing those markets for the growth of their ventures."Connecting with the South-East Asian market is important to me because Southeast Asia has one of the highest patient populations of beta-hemoglobin diseases and is therefore an area where our therapy can have a large impact," said Dr. Mandy Bootanrat, a Pioneer Fellow at the ETH Foundation who founded the startup Ariya Bio to develop treatments for severe blood diseases.
“I am excited to be part of the AIT Singapore trip to see how we can bridge academia and industry with full innovation and entrepreneurship," said Sailan Shui, a research scientist at the EPFL's Global Health Institute and founder of NanoDecoder. "I am Chinese and I value the Asian market; I also believe that Singapore, as the most active harbour in East Asia, is in an important strategical position for us."
"Our mission is to bridge the gap between research and practice for more sustainable and safe buildings and infrastructure," said Panagiotis Martakis, who is pursuing a doctorate at the ETH's Department for Civil, Environmental, and Geomatic Engineering and founded Irmos Technologies (formerly Seismohealth). "The rapid population increase, the inevitable aging of the infrastructure and the increase of natural disasters due to climate change make Eastern Asia a hot spot for intelligent structural evaluation of built assets. We bring a solution to this problem and AIT Singapore offers us the perfect gateway to reach this market. We cannot wait to get on board and explore the immense opportunities that AIT Singapore offers, along with our fellow entrepreneurs and their inspiring projects!"
THE AIT SINGAPORE 2023 TEAM
- Ruiqing Ni, Ph.D. | UZH | Medtech Neuropat: Aiming to create a paradigm shift in the early diagnosis of Parkinson's disease with a novel diagnostic imaging biomarker.
- Noemi Gozzi | ETH | Biotech MY-SENSATION: Developing a device for nerve stimulation that improves mobility and decreases pain.
- Holly Stäheli | BFH | Engineering Drone Imagery: Creating drone sensors for the early detection of black-beetle infestations that will enable forest enterprises and managers to remove infected trees before other trees are affected.
- Mandy Bootanrat, Ph.D. | ETH | Biotech Ariya Bio: Developing a gene editing CRISPR/Cas9 therapeutic strategy to increase beneficial hemoglobin in hemoglobinopathy patients.
- Christopher Wall, Ph.D. | EPFL | Medtech Maven Health: Empowering primary healthcare providers to identify people who are at risk but have not yet been identified by the traditional healthcare system with AI-driven metabolic health predictions.
- Paulius Viskaitis, Ph.D. | ETH | Medtech SmartVNS: Improving rehabilitation with an intelligent, non-invasive form of brain stimulation that uses real-time motion tracking and analysis.
- Panagiotis Martakis | ETH | Engineering Irmos Technologies: Deploying AI to prolong the life of buildings and bridges and optimizing maintenance planning and assessing structural conditions.
- Christopher Lankhof | ETH | Foodtech Sallea: Developing novel cell-growth scaffolds for the cultivation of meat that provides open, hierarchical porosity and free choice of material for enhanced nutrient transport.
- Sailan Shui | EPFL | Biotech NanoDecoder: Designing nanopore-based technology for molecular sequencing for use in food-quality checks and disease diagnosis.
- Thomas Lumpe, Ph.D. | ETH | Medtech breathe: Improving critical care in low-resource settings with a ventilator design for emergency use.