April 10, 2015
Together we are stronger
Dear reader
The Swiss start-up scene is dominated by bottom-up initiatives. This has many advantages: the initiatives are closer to the needs of the founders, they are in an agile and lean position, and there’s great variety. But although the principle of bottom-up initiatives is important, there are also challenges. The diversity carries a danger of duplication and an inability to see the wood for the trees.
The merger of Impact Hub Zurich and Colab Zurich sends an important signal. It avoids duplication and with the joint co-working space on Sihlquai provides the Zurich start-up scene with a new centre. The numbers are impressive: more than 60 start-ups and 500 members are currently members of Impact Hub and Colab community, and in the last four years 14,000 people have taken part in the events and programmes of the two organisations. The new centre, which has space of more than 2,000 m2, will give this development another push.
Centres such as these are also important as they provide a place where very different Swiss start-ups can meet and exchange information. The last two weeks have again clearly demonstrated the diversity of successful Swiss start-ups: the established global ICT company Jahia, cleantech start-up UrbanFarmers and innovative audio company JMC Lutherie from Le Brassus all made headlines with their three rounds of financing.
The wide variety of start-ups are supported by prestigious awards, which help to keep the most promising companies in view. The traditional prize of the WA de Vigier Foundation belongs to this group. The foundation has just announced in German and in French the 10 finalists for its prize money of CHF500,000, which is divided equally among five winners. The winners and nominees will be announced at the awards ceremony on 25 June.
Start-ups can currently apply for numerous other prizes. Our article provides an overview of the competitions, arranged by deadline. The deadline for applications to venture expires on 17 April, but applications are open for the Entrepreneur of the Year until late April.
April hosts many interesting events throughout Switzerland. We will be at the Swiss Biotech Day in Basel (14 April), at the START Summit in St. Gallen (17 and 18 April) and at the Startup Champions and the EPFL Alumni Seed Night (22 April) in Lausanne.
Have a sunny spring weekend.
Stefan Kyora
Managing Editor, startupticker.ch