January 16, 2015
Big firms need young talent
Dear reader
SBB, Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Switzerland Global Enterprise are very different organisations, but they have one thing in common. They rely on the innovation of young Swiss companies.
The export promotion organisation Switzerland Global Enterprise is the first to use the automated trade partner identification tool from western Swiss start-up Novertur. AC Immune has announced it has entered into a license agreement and research collaboration with Janssen Pharmaceuticals, worth up to $500 million, to develop and commercialise vaccines for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and potentially other diseases.
And the SBB is looking for more young entrepreneurs for a collaboration in Co-Working Space in Zurich. Applications for the next pitch event are open to 21 January.
Swiss Finance Startups has finally gained some big companies as partners. Swisscom is involved as a sponsor, and MasterCard and Temenos are supporters of its network.
Supporters know that working with established companies bears fruit. “We really aim to encourage collaboration between start-ups and industrial players. That is a relevant aspect of our USP,” says Sandy Wetzel, managing director of Y-PARC in Yverdon. What else makes Y-PARC and its incubator Y-START special? We explain in our in-depth interview.
In an exclusive article, we present another interesting supporter – platinn – and introduce its services and special coaching approach for start-ups.
In addition to messages for supporters, we also reported on a financing round last week. Medtech company SamanTree has secured CHF4.5 million from private investors.
Our Swiss Venture Capital Report provides an overview of all publicly announced financing rounds in 2014. There are still some free places at our events in Zurich (27 January) and Lausanne (29 January), where we will present the report. You can register through this link.
Hope to see you in Zurich or Lausanne and have a good weekend.
Stefan Kyora
Managing Editor, startupticker.ch