Partnership champions

Dear reader

We receive daily news from start-ups about new partnerships, but it is not always clear which goals they want to achieve. As a news portal focused on communicating tangible results, we report only on those collaborations that really help start-ups. And their number is constantly growing; for example, the fintech start-up neon announced this week that it has entered into a partnership with Hypothekarbank Lenzburg, which will allow neon’s banking app to be brought to market faster. The shopping list app Bring! has opened up a new sales channel thanks to a collaboration with Brack. Lunaphore is working with a reputable partner to expand the application field for its technology, and Ticino blockchain start-up Hive Power is developing a smart meter with Landis + Gyr.

That partnerships are becoming more effective is no accident. Start-ups have learned how to keep such partnerships on track, so that tangible progress is the end result. This is clearly reflected in digitalswitzerland’s scale-up bootcamps: the young entrepreneurs are very clear about the type of partner they are looking for and their specific projects.

There are also an increasing number of events and initiatives that aim to initiate such partnerships. This week, for example, registration opened for an event in Technopark Aargau designed to target and bring together start-ups and SMEs. And Technopark Winterthur wants to network better with the local economy. Last but not least, MassChallenge Switzerland also focuses on establishing contacts with established companies, and this week the accelerator programme announced the participants in this year’s edition, which includes 38 Swiss start-ups.

Looking ahead to next week, SICTIC Investor Day takes place in Lausanne on Monday, followed by Swiss Proptech Day in Dübendorf on Wednesday – read our background interview with Mario Facchinetti. In the following week, the 10th Startfeld Investors Forum takes place in St. Gallen. Learn more about five of the participating start-ups in our article.

Finally, deadlines: only a short time before applications close for Kickstart Accelerator, the Agri & Co Challenge and the Blockchain Competition. And of particular importance for students at universities of applied sciences, applications are open until 1 June for the Gebert Rüf Foundation’s programme BREF - First Ventures, which provides support of up to CHF 150,000 and coaching for the establishment of a spin-off.

Have a sunny weekend
Stefan Kyora

Editor in Chief, Startupticker.ch