Two weeks ago, we launched the digitalswitzerland Startup Bootcamps – our new initiative with the purpose of offering a fast-track and curated program for Swiss as well as International startups to meet potential customers, partners and investors. At the same time, established companies get access to new technologies and innovative business models with the participating startups.

Check out our new #startupbootcamps for curated Startup-Corporate matchmaking and sign up to them now ►https://t.co/4y80v8mP78◄.

#DigitalTransformation #Entrepreneur #Startup #MarketEntry #ScaleUp pic.twitter.com/YMXno1EhgT

— digitalswitzerland (@dgt_switzerland) March 8, 2018

Let the Matchmaking begin

Corporate Venturing’ is the official term used for corporates to describe undertakings such as internal innovation activities, partnerships with startups, investment activities or even acquisitions. And it is on the rise in Switzerland with more and more Swiss companies announcing venture activities with the goal of finding new technologies and business models for their future.

The topic is hot and needs to be addressed in Switzerland where, despite the rising corporate venturing activities, many startups, especially in their growth stage, find their success abroad, both in terms of investments in the millions range and in terms of business opportunities.

But bringing the ‘Davids and the Goliaths’ together, as Daphnee Lucenet states in her interesting article ‘How to Build a Successful Partnership Between your Startup and a Corporate’, can be a tricky thing given the different cultures, methods, communication styles and levels of agility of both organisations. The difficulty lies in establishing a balanced business relationship and for startups, to retain their independence and momentum. Both prerequisites for a mutually rewarding partnership.

Scaling up the Game

With our Startup Bootcamps, especially the ‘Scale-up Bootcamp’ we want to achieve exactly this: enabling investments and business opportunities between corporates and Swiss scale up startups in order to keep them here and thus bringing Switzerland a step closer to becoming a leading entrepreneurship and innovation hub.

How do we do that? By creating a structured matching process for scale ups and corporates with elements such as:

  • Corporate briefing regarding…
    • expectations for business deals,
    • technologies and services of interest,
    • essential business needs and weaknesses etc.
  • Startup briefing for …
    • relevant commercial/partnership proposals,
    • focus on business partner needs,
    • differentiation from competitors etc.
  • Trust building and best practices for successful collaboration
  • Curated 1:1 meetings between corporates and startups
  • Curated follow-up and result validation

Don’t hesitate and sign up now to our Startup Bootcamps – whether you are a corporate looking to accelerate your digital transformation process, or a startup with a demonstrated value proposition for corporates.

P.S. Several ‘TOP100 Startups’, ‘venture leader Startups’ as well as ‘TOP500 Tech Startups’ (by hello tomorrow) and ’50 Startups to invest in’ (by Bilan) startups have already applied to the Scale up Bootcamp and are ready to being matched with the participating corporates!

Stay updated on all things Bootcamps and sign up to our newsletter now.