Last week, the Venture Leaders Technology 2023 were on a business development and investor roadshow in Silicon Valley: pitching to industry experts, VCs, and investors, the innovators took a decisive step in their venture’s growth and connected to the startup ecosystem of one of the world’s central tech hubs.
In recent months, various crises have affected investment activity globally and in the US, including the circumstances surrounding FTX and Silicon Valley Bank, rising interest rates, and high inflation, behooving investors to focus on their existing portfolio companies. This creates a particularly challenging environment for growth companies looking to raise new capital.
Yet, San Francisco Bay still represents around 20% of U.S. venture capital deal counts and more than 30% of total deal value. Dry powder held by venture capital funds is at an all-time high. For the Venture Leaders Technology 2023, who were chosen from over 150 applications by a jury of investors and technology experts, access to the startup ecosystem in Silicon Valley remains vital.
Success stories of some of last year's Venture Leaders underline the momentum that can be built on by expanding their network and insight: the agritech startup xFarm celebrated a capital injection of EUR 17 million and the ETH spin-off LatticeFlow secured USD 12 million, reaching significant milestones in their growth.
"This roadshow is very important for startups that wish to do business in the US—to understand the cultural differences, understand the mentality and the approach to investors, which gives this program a unique overview of the critical aspects for a Swiss company looking to succeed in the US," said Robert Skobrak, Director at program partner Rothschild & Co., who introduced to the Venture Leaders to pitching practices in a US context at the kickoff event in February.
The goal of the one-week Venture Leaders Technology roadshow is to accelerate the startups' expansion into the US market and build an exceptional business network through meeting top-notch investors and industry leaders in Silicon Valley. The members of the Swiss National Startup Team 2023 pitched to well-known investors such as Bessemer Venture Partners, Rothschild Global Advisory, True Ventures, DCVC, FyrFly Ventures, Tenacity, Swisscom, and Unionlabs. Furthermore, they participated in high-class workshops with Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Simon-Kucher & Partners, and HR expert Jodi Johnson.
The team impressed local VCs, who underlined the maturity of the Venture Leaders' vision as well as the innovative potential emerging from the Swiss startup ecosystem.
"It is great to see how mature and prepared the startups are that Venturelab brought from Switzerland," said Rohit Sharma, partner at True Ventures, "Not only in terms of revenue with paid clients but also with a clear strategy on how they wish to implement the funds raised."
"It is impressive to see how deep-tech oriented and lab designed the startups we bring from Switzerland are, which makes a clear difference to startups in Silicon Valley," said Ben Narasin, founder and director of Tenacity.
Juliette Invanez, project manager and representative for the Canton of Vaud, also highlighted the Venture Leaders' quality and openness to the opportunities the roadshow provides to a growing startup: "From the peacefulness of Pier 17, the team embarked on a pitching marathon, sharpening their presentation skills and embracing (sometimes harsh) feedback from US investors, strengthening their efforts towards global expansion. With Etat de Vaud as one of the program supporters, I am humbled and proud to work with brilliant entrepreneurs navigating their ventures with confidence and focus. Even more proud as 5 out of the 10 selected startups are established in Vaud, having already created dozens of highly qualified jobs in our region."
Between meetings and learning opportunities, there were many other chances to get to connect with representatives of the local innovation scene and make lasting connections, such as the welcome reception hosted by the Swiss General Consul Balz Abplanalp for the Swiss National Startup Team and selected friends; the special evening of pitching and BBQ hosted by Swisscom Oupost; as well as the Swiss Pitch Night hosted by Swissnex.
After an exciting week with their peers, the Venture Leaders returned to Switzerland, ready to build on the knowledge and connections gained on this exceptional roadshow.
"Last week I was fortunate to participate in Venturelab Technology Leaders 2023 in San Francisco. The exchange with other founders and the intense program gave me many takeaways," said Michel Mohler, co-founder and CFO of Lyfegen.
"Joining the great experience of visiting the San Francisco Bay Area with the top ten Swiss startups was a great honor," said Marco Hochstrasser of Nexoya. "Networking with brilliant founders, partners, and investors from around the world and gaining invaluable insights on how to help more marketing experts with our AI platform was very inspiring. The program was packed with thought-provoking workshops, enlightening pitch sessions, and social activities with the local community that made for a week filled with discovery and learning."
Lara Gervaise, team captain and co-founder of Virtuosis, described the week as intense but insightful. "The roadshow was packed with meetings, pitches, and learning about cultural differences and the Silicon Valley ecosystem," she said, adding that the final day's sailing tour in the Bay was a special highlight that rounded off a week of growth and connection and thanking organizers and partners.
This year's Venture Leaders Technology program is co-organized by Venturelab and supported by Canton of Vaud, Canton of Zürich, EPFL, ETH Zürich, Kellerhals Carrard, and Rothschild & Co.