Venturelab celebrates anniversary of national start-up team

(CONNECT) Venturelab is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its Venture Leaders program on 24 June at the startup space in Schlieren. In this context, Venturelab organizes stays abroad for start-ups, which present their business ideas as the Swiss national start-up team and establish contacts with potential investors or partners. The individual delegations each cover their own sector, such as biotech, cleantech or fintech, which are presented in locations such as Boston, Munich or London.

According to a press release, graduates of the program have already created 20,550 jobs and raised 9.5 billion Swiss francs in growth capital. The so-called survival rate of Venture Leaders alumni is 78 percent, while 82 exits and five IPOs were realized by them, leading to three so-called unicorns.

"Swiss start-ups need to think globally at an early stage. Not in theory, but through direct access to the markets. Not as visitors, but as active participants. You don't learn global business from books, you experience it," Beat Schillig, founder and president of Venturelab, is quoted as saying.

"Alumni, investors, corporate partners and key players in the Swiss startup ecosystem" are expected to attend the anniversary celebration. The focus should also be on the future, on "the next generation of internationally growing Swiss start-ups". ce/jh