There were 43 spin-offs founded at ETH Zurich in the past year, more than ever before. Most of them use their own resources or grants to fund themselves in the start-up phase. However, many larger funding rounds with venture capitalists that enable the start-ups to grow require capital from abroad in order to succeed.
This is soon to change: in order to make it easier for ETH spin-offs to gain access to local investors and thereby keep them in Switzerland, ETH Zurich last week staged an initial joint deeptech investor summit together with Swiss major bank UBS. Over 200 potential investors gained an insight into the entrepreneurial activities at ETH Zurich. They had the opportunity at a large number of presentations, panels and an exhibition to network with around 50 ETH spin-offs.
“We want our spin-offs to find investors for their growth more quickly so that they can create jobs in Switzerland and contribute to a sustainable and competitive economy,” said ETH President Joël Mesot, who welcomed the guests together with Anton Simonet, Regional Vice President UBS Switzerland, in the ETH Audi Max. Simonet added: “Our aim with the event is to strengthen the network between universities, start-ups and investors and in so doing to promote entrepreneurship in Switzerland.” The event, which from now on is to take place once a year, is part of the partnership that the two organisations launched in August 2022.
