Exploring Transition and Growth: Swissnex and Swiss Startups at Summer Davos 2023

The 14th Annual Meeting of the New Champions (AMNC 2023) of the World Economic Forum took place from June 27-29 in Tianjin, China. Swiss entrepreneurs and the Swissnex team in China joined discussions and workshops featuring the latest trends and technologies, to connect with the global community of leaders and innovators.

Under the theme “Entrepreneurship: The Driving Force of the Global Economy”, the AMNC 2023 gathered more than 1,500 global leaders, innovators, and academics from across business, government, and society. At this pivotal moment of global transformation, this conference presented future-facing visions and insights regarding six focuses: Rewiring Growth, China in the Global Context, Energy Transition and Materials, Post-Pandemic Consumers, Safeguarding Nature and Climate and Deploying Innovation.

Over three days, Swiss startups broadened their horizons and shared their innovative solutions with the forum participants. They left the forum with new insights, new contacts, and new business opportunities.

Thomas Leurent, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Akselos, speaking in the Unveiling the Power of Digital Twins session.

Swiss startups engaged in active discussions at several sessions.

Learnings and Takeaways

Energy, digitalization, future health, and innovation are among the most picked-up topics during the AMNC 2023, and are highly relevant to the participating Swiss startups.

Sanket Bhatia, the Founder and CEO of ProDecipher, a Swiss startup that provides supply chain traceability solutions, was inspired by emerging trends relating to his industry. They joined our Innosuisse China Camp in 2023.

by Visual Capitalist

"I am impressed on how China is approaching blockchain adoption, its layer 0 blockchain platform is extremely flexible and fast, and a number of very exciting supply chain traceability applications are already implemented." - Sanket Bhatia

Other startups also shared their experience at AMNC:

  • “We have started the relationship, that’s the biggest thing. We have met positive and interactive people, overall, it is a very positive experience. What we are facing is not just an energy transition—it’s a transition towards a more equitable, sustainable, and resilient world.” – Akselos
  • “Our solution is to protect water. Water is our most valuable ecosystem. In that sense, we do not only make it clean, we also make use of it. We make people aware that this technology exists today. It’s not a dream.” – MobyFly
  • “It’s such a nice occasion that you meet people face to face and enjoy the high-quality discourse on topics of climate change and financial inclusion. For me, it is all about compromise, we need to have mutual respect, this is the way to tackle global challenges.” – Obligate
  • “It is a great platform to exchange forward-looking ideas. Resilience is a skill that we need to start developing and that will help us go through the crises of tomorrow. Communication, exchange, open cooperation, and also peace and stability are stepping stones for the innovators.” – Roumai
  • “The WEF has created a unique space bringing exceptional human beings around the globe together and I walk away with new friendships, insights, and new business potentials.”  – Goodwall

Continuing the Conversations

The short 3-day conference in Tianjin reflected on the ongoing global transitions. By taking part in this multi-stakeholder forum, attending entrepreneurs gain access to ideas and inspirations for solutions to tomorrow’s challengs.

Swissnex in China aims to support Swiss startups to scale in the Chinese market via market intelligence and a well-connected nationwide network. Our focus areas for this year are smart nutrition, health-tech, energy and environment. We look forward to fostering more Sino-Swiss exchanges and collaborations in the future.