June 7, 2024, San Francisco—For two weeks, our office became a hub for eight Swiss startups from different industries looking to seriously explore or expand to the US market. Their stay included training sessions, workshops, networking events, and a Pitch Night in Palo Alto, where they could put their newly honed skills to the test. 

The camp was a blend of expert sessions, events, and mentorship meetings designed to equip our startups with valuable knowledge and insights, particularly on the differences between the Silicon Valley and Swiss startup ecosystems. Participants attended sessions on various topics, including Customer Discovery and Fundraising in the US. Additionally, they received guidance on crucial legal matters such as Immigration Law, Incorporation & Taxation Laws, and US IP Protection, all provided by experts within our network. During the second week, the startups visited Stanford University and engaged with our community of Swiss MBA students. A special thanks goes out to our Swissnex Mentor Eugenie Fontugne for her assistance in organizing the visit.

One of our most treasured sessions was on how to pitch to a US audience. Aptly, the first week of the Bootcamp concluded with our Pitch Night at Hanahouse in Palo Alto. The pressure was on as the startups presented their ideas to a panel of Swissnex Mentors, consisting of Samira G. Curtis, Paul Oeschger, and Anne-Sophie Rinckens, and over 100 guests. Each startup had 3 minutes to convince both the judges and the audience to invest in their startup, which ended with a round of critical questions or gentle guidance by our judges. The jury and the audience voted Limula’s Luc Henry as the evening’s best pitch, noting his confidence, the quality of his presentation, and the potential impact on the world as we know it.

Matteo Cariglia, our Entrepreneurship Program Manager, is happy with how the camp went: “The startups were definitely US-ready. Our cohort was highly motivated and proactive—they scheduled an above-average number of meetings with relevant stakeholders and used synergies within the group. It was especially cool to see that these entrepreneurs from different industries not only learned from each other but supported each other throughout the camp.”

Participating Startups

Aseptuva specializes in advancing patient care and safeguarding lives through its innovative Far-UVC technology. This approach is at the forefront of combating hospital-acquired infections, alleviating the workload on healthcare personnel, and addressing the escalating challenge of antimicrobial resistance.

Diaxxo offers a cost-effective “Rapid PCR test” designed for easy DNA analysis in resource-limited settings and Point-of-Care. Delivering reliable results in 30-60 minutes at less than 5 USD per test, it’s suitable for human, veterinary, and food diagnostics.

Kidemis is creating a sustainable substitute for fish meal and oil in aquafeed. They transform agricultural by-products into valuable mycoprotein for aquafeed using solid-state fermentation.

Jedsy focuses on developing multipurpose drones for critical deliveries. Jedsy specializes in transporting urgent healthcare materials, such as blood, vaccines, and organs, quickly, reliably, and in an eco-friendly manner.

Mikafi is a coffee-tech company developing a decentralized coffee roasting infrastructure to enable coffee-selling businesses to buy green coffee from farms and importers, create coffee roasting recipes, and apply them with one click to a fleet of IoT coffee roasting machines in various locations.

Limula is revolutionizing the cell therapy industry by providing technology for automated, scalable manufacturing of personalized treatments like CAR T cell therapies. Their mission is to make advanced cancer treatments accessible and affordable to patients everywhere.

PatchXR is an award-winning Swiss tech startup at the forefront of innovation in the immersive creative tech landscape. It merges music tech with multiplayer sandbox gaming to unite people and spark creativity and co-creation. With spatial computing and no-code tools, they’re redefining immersive design and collaboration.

WattAnyWhere provides a clean energy mobile generator that converts renewable ethanol made from residue into clean electricity for an Electric Vehicle charging system that has never been seen before.

To connect with this cohort, please reach out to the startup team at [email protected].