This question lies at the heart of Founders’ B.A.B. (Build Across Borders), a new pilot program developed and delivered by the Science and Technology Office Seoul (STO Seoul), part of the Swissnex network. In September 2026, five aspiring Swiss founders travelled to South Korea for an intensive week of immersion in one of Asia’s most dynamic innovation ecosystems.

Rather than focusing on market entry or supporting startups that are already established, Founders’ B.A.B. works further upstream: at the stage when founders are still forming teams, testing assumptions and asking whether — and for whom — their ideas could create value.

How Can International Exposure Shape a Startup Before It Starts?

STO Seoul has long supported exchanges between Swiss and Korean research and innovation communities — from graduate student and researcher exchanges and scholarships to institutional research cooperation and support for Swiss startups exploring the Korean market. Founders’ B.A.B. grew out of this broader network of collaboration, with STO Seoul developing and delivering the program in Korea with support from Switzerland’s entrepreneurship ecosystem, including Talent Kick.

Founders’ B.A.B. asks what can happen before a startup exists, when international exposure can still influence how a founder defines a problem, identifies an opportunity and imagines a potential market. The program is designed as an early intervention: an opportunity for aspiring entrepreneurs to learn from another ecosystem while their ideas are still flexible enough to be challenged, reframed or even abandoned.

That distinction matters. A technology may appear novel when viewed from Switzerland, while similar solutions may already be emerging elsewhere. Conversely, an idea developed around a Swiss challenge may reveal much greater potential when considered from a global perspective. The objective is therefore not simply to encourage young entrepreneurs to “think internationally” at some later stage. It is to cultivate a Global First mindset early, before assumptions about markets, customers and business models become fixed.

Why Korea?

South Korea provides a particularly compelling environment for this experiment. The country combines advanced digital infrastructure, highly connected consumers, strong university-industry links and a dense network of startups, corporates, accelerators and public-sector innovation initiatives. At the same time, Korea is confronting challenges that resonate far beyond its borders — from demographic change and healthcare to sustainability, digital transformation and the future of work.

For the program, Korea becomes less a destination market than a living laboratory. Its rapid innovation cycles and strong culture of experimentation allow participants to observe how different actors identify problems, develop products and move from ideas to implementation. Its social and technological context also encourages founders to look at familiar challenges from a different angle.

Five ideas, five perspectives

The pilot cohort brought together five Swiss aspiring entrepreneurs from universities across the country, all at an early stage of developing their ideas and exploring the path toward founding a venture.

Their projects ranged from AI-powered e-waste sorting and precision oncology to smart sports technology, health communication for ageing populations and AI-powered administrative services. Some were still at the pre-proof-of-concept stage, while others had functional prototypes or were beginning early international validation.

This diversity was intentional. The program was not looking for polished startups with established business models. It was looking for people who were curious, adaptable and willing to question their assumptions.

The projects differed widely in both field and approach. What connected them was their stage of development — and their openness to learning.

Not just a tour

During their week in Korea, participants engaged with different parts of the innovation ecosystem through expert sessions, company visits, mentoring and university exchanges. The program included Korea University and Yonsei University, emerging ventures, corporate innovation environments and professional service providers, including a law firm.

These encounters gave aspiring founders the opportunity to learn from different approaches to innovation and entrepreneurship. More importantly, conversations with entrepreneurs, researchers and industry experts challenged their existing assumptions and revealed perspectives and opportunities they might otherwise have missed.

The week culminated in a final pitching session, where participants presented their ideas to the experts, entrepreneurs and organizations they had met throughout the program. It was an opportunity not only to present their work, but also to reflect on how their thinking had evolved over the course of the week.

Marionne Blanco Herrera from Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) said, “One of the aspects that most impressed me was the scale and intentionality of public support for startups in Korea, combined with the very close accompaniment provided by universities. This strong state funding, together with structured university programs and Korea’s long-standing excellence in research, creates a powerful environment for deep-tech and health innovation. I believe this combination is a particularly strong hook for Swiss startups and researchers, as it offers both resources and high-quality collaboration opportunities that are not always easy to find.”

Giovanni Papa, a PhD candidate in Cancer Biology at the University of Zurich, said, “I was particularly impressed by the speed at which innovative ideas and technologies are developed and translated into concrete applications. At the same time, Korea seems to have a very strong culture of collaboration, openness and willingness to share knowledge.”

In this sense, Founders’ B.A.B. is more than a study tour. It is designed as a global mind-shift accelerator — giving aspiring founders the space to learn, unlearn and compare while their ideas are still open to change.

What a Swissnex Location Can Enable

International innovation networks often become visible when researchers collaborate, startups enter new markets or institutions establish partnerships.

Founders’ B.A.B. points to another opportunity: creating those connections even earlier, when a founder’s idea is still taking shape. By working with aspiring founders before their ventures are fully formed, STO Seoul can expose Swiss talent to a different ecosystem at a stage when new perspectives can still influence how they define problems, identify opportunities and imagine potential markets.

The relationships created during the program may develop into research collaborations, business partnerships, future market exploration or simply a more informed understanding of where an idea belongs in the world.

This upstream role complements STO Seoul’s existing work.

It connects the dots between people who are learning, researchers who are collaborating and entrepreneurs who are building — across both Switzerland and Korea. More broadly, it illustrates one way a Swissnex location can create value beyond individual introductions: by creating opportunities for Swiss talent to encounter new ecosystems, challenge established assumptions and discover possibilities before their paths are fully defined.

From a pilot to a longer-term connection

The first edition of Founders’ B.A.B. brought together five aspiring founders for an intensive week of exposure, exchange and reflection. Its longer-term value will depend on what comes next: how participants develop their ideas, follow up on the connections they made and explore opportunities that may not have been visible before the program.

For STO Seoul, the pilot also provides a basis for exploring how this type of exchange could develop further — through continued engagement with participants, new connections between Swiss and Korean ecosystems, and potentially future editions of the program.

Founders’ B.A.B. started with five people and five early-stage ideas. What comes next will be shaped by where those ideas, relationships and questions lead.