November 1, 2013
“We need crazy ideas”
Dear reader
High-profile speakers from around the world travel to Bern for the Mobile Basecamp each year. And it was no different at the third Mobicamp camp, where participants were able to take away valuable start-up insights. Yet for all their skills, even the best experts in the field of mobile communications do not know today which innovations will convert the new technical possibilities into successful products tomorrow. Therefore, entrepreneurial creativity is required. “We need crazy ideas now,” said speaker Juha Christensen, coming straight to the point.
Creativity and entrepreneurial spirit are also welcome at Swisscom. At an interesting press conference this week, Roger Wüthrich-Hasenböhler and Dominique Mégret from Swisscom explained why and how the company supports start-ups and the type of companies it looks for.
Creativity thrives best in a stimulating environment and so it is good news that the number of co-working spaces is increasing: Basecamp4Hightech has opened a new co-working space in Bern and in Lausanne La Forge will open its doors in mid-November.
The first Swiss Venture Day to be held in western Switzerland also takes place in mid-November in Lausanne, at which seven companies will present. The potential in western Switzerland has been demonstrated again this week: Geneva start-up Faveeo completed a financing round with business angels from the US, and in London a project from MemoWays, also based in Geneva, won an award.
Prizes were also awarded in Switzerland this week: Dolfinos, Ionight and the Quantitative Energy project were winners at the Swiss Startups Awards. In addition, the names of the nine nominees for the Swiss Technology Award were announced – six are young companies.
This week the tender for the entrepreneur prize of PERL (Prix Entreprendre Région Lausanne) was officially launched; applications for the Impact Hub Fellowship on Healthy Living are open until 4 November; and support through the European Eurostars programme may be interesting for start-ups.
Finally, I would like to mention the videos and photos of CEO Day 2013 – the pitches from 20 investors and 16 start-ups can be viewed on CEO Day’s website now. A good source of inspiration for new start-up ideas.
Have a creative weekend.
Stefan Kyora
Managing Editor, startupticker.ch