Switzerland’s startup competition >>venture>> is inviting early-stage fintech and insurtech startups to showcase their innovative solutions and compete for recognition, mentoring, and cash prizes.
The competition has a long history of helping startups, but recently expanded its competition to the growing finance and insurance industry in 2019.
>>venture>> was established in 1997 and is co-organised by ETH, McKinsey & Company, Knecht Holding, Innosuisse and EPFL.
It has nearly CHF 600,000 in non-dilutive cash funding every year to help entrepreneurs kickstart their businesses. The competition also offers access to a vast network of industry experts to help mentor startups as they start their journeys to success.
To participate in the >>venture>> competition, startups must meet the requirements outlined in the Playbook, which include an innovative business idea, legal status to operate in Switzerland and an early-stage status.
The application process involves submitting a startup plan, which will be evaluated by a panel of finance and insurance experts who will provide also provide written feedback on each application.
Every participant will receive a CHF 300 voucher valid at the Swiss Institute for Intellectual Property (IPI) for a landscape analysis or assisted patent search.
Additionally, finalists will receive coaching from >>venture>>’s mentor network, and pitch training from investors and communications experts from McKinsey & Company. Winners can earn up to CHF 150,000 in non-dilutive cash prizes.
Some startups who benefited from the competition include some of the past winners of the Finance & Insurance vertical such as Veritic, which develops user-friendly, multi-chain NFT platforms in collaboration with leading institutions, and is based on a highly secure minting and custody infrastructure.
Correntics, which makes supply chains future proof by reducing financial risks from climate extremes and emerging risks in global value chains.
Another winner, Kaspar& offers an all-in-one app including a Swiss bank account, and an automatic transaction-based round-up mechanism that invests the resulting micro-payments in professionally managed investment strategies.
These companies leveraged their participation in the >>venture>> competition to gain visibility, secure funding, and establish themselves as promising innovators in the finance and insurance technology space.
The deadline for applications for the upcoming >>venture>> competition is 2 March 2023. To apply, or for more information visit www.venture.ch.
