“Our future depends on our capacity to inspire each other beyond traditional boundaries”

Looking back at the past 20 years, what would you say has been the most outstanding achievement of the Network?

The swissnex Network started in Boston when the internet was beginning to be widely used and when google was not yet a verb. Digital music was becoming popular, but the iPhone was still light-years away. All this to say that the needs of the Swiss ERI ecosystem were radically different in the year 2000 than they are now. At the time, there was a worry that Switzerland would lose out in the race for talents with Swiss academics flocking to institutions like Harvard or MIT. swissnex, or the Swiss House of Advanced Research and Education, as it was called at the time was supposed to combat this brain drain. Fast forward 20 years and brain drain is not as much a problem anymore. Instead, we speak of brain circulation, and rankings such as the Global Innovation Index prove that in many ways, Switzerland has asserted its place as a world-leading innovation hotspot. 

So I would say, rather than one specific achievement of the Network, the agility and flexibility of continually adapting to the needs of the stakeholders are what has kept swissnex relevant to this day. swissnex has become an expert in curating a setting for its stakeholders where they make unexpected connections and encounters out of which often fantastic projects are born. This curation of serendipity or expecting the unexpected has become something that our partners value very much. They are often surprised by the results of their engagements. 

How many initiatives have you run and how many startups have you been able to support across the different networks?

swissnex is an initiative of the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation. As such, we provide certain essential services to any Swiss startups that approach us as a “service public”. For ten years, we have had a partnership with Innosuisse, and previously CTI which supports out internationalisation camps – these are divided into market validation and market entry camps and offered across all our locations. In 2019 we supported 58 startups through these camps. Throughout the last ten years, it is safe to say that we have supported over 200 startups.

We also collaborate with partners on initiates such as the AIT camps in Brazil and India, the venture leaders program together with Venturelab, and swisstech. In recent months following the economic changes due to covid19 - we have adapted our programs to allow us to continue running our programs. For instance, when CES Asia was cancelled, swissnex China came up with the Swisstech.Pitchinar for Swiss startups to virtually showcase their solutions. The Embassy team is again adopting the same format for the upcoming event CEATEC Japan 2020. Through all programs, we organise over 350 events per year!

Would you say that more Swiss companies, especially startups, have managed to set foot abroad thanks to swissnex?

Absolutely yes! Internationalisation can be tricky and cumbersome for early-stage companies, especially those coming straight out Swiss universities. They have many opportunities but also a lot of information at hand, which can be challenging to funnel and prioritise. Our Network and associated partners have helped the majority of them to accelerate their scaling process and growth. Every startup that has approached us has received support either through coaching or our camps.

Who are some of those flag bearers?

Alongside companies like Ava, Imverse there is, for instance, PB&B which has been able to file many patents worldwide. Another is Orbiwise, provider of Infrastructure solutions for IoT, approached swissnex India for support. Two years later it entered a deal with Tata communications. Currently, the company has more than 300 million end-users of its solution in India. That having been said, swissnex Boston is proud to not only have offered formal and informal support to hundreds of startups, but they are also neighbours with successful globalised startups like SOPHiA Genetics.

And what has been the biggest challenges for the network?

For Startups, the prime difficulty is probably to realise where to expand first. Many startups are a bit intimidated by markets such as India or China and choose to internationalise in, for example, Germany or Austria early. In many cases, this is a smart move, but in other instances, startups could benefit from going further abroad more quickly. This is where the value of the swissnex Network lies.

Another challenge, which at the same time is an opportunity, is that with the increasing availability of information, startups are much more internationalisation savvy than they used to. Much information is available, but we also see that startups are often overwhelmed and need a filter to guide them in their actions.

What should the startups consider to build global companies?

Firstly, To build global companies, it is crucial to have a scaleup mindset, where you fail often, but you develop resilience to come back stronger. Secondly, do not be married to your product/service which sells well in the local economy, instead, have the willingness and courage to leap to a broader, better economy that will throw you off your business fundamentals. Still, if you are open to experimentation, localisation, adaptation, and product or service innovation, you will be able to scale 30x through swissnex Network alone. Lastly, develop patience capital; it takes time to identify the right sequence of the market, the right product-market fit and the proper channels to sell. Startups should also recognise that the rich support ecosystem in Switzerland is set up to help them achieve success both at home and abroad. The most successful startup founders have a strong network of support, and it is never too early to start building that Network.

What role should the Swiss startup the ecosystem play?

Switzerland has made significant progress in guaranteeing its presence abroad. While the swissnex Network was one of the first organisations to provide support to startups abroad, there is now much more support available along the whole global journey of a startup. All of these initiatives must work together to reach the end goal, which is the successful market entry of our excellent startups. This doesn’t mean, however, that everyone needs to do the same thing. Instead, each support organisation should focus on what they are best at so that startups can quickly get the most relevant service from whichever player makes the most sense.

An example of how we are working closely together with actors such as Innosuisse, Presence Switzerland, S-GE, Digital Switzerland is the digital SwissTech pavilion at SLUSH, which just opened yesterday. We will showcase 13 Swiss startups at Europe's most important tech fair. While swissnex does not have a strong presence in Europe, other SwissTech partners do, and in this way, it is a give-and-take to guarantee access to essential ecosystems throughout the world.

What is the outlook for the next 20 years?

It has been 20 years since the founding of swissnex in Boston. Driving this adventure was a vision for the future of Switzerland and its formidable innovation potential. Today, swissnex represents an unparalleled platform for connecting tomorrow: a global network which, through the exchange of knowledge, ideas, and talent, is dedicated to unlocking the imagination needed to create a different world.

What vision of Switzerland could propel the next 20 years of this pioneering institution?

Science calls for action: the human and planetary challenges ahead of us will require a burst of creativity and innovation. More than ever, our future depends on our capacity to inspire each other beyond traditional boundaries and collectively forge new paths ahead.

For its 20th anniversary, the swissnex Network engages researchers, entrepreneurs, and visionary leaders to imagine the role of Switzerland on the global stage in 2040. Called nex20, the core of the program consists of various activities in different formats across five themes: #Connecting Tomorrow, #Working Tomorrow, #Living Tomorrow, #Meeting Tomorrow and #Learning Tomorrow.

What are the next plans for the Network?

We are taking the 20th anniversary as an opportunity to engage and reflect more in-depth on the future of the swissnex Network. In many ways, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated trends that we have observed for years, such as less travel and more digital exchanges. The importance of having eyes and ears on the ground for our Swiss stakeholders will likely be even more critical. While our mission remains the same, the way that we conduct our work is changing dramatically. So the next few years are likely to see a renewed transformation of our services to continue to match the needs of our stakeholders in an ever-changing global scenario.