"We have a lot to gain by establishing bridges with Israel"

What motivated Innovaud to visit DLD Tel Aviv this year?
It is important to constantly improve the support environment for startups in the Canton of Vaud. That is why Innovaud studies different innovation hubs to incorporate the best ideas in accelerating innovation. Tel Aviv and Israel are very successful in creating high-tech startups, in financing them and in helping them grow. Israel is very similar to Switzerland in many respects and both countries can benefit from exchanging ideas.

Who was travelling with the Canton de Vaud Delegation?
The delegation was organized by the NOMADS Foundation based in Geneva led by Sabrina Cohen Dumani. The main part of the trip lasted four days: beside participating to DLD Tel Aviv Festival, we had different very interesting meetings with representatives of the technology transfer, with VCs and with startups. The Canton of Vaud delegation included Innovaud, the Department of Economic Affairs (SPECo) and four startups (Yalty, Sportunity, Spooklight Studio, Revapost), plus one of our scale-ups, DomoSafety.

What were the main learnings and insights for Innovaud and the startups?
We are not that different from Israel and after this trip, I am absolutely convinced we have all the necessary elements to be a world-class ecosystem for startups. While Israel is more advanced in launching high-tech startups and financing them, we have a very performing network of research universities, among them EPFL, UNIL/CHUV and HEIG-VD. Our economic environment is one of the best in the world, with a mix of very diverse SMEs. The competitiveness rankings repeatedly put Switzerland at the top spot in terms of innovation and economy. We are better at establishing larger and stable companies. We have a lot to gain by establishing bridges with Israel to combine the strengths of both countries.

What were the benefits for the Canton de Vaud startups visiting DLD Tel Aviv?
Networking was very intense for the startups, in the domain of future partnerships or about potential investments. One key benefit was the energy and dynamism that the startups could perceive and integrate. Many examples of Israeli startups showed how much communication, marketing and the power to convince are essential. We have in Switzerland and in Vaud first-grade high-tech startups, but the world hardly takes notice!  There is room for improvement in the way Swiss startups promote themselves and how we promote the innovation ecosystem on a regional and international level.

Would you recommend to Swiss entrepreneurs to visit the DLD Tel Aviv in the future?
Definitely, Israel is much closer than other innovation hotspots and well worth visiting. We are looking into the possibility to have a much larger presence next year, in coordination with the NOMADS Foundation.