“We accelerate deeptech innovation through collaboration”

Please login or
register

Stefan Kyora

02.05.2018
Christoph Birkholz

The third round of Kickstart Accelerator is open until the end of May. We talked to Christoph Birkholz, Program Lead at Kickstart, about the programme’s special approach, the start-ups it wants and CEOs’ interest in start-ups.

The focus of Kickstart Accelerator is collaboration between start-ups and corporates, universities and cities. Which start-ups are particularly suitable and should apply?
In principle, any start-up can apply, but our partners are looking mainly for start-ups that have evolved enough that they are able to work with large companies. Later stage start-ups that have already completed a Series A financing round and have robust technology stand a better chance.

There are four verticals this year: Fintech & Crypto, Food & Retail Tech, Smart Cities & Infrastructure and EdTech & Learning. Why is there no Vertical for Robotics & Smart Technologies?
Because we want deeptech start-ups that, for example, develop robots in all four verticals. Our goal in all these fields of application is to attract start-ups with truly novel technologies. In short, we can say we accelerate deeptech innovation through collaboration.

What about the geographic focus of the programme? Is Kickstart still looking for start-ups worldwide?
In the communication, we focus on Europe. Here, we are increasingly turning to our network and making use of investors to identify start-ups. Ultimately, we want start-ups that are as interesting as possible for our partners. In the field of fintech, this can of course also include companies from hubs such as Singapore.

And Swiss start-ups?
I hope that more entrepreneurs from Switzerland will apply. First, Swiss programme participants help the foreign participants to gain a foothold here, and second, some partners are also very interested in working with Swiss companies.

Corporates are currently very open to start-ups, but the collaborative results have been apparent in only relatively few cases. What can Kickstart Accelerator do to increase the quota?
At the moment, we are still going through the initial enthusiastic phase, which can turn to disappointment. The background to this development, however, is that today nobody can afford not to work with start-ups. We not only support our partners in matching them with start-ups, but also accompany their collaboration over the first 100 days. This is the most important reason why two dozen universities, cities and companies, such as Coop, AXA, Swisscom, Credit Suisse and Migros, are partners of Kickstart Accelerator.

What does that support mean specifically?
We help the corporates find internal advocates and ensure the commitment of the management. Another element is the POC workshop, where companies and start-ups can exchange experiences and knowledge.

So if the management is actually looking for a dialogue with a start-up, this is also a good reason for young companies to apply. Can you say if this is expected in the upcoming edition of Kickstart Accelerator?
Yes, absolutely. We already have a commitment from 23 CEOs who want to meet start-ups.

The application window for the 3rd Kickstart accelerator program is now open. Deadline extended to 10 June.

0Comments

rss