FIT Digital funds five digital projects

Launched in May, the FIT Digital is a new program designed to support founders based in the Canton of Vaud – whose project has a strong growth potential – through their the digital transition. The program offers three types of support depending on the development phase of the project: 1) FIT Digital Grant (CHF 20'000 grant) for testing the hypotheses of the business model, 2) FIT Digital Seed (loan of CHF 50'000) for acquiring the first customers, and 3) FIT Digital Growth (loan of CHF 200'000) for executing the first growth strategies.

In the first call for application, the program received more than 20 entries, among which six pitched to the jury, who later chose the best five ideas. These include:

Infinight, Yannick Bloem, CTO & Founder – grant CHF 20’000
Bloem developed an application  – an all-in-one platform and social network, which enables users all around the world to find places/events to go out while offering venue owners a nightlife-specific professional marketing solution. The app has already been downloaded more than 25’000 times in western Switzerland only. The FIT Digital Grant will enable the founder to step up its marketing and sales efforts and accelerate growth.

Tayo, Etienne Friedli founder & CEO – CHF 50’000 seen loan from FIT Digital Seed
The startup simplifies interaction in real estate and property management. It has the vision of a world where interaction has become fluid, transparent and efficient. They enable a 24/7 service and novel business models in the real estate and property management industries. The startup will use the loan to reinforce our sales and marketing team, validate the market fit of its solution with paying customers as well as to accelerate growth.

Buildigo – Raphael Breitschmid, CEO at Buildigo. CHF 50’000 loan from FIT Digital Seed
The digital platform that allows householders to find the best pros for their home improvement projects. After the user has entered his/her search, the platform provides up to three quotes from qualified and available local pros, packaged with all the information they need to make a confident hiring decision. The funds will be used to grow the platform.

WeGaw – Ion Padilla, co-founder & CEO – CHF 50’000 loan from FIT Digital Seed.
The Adventure Tourism platform, which uses satellite technology, smart sensors and weather APIs, can provide daily information on the status of the terrain. It helps reducing operation costs and improving communication towards tourism, generating a 6% tourist visit increase with a digital tourist promotion. The FIT Digital tool will help the startup to scale up its current product and hire new developers to support the current integrations with Pilot users, leading to maturing the product.

Socialease – Laurent Thevin, co-founder & CEO – CHF 50’000 loan from FIT Digital Seed.
The startup helps business owners take care of their online interactions through an intelligent assistant that irons out social media communication issues of hospitality businesses and distribution networks. The loan will enable the startup to quickly and efficiently validate several business strategies, and accelerate its go-to-market phase.

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