Attended by Swiss and Chinese government officials, leading business leaders, top management attending the WEF Tianjin, 10 handpicked fast-growing high-tech companies from Switzerland presented their advanced technologies and huge market potentials of their products, and showcased Switzerland’s global leadership in bottom-up innovation at the nexus of industry, technology, art and design. The event, for the third time hosted during the WEF, is also expected to strengthen the intrinsic link between Switzerland and the WEF among a high-caliber audience.
The 10 startups are Cellestia Biotech, DistalMotion, Fixposition, Foldaway Haptics, GRZ Technologies, InterAx Biotech, Nomoko, RetinAI, SimplicityBio and Topadur. They are engaged in different industries in which Switzerland has leading advantages, including biotech, pharmaceuticals, electronics, mechanics, clean technology, augmented reality, virtual reality and artificial intelligence. The startups are also in China for a 10-day roadshow within the framework of Venture Leaders China 2018, organized by swissnex China and venturelab.
During the pitch session, the startups competed with each other for being the best idea in terms of innovation, technology and market potentials. GRZ Technologies was awarded as the best idea.
“Switzerland is being known as the leading country in the world in terms of innovation and technology. These 10 startups, with six of them listed amongst the TOP 100 Swiss Startups ranking of 2017, are the epitome of our innovative prowess in different fields. Originating from Switzerland, they have the strong desire to go abroad, especially to China, which is in the strong quest for high technologies, hence a big market and collaboration opportunities,” said Swiss Ambassador to China Dr. Jean-Jacques de Dardel. “As how the ‘bottom-up’ innovation approach functions in Switzerland, we, the embassy alongside with swissnex China, are here to offer the help and stimulus they need to explore these opportunities and potentials,” he added.
Venture Leaders China 2018
For the fifth consecutive year, swissnex China led a delegation of top Swiss startups in China on a roadshow that spans 10 days and five cities. With business workshops, investor meetings and public events in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin, the roadshow offers the startups unparalleled exposure and insight into the Chinese market, along with learning about business opportunities, how corporate affairs work, pitching to investors and getting insights from experts.
“swissnex is the Swiss global network connecting the dots in education, research, and innovation in five global hubs. A cornerstone of our approach is to help the growing number of Swiss innovators and entrepreneurs find collaborations, projects or fresh ideas in China – one of the world’s most important markets and high-tech manufacturing locations,” said swissnex China CEO and Science Consul Dr. Felix Moesner. “With Venture Leaders, we bring them to China to tap into new opportunities and find fresh ideas. Swiss startups are increasingly looking to China for partners, manufacturers or customers, and we help them form those connections. And so the world’s future tech giants take their first steps.”
Unique ambiance created by ‘Pink’ artist Nici Jost
An award-winning artist based in Switzerland, Nici Jost transformed the event venue into a multi-functional space of pink and green. The creator of the “Pink Colour System”, Jost aims to systematically organize and categorize the color, and explores in her works the sublime tensions between technology and nature, space and perception, identity and image. Her project at the Swiss Incubator is also her foray into an inter-cultural analysis of the color in the Chinese context.
