A successful first edition of the Scale Up Bootcamp

Gotham, the biggest co-working space in Switzerland located in Lausanne, hosted a one of a kind event for scaleup: Scale Up Bootcamp. Swiss scale-ups have a solid and validated value proposition to support corporates and are in a growth phase, looking for new customers. A key challenge however is to make them meet as efficiently as possible: attracting the attention of corporations is no easy task for many of them and at the same time, many big companies, interested by innovative solutions, struggle properly identify the top scale-ups in the various fields where they are looking for solutions.

To help both sides of the equation, digitalswitzerland launched the Scale Up Bootcamp initiative. Operated by Venture Kick, the bootcamps allow scale-ups to meet relevant industry leaders for 1 fully optimized day to establish contacts for future business deals. To make the most out of it, the day is carefully prepared with both the corporate and the scale-ups, already allowing for pre-matching. At the bootcamp, short introductions, demo zones, 1:1 sessions and multiple networking opportunities provide big companies with a high-speed hands-on access to the most promising scaleup in the country.

 

1st edition of #scaleupbootcamp is on! Welcoming #startups & corporate institutions in #BigData #Analytics from #AI to #SaaS, #Robotics & Connected Machines for a unique 1 day matchmaking in #Gotham. #DigitalTransformation #Startup #Entrepreneur #ScaleUp pic.twitter.com/dbpAlFBd5N

— Venture Kick (@venturekick) May 4, 2018

May 4^th, 2018 was the first Scale Up Bootcamp with a focus on Big Data Analytics, from AI to Saas, Robotics and Connected Machines. 21 scale-ups engaged on an intensive one-day matchmaking with 22 major corporations. In the morning, a series of presentations allowed the corporations to define and share their specific needs. A first opportunity for the scale-ups to identify common interests. In turn, the scale-ups had 3 minutes each to introduce their solutions and demonstrate their value proposition for corporates. A lunch exhibition gave the opportunity for all the participants to discuss, ask questions and schedule in-depth meetings for the afternoon.
 

A lot of brilliant ideas! Time to showcase them at the exhibition of #scaleupbootcamp with @dgt_switzerland. A chance for corporate partners to engage directly & schedule 1-1 meetings with #scaleups. #DigitalTransformation #Startup #entrepreneur #ScaleUp pic.twitter.com/MgrbfMCsQy

— Venture Kick (@venturekick) May 4, 2018

Ravina Mutha, Enterprise Bot co-founder, shared her enthusiasm about the great matches she had in the afternoon: “It has been really exciting. Initially, I thought that 3 minutes were going to be too little, but I realized that corporates really understand what we do. We had a lot of feedback and we had 6 back-to-back 1:1 meetings. In these 15 minutes we were really been able to get concrete steps and set up future meetings.” Finally, as it is custom, the day ended up with an apero, a more relaxed occasion to continue fruitful conversations.



Scale-ups in other high-tech fields will have the opportunity to participate in more bootcamps. The next Scale Up Bootcamp will be held in the startup space of Zurich on May 18 with a focus on Fintech, Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies, Mobility and Smart City. Effinger, a coworking space in Bern, will welcome a Scale Up Bootcamp on Digital Heath, Foodtech, Cyber Security and Encryption.

Find out more and register here.