Here are the latest winners of Venture Kick stage two
15.04.2015
Very recently, the Fintech startup Advanon won the second stage of Venture Kick and got awarded with CHF 20’000. Advanon develops an online platform that shall make financing of small & medium businesses (SMBs) easier and more flexible. We interviewed one of its three co-founders, Phil Lojacono, about the news – and the future.
 Philip Kornmann, Stijn Pieper and Phil Lojacono of Advanon
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Are you happy to have won the second stage of Venture Kick?
Yes, we are very happy about it. We couldn't believe it when we won stage one and now it is even better. Venture Kick really helped us kick our project and showed us that we're on the right track. Venture Kick is an amazing initiative and we are really happy to be part of it.
What kind of technology are you developing?
We are developing a platform that brings companies that are in need of liquidity together with investors that are looking for new investment possibilities. With our platform, we provide a noncyclical, liquid and reasonably secure investment vehicle. We want to surpass traditional factoring companies and banks in the way that we link supply and demand directly.
At what stage is Advanon today and what do you plan next?
We are still at an early stage, currently developing our platform. We'll launch it in July this year.
How did the idea of Advanon come up?
I met my two partners, Philip Kornmann and Stijn Pieper, last year in Dublin while interning at Google. We were on a road trip together and kept discussing about ideas that we had, the existing problems that could be solved with modern-day technology and how to make it more efficient. This is how the idea of Advanon came up. We have kept pushing towards a solution since then.
What distinguishes your technology from your competitors’?
We are a Financial Services company that really emphasizes the importance of technology. Our main asset is a new technology that helps small & medium businesses (SMBs) refinancing themselves. We are aiming at being faster, more flexible and more user-friendly than our competitors.
Why did you apply for Venture Kick and what are the benefits of such a program for you?
Well first of all there is the funding. As we are all Master students our financial resources were a bit limited and Venture Kick really helped us to kickstart everything. We could invest in marketing and website development. But then there are also the amazing Kickers Camps. These two day camps help us improve ourselves constantly and show us our weaknesses immediately. We could establish a lot of very important contacts and enlarge our network thanks to Venture Kick. We are very happy to be part of this organization; it does an amazing job for startups!
In your opinion, how did you convince the jury on stage two?
We put a lot of hard work in Advanon in the last months and were able to establish some promising partnerships with large corporations, such as Swisscom. I think the jury recognized our progress and realized that we are on the right track. Furthermore, we benefit a lot from our advisors, who have many years of experience and are always willing to help us. We highly appreciate that.
And how do you think you will convince the jury at the final?
We keep pushing ourselves and go further on this path. We will start in July and we will show the first (hopefully good results) in the final presentation. Also we are looking forward to the next Kickers Camp where we will learn more on which things to improve.
Yes, we are very happy about it. We couldn't believe it when we won stage one and now it is even better. Venture Kick really helped us kick our project and showed us that we're on the right track. Venture Kick is an amazing initiative and we are really happy to be part of it.
What kind of technology are you developing?
We are developing a platform that brings companies that are in need of liquidity together with investors that are looking for new investment possibilities. With our platform, we provide a noncyclical, liquid and reasonably secure investment vehicle. We want to surpass traditional factoring companies and banks in the way that we link supply and demand directly.
At what stage is Advanon today and what do you plan next?
We are still at an early stage, currently developing our platform. We'll launch it in July this year.
How did the idea of Advanon come up?
I met my two partners, Philip Kornmann and Stijn Pieper, last year in Dublin while interning at Google. We were on a road trip together and kept discussing about ideas that we had, the existing problems that could be solved with modern-day technology and how to make it more efficient. This is how the idea of Advanon came up. We have kept pushing towards a solution since then.
What distinguishes your technology from your competitors’?
We are a Financial Services company that really emphasizes the importance of technology. Our main asset is a new technology that helps small & medium businesses (SMBs) refinancing themselves. We are aiming at being faster, more flexible and more user-friendly than our competitors.
Why did you apply for Venture Kick and what are the benefits of such a program for you?
Well first of all there is the funding. As we are all Master students our financial resources were a bit limited and Venture Kick really helped us to kickstart everything. We could invest in marketing and website development. But then there are also the amazing Kickers Camps. These two day camps help us improve ourselves constantly and show us our weaknesses immediately. We could establish a lot of very important contacts and enlarge our network thanks to Venture Kick. We are very happy to be part of this organization; it does an amazing job for startups!
In your opinion, how did you convince the jury on stage two?
We put a lot of hard work in Advanon in the last months and were able to establish some promising partnerships with large corporations, such as Swisscom. I think the jury recognized our progress and realized that we are on the right track. Furthermore, we benefit a lot from our advisors, who have many years of experience and are always willing to help us. We highly appreciate that.
And how do you think you will convince the jury at the final?
We keep pushing ourselves and go further on this path. We will start in July and we will show the first (hopefully good results) in the final presentation. Also we are looking forward to the next Kickers Camp where we will learn more on which things to improve.