20 years of Venture Leaders: Swiss start-ups conquer the world

In times of geopolitical uncertainty and growing competition between business locations, the contribution that innovative startups make to Switzerland's economic strength is particularly evident. Since 2006, Venturelab has been supporting the most promising Swiss startups in their international development with the Swiss Startup National Team and the Venture Leaders program. On the occasion of its 20th anniversary, new key figures prove the sustainable impact: alumni have created 20,550 jobs, raised CHF 9.5 billion in growth capital and strengthened Switzerland as a globally relevant innovation location.

From Boston to the world

What began in 2006 with an initial roadshow to Boston has evolved into a global multi-vertical program. The first Venture Leaders group spent a week at Babson College and another week in the heart of the city's startup ecosystem - less study trip, more mindset shift. Today, the program includes leading innovation hubs in biotech, cleantech, fintech, medtech, mobile and technology - from Silicon Valley to London, Munich and Barcelona.

The concept behind it is clear: Swiss start-ups should think globally at an early stage - not in theory, but through direct access to the markets. «You don't learn global business from books, you experience it,» says Beat Schillig, founder and president of Venturelab. Each delegation is put together in a highly competitive selection process and represents Switzerland like a national team - with the clear mission of competing in the world's leading innovation arenas.

Measurable impact after two decades

During more than 60 international roadshows in 13 major cities, Venture Leaders teams have conducted over 3,500 investor pitches - both in curated one-on-one meetings with Tier 1 venture capital firms such as Bessemer Venture Partners, Founders Fund and New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and at large public pitch events in Boston, San Francisco, New York, Beijing, Hong Kong, Barcelona, London and Munich.

The impact is measurable: over 5,000 startup applications were reviewed and 643 startups were accelerated. The survival rate of alumni is 78 percent. An average of 5.7 patents were granted or registered per startup. 78 percent of the teams include international founders, 31 percent of the founding teams include women. A total of 82 alumni were acquired by global companies, including ABB, Apple, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bruker, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, Qualcomm, Sony and Vifor Pharma. Five start-ups are now listed on public markets: Bioversys, Mindmaze, Onward Medical, Astrocast and Heiq Materials.

The largest financing rounds include Climeworks with CHF 600 million and Getyourguide with CHF 484 million. Unicorns like Climeworks, Getyourguide and Scandit show what is possible when world-class research meets entrepreneurial ambition.

From founder to investor - a growing community

Many alumni have not only scaled their own companies after their Venture Leaders Roadshow, but have also become active angel investors or venture capitalists themselves. Others have built up several companies as serial entrepreneurs. This growing community of experienced founders and investors is now considered one of the most valuable assets of the Swiss innovation ecosystem.

«Venture Leaders is one of the best startup programs you can participate in. A week of intensive entrepreneurial experience, combined with an exceptional group of people, had a decisive influence on the success of our financing,» says Marc Gitzinger, CEO of Bioversys.

Bridge between startups, investors and corporates

Venture Leaders not only provides start-ups with access to international markets and capital, but also offers corporates a direct link to the most promising Swiss innovation champions. Companies gain early access to new technologies and business models and can test pilot projects together with start-ups and tap into new market opportunities.

Over the past 20 years, the Swiss Startup National Team has been supported by numerous partners, including Alpian, AMAG, Canton Zurich, Debiopharm, Digitalswitzerland, DPD, EPFL, Ernst & Young, ETH Zurich, Gebert Rüf Stiftung, Helbling Technik, Innosuisse, Novartis, PostFinance, Redalpine, Rothschild & Co Bank, Swiss, Swisscom Ventures, Swissnex and TX Group.

Anniversary celebration and outlook

The 20th anniversary of Venture Leaders will be celebrated on June 24, 2026 at startup space in Schlieren. The event will bring together alumni, investors, corporate partners and key players in the Swiss startup ecosystem. For the next two decades, Venturelab sees Venture Leaders as a launchpad for founders tackling frontier challenges in areas such as physical AI, techbio, space exploration and next-generation infrastructure - with the unchanging goal of positioning Swiss startups not only as part of the future, but as active shapers of it.

«What began in 2006 with the vision of positioning Swiss start-ups more strongly internationally is now a success story with a global impact,» says Jordi Montserrat, founder and Managing Partner of Venturelab.

Source: www.venture-leaders.ch