Four founding partners are supporting the MassChallenge Switzerland launch: Bler Group, already a diamond sponsor of MassChallenge in Boston, Nestl Inartis Foundation and Swiss Economic Forum.
Switzerland is a well-established leader for innovation and industry, said MassChallenge Founder and CEO John Harthorne. Launching a new accelerator in Switzerland that is connected with our other global hubs will dramatically expand the open innovation, collaboration and entrepreneurial ecosystem in Switzerland, as well as greatly enhance the MassChallenge network in Europe.
A high-profile supervisory board has been formed to launch MassChallenge Switzerland in 2016. Members include Stefan Catsicas, Executive Vice President NestlS.A., CTO; Calvin Grieder, Chairman of the Board of Directors & CEO Bler Group; Beno Dubuis, Director of Campus Biotech and President of the Inartis Foundation; Peter Stli, Chairman of the Swiss Economic Forum Group; and John Harthorne.
Switzerland was selected based on the strength of the ecosystem to support entrepreneurs, especially in terms of access to innovative enterprises and expertise in many advanced areas of technology and manufacturing.
Applications for the MassChallenge Switzerland 2016 program will open February 10, 2016. The first program will start in June 2016 and run through October.
Annual MassChallenge accelerator programs in Boston and London support large cohorts of startups (128 in Boston, 90 in London) from anywhere in the world, in any industry. Entrepreneurs receive mentorship, office space, education, access to a vast network and other resources during four months of acceleration. At the conclusion of the programs, MassChallenge awards several million dollars in no-equity, non-dilutive grants to the startups demonstrating the highest impact and highest potential.
MassChallenge committed to scale its no-equity accelerator program to ten new cities by the end of 2019, beginning with MassChallenge UK in London. In all, the commitment will contribute to the creation of 20,000 new jobs from MassChallenge startups.
Follow MassChallenge Switzerland on Twitter @MassChallengeCH. For updates, please register interest here.
About MassChallenge:
MassChallenge is the most startup-friendly accelerator on the planet. No equity and not-for-profit, we are obsessed with helping entrepreneurs across any industry. We also reward the highest-impact startups through a competition to win a portion of several million dollars in equity-free cash awards. Through our global network of accelerators in Boston, London and Jerusalem and unrivalled access to our corporate partners, we can have a massive impact driving growth and creating value the world over. To date, the 835 MassChallenge alumni have raised over $1.4 billion in funding, generated over $575 million in revenue and created over 8,500 jobs. For more information, visit www.masschallenge.org.
Top MassChallenge Boston partners include:Fidelity Investments, Verizon, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Microsoft, Bose, IBM, the Richard and Susan Smith Family Foundation, CASIS, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, The Deshpande Foundation, Jamestown, The Boston Foundation, Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston, Bler, American Airlines, Boehringer Ingelheim, EMC, Henkel, Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, iNNpulsa Colombia, Zapopan, Pfizer, John Hancock, CVS Health, Analog Devices, AutoDesk, and Honda.
MassChallenge Media Contact
Hailey Woldt Eustace | +44 07469 150 360 | media@masschallenge.org
Switzerland Media Contacts
Beno Dubuis | +41 79 753 69 44 | benoit@masschallenge.org
Peter Stli | +41 79 439 41 14 | peter@masschallenge.org