The fifth version of the START summit was held at the city of St. Gallen, during 24-25 March. The organizers were talented students of the University of St. Gallen (HSG). Welcoming about 2000 participants, the Summit fortifies a leading position as an intercultural platform for startups, students and investors.

The summit has had a wide participation of young people, investors and companies. It has attracted the participation of 300 start-ups, 150 investors and a large number of talented and interested people who want to learn more about the business environment in Switzerland and benefit from the experience of pioneers in project management and know-how in transforming ideas into successful projects. The aim of such activity is to bring together high-profile investors and entrepreneurs to provide financing for projects in early stages.

The two day event is packed with a wide range of activities, ranging from 1:1 meetings, and workshops to recruiting, networking, pitching etc.

From the Artificial Intelligence to Virtual Reality and Internet of Things

In 2017, the Summit focused on four critical topics in entrepreneurship and high-tech: the Internet of things, Artificial Intelligence, Augmented & Virtual Reality, and Blockchain technology.

They were addressed by different speakers including; Aubrey de Gray of the SENS Institute in Silicon Valley, an aging research institution, and Roland Siegwart, Professor at Zurich Institute for Applied Research (ETH) in Autonomous Systems (AI). The summit also welcomed the participation of business leaders: Pascal Kaufmann, founder and CEO of Starmind, Shai Wininger, founder of the freelancers web site Fiverr and Lemonade, Bettina Hein, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and founder of START Global & Pixability, a video advertising technology company that helps professionals and the media manage their advertising campaigns through YouTube, Facebook, InStagram and Twitter (for more information about the speakers).

The summit also included a competition for various projects where the most renowned “Start Sumiteer prize” recognised the most distinguished start-up project. The prize amounted to twenty thousand Swiss francs. To enrich the participants, success stories of leading entrepreneurs were presented. Participants listened to the experience of the entrepreneur who was awarded the Sumitteer Prize in 2016. This entrepreneur faced great challenges for the success of his project. Despite his family, friends and investors being negative about the possibilities of the project, and him having to give up a good job to devote himself entirely to the project, his continuous work and perseverance made it possible for him to achieve success.

This was not an isolated case. Many speakers focused on the many difficulties facing entrepreneurs, while also stressing the need to be patient and insistent with the constant work on improving and developing the idea, and defending it until reaching success.

The Summit provided the opportunity for participants to attend workshops and gain experience in specialized topics in entrepreneurship. It gave them the opportunity to meet industry leaders and talented entrepreneurs and students.

The Summit was thus characterized by high organization and active participation, especially among young people who were hungry for creative ideas and commercial projects. The smart method of exchanging business cards electronically through badge in the form of USB that allows the exchange of contact data between participants by a single touch is just one example of these innovative ideas.

Participations came from all over the world, but industrialised countries such as Europe and the USA were the most dominant among them.  This is not surprising as Switzerland in fact plays a major role in the entrepreneurs sector in Europe and elsewhere for its creativity in pioneering innovation. Switzerland also hosts many exhibitions and forums, including, but not limited to, the Geneva Motor Show, the Inventions Show and Basel Watches.

Nanoleq is the START Summiteer for 2017

One of the highlights of the event was the START Summiteer Award. It is considered the most important event at the summit where the best innovative ideas, products or service are honored.

Out of the 150 submitted applications, six startups were selected among the finalists; IDUN Healthtec, Noonee, Struckd, Nanolq, PapayaPods and Scailyte. Following their pitches, the jury which comprised of Daniel Gutenberg, Siraj Khaliq and Lukasz Gadowski, chose nanoleq as the winner due the level of innovativeness in their product.

Nanoleq is a Swiss startup, based in Zurich, providing unbreakable cables and connectors for an extended lifetime. Electrical cables and connectors are fragile and often prone to breakage due to repeated mechanical stress. This problem not only affects private individuals (headphones or cable-chargers), it can cause extreme dangers for industries in the production process, or in the biomedical field where sudden electrical failure can have critical consequences on human lives. In order to prevent the damages, the startup-up company nanoleq is developing a new cable technology providing higher lifetime and mechanical flexibility based on stretchable electronics.

Nanoleq cables compose of different conductive materials such as silver nanowires, carbon nanotubes, and carbon black particles. They are embedded in elastomers and other specific polymers to create resistant cable and maximize its lifetime.

Support from CTI and ETH

Achieving such a successful result was not the first for Nanoleq. The start-up company has received support from the largest and most prestigious scientific research institutions in Switzerland.

Last year in November, the startup received the "Feasibility Study" grant from the Commission for Technology and Innovation of the Swiss Confederation (CTI). The startup received CHF 110 thousand, which was used to invest in the production of new cables and connectors.

In addition, in December of the same year, Nanoleq received a further CHF 150 thousand in the "Pioneer Fellowship" by a unanimous decision of the expert commission of ETH Zurich to independently develop and commercialize a highly innovative product. The startup was also granted access to ETH facilities for the next 18 months.

Arab participation and future prospects

During the summit, participants could meet Arab entrepreneurs from Tunisia. There were three inventors, one of whom was a doctor and the other two were a designer and a software engineer. It was clear to see what a pleasure it was for them to be amongst the participants of such an event as they were looking to develop their own project. The Tunisian entrepreneurs expressed the need for such summits in the Arab region in order to encourage economic growth and productivity, as this Summit gives particular attention to innovative projects in developed countries. Cooperation in organising such events, between the Arab countries and their counterparts in Switzerland could see benefits for both parties.

Furthermore encouraging a more global approach in spreading entrepreneurial thinking among university students would create a better environment where pioneers are encouraged to succeed in their projects.