Swiss-Indian Innovation Week, 23-27 September 2024
Celebrating our Swiss-Indian community’s successes and exploring ways to facilitate future ventures
The Indian community in Switzerland has long enriched the country’s research and business sectors, while Swiss entrepreneurs are increasingly drawn to the Indian market. We see its members develop exciting new technologies and transform these into successful ventures and spin-offs from leading Swiss universities. We also notice Swiss entrepreneurs’ interest in the Indian market to be growing rapidly. This trend accelerated after the signing of the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) on March 10, 2024. This is the first comprehensive agreement concluded by India with European countries.
Switzerland and India: exceptional synergies
Given the two countries’ strengths and complementarity in various fields, as well as the flow of capital, technology and know-how between the two, their scientific and economic rapprochement will present fantastic opportunities to entrepreneurs and investors.
The canton of Vaud is the ideal place to invest in innovation in Europe: it is home to 35,000 companies, nearly 10% of which are involved in high-tech activities, including research and development in fields such as life sciences, cybersecurity and aerospace. The canton ranks second nationally in the attraction of venture capital funding and number of financing rounds and the Greater Lausanne Area has been named 11th emerging ecosystem worldwide by Startup Genome.
India economy and tech scene are booming. The country is slated to become the world’s third largest economy by 2030, it produces 1.5 million engineering graduates annually and is home to some of the best universities in the world, including the Indian Institutes of Technology with its campuses spread across the country. India has invested heavily in areas like semiconductors, financial technology and even electric vehicles and it is paying off. It’s political, economic and scientific leadership is dedicated to turning India into Asia’s tech powerhouse.
We see many Indian students, particularly those who obtained a doctorate, opt to stay in Switzerland after completing their studies at universities such as EPFL or ETHZ. While there are no exact figures, it is estimated their numbers run in the hundreds. Aside from a large number working in research, numerous members of the community also take the entrepreneurial leap to commercialize and transform their technology into promising startups and later scale-ups.
Swiss-Indian success stories
SmartHelio, the solution that
anticipates solar panel failures
MindMaze, caring for patients
using virtual reality
Further portraits of Swiss-Indian
entrepreneurs
Why should you participate in the swiss-indian Innovation Week?
For Swiss entrepreneurs and investors:
- Deep dive into the Indian market
- Meeting representatives of Switzerland Global Enterprise, the Swiss-Indian Chamber of Commerce as well as of Swiss federal government
- Networking with Indian stakeholders as well as Swiss entrepreneurs and investors with experience in India
For Indian entrepreneurs and investors:
- Deep dive into the Swiss innovation scene as well as investing in Switzerland
- Meeting representatives of Switzerland Global Enterprise, the Swiss-Indian Chamber of Commerce as well as of Swiss federal government
- Networking with Swiss stakeholders as well as Indian entrepreneurs and investors with experience in Switzerland
Target audience
- Entrepreneurs and investors from India interested in Switzerland
- Indian-origin CEO’s, founders, university professors, alumni of Swiss tertiary education institutions
- C-level management of Swiss startups and scaleups interested in the Indian market
Contact us
Are you interested in participating in the Swiss-Indian Innovation Week? Then contact Innovaud today:
Mrs Yuliya Blaser,
Head of Investment
yuliya.blaser@innovaud.ch
Mr Alexis Bittar,
Project Coordinator
alexis.bittar@innovaud.ch
Ms Leah Szkielko,
Head of Events
leah.szkielko@innovaud.ch
