Empowering Innovation

Discover how IMD promotes innovation

Empowering Innovation

Discover how IMD promotes innovation

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What We Do

IMD’s mission is to challenge what is and inspire what could be, and to develop leaders who transform organizations and contribute to society. This requires an entrepreneurial mindset: a willingness to try something new. Since 1998, IMD EMBAs and MBAs have collaborated with over 500 Swiss startups and helped strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem. We work with startups, scaleups and other high-growth, high-impact initiatives to help them direct leadership, create a strategy, build in customer-centricity, and construct a resilient organization that delivers to its customers, employees, and shareholders. When an IMD graduate creates or joins a startup that succeeds in its mission, we believe we have delivered on ours.

Empowering Innovation

Empowerment denotes the agency to innovate and forms the bedrock of entrepreneurial creativity. Whether in a new company or an existing corporation, it is the vital ingredient to all innovation.

Innovation requires a person or a team to believe there is a better way to do things. It also demands they believe that they can create the solution.

Startup Funding

The MBA Venture Fund

In 2022, an IMD alumnus supported the startup idea of an MBA. Since then, IMD alumni have awarded 20 grants per year, with some of the funds allocated to support entrepreneurs in their MBA studies, and another portion comprising non-dilutive grants to graduating MBAs with startup goals. For promising ideas, we offer free seed capital of CHF 100,000, as well as support from the IMD faculty and its entrepreneurial alumni.

Startup Competition

Previous winners of the IMD Startup Competition have flourished. In the recently announced Top 100 Swiss Startups, 40 were ventures that had worked with us, including five of the top 25 scale-ups.

2022 MBA Startup Winner

InStep, a digital health venture that aims to transform consumers’ movement data into personalized health analytics, has been selected as the inaugural winner of the IMD Venture Award.

2021 MBA Startup Winner

NEMIS Technologies provides a lab-free detection system for pathogens. Investment enabled NEMIS to scale up production and to pursue its global expansion strategy.

2020 MBA Startup Winner

The Swedish helicopter sales and marketing company, Savback Helicopters, and the Swiss eVTOL company, Dufour Aerospace, signed a distribution agreement for Dufour’s eVTOL aircraft.

2019 MBA Startup Winner

Swiss healthcare startup Loop Medical is reinventing blood collection with its painless and easy-to-use blood collection device.

2018 MBA Startup Winner

KOMP-ACT develops electric actuators to reduce machinery energy consumption. Investment from strategic investor, Pariter Partners, will support the development and growth of the Swiss startup.

Read the IMD Startup Competition conditions here.

IMD has also partnered with Innovaud for a new scale-up program for fast-growing startups.

Ecosystem

According to McKinsey, ecosystems will play a key role in every aspect of the global economy by 2030, driving around $80 trillion in annual revenues.

The key principle of ecosystem thinking is that we cannot create the future alone – organizations need to collaborate with a variety of partners that complement and reinforce each other.

Ecosystems enable organizations to grow, to drive a regenerative transformation, to jointly face challenges, and to explore opportunities.

No longer the exclusive domain of a handful of digital giants, ecosystems now represent the immediate future for transforming incumbents, new ventures, and platforms.

Find out how to create and orchestrate ecosystems.

In a Crisis, Ecosystem Businesses Have a Competitive Advantage

Coronavirus has exposed the vulnerabilities of companies whose competitive advantage is based on the ownership of unique physical assets — such as airlines and cruise lines but also manufacturing and traditional retail.

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The Future of Competitive Strategy

Mohan Subramaniam explores how to unleash the power of data and digital ecosystems.

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How Large Companies Can Learn from Small Businesses

The best small companies boast ultra-close relationships with their customers. Using ecosystems can allow larger groups to learn from their example.

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Business Ecosystems in China

Mark J Greeven and Wei Wei analyze how Alibaba and peers Baidu, Tencent, Xiaomi, and LeEco have grown so rapidly and successfully.

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Business Ecosystem Alliance

The Business Ecosystem Alliance will create forums for the sharing of knowledge, learning and experience on the subject of ecosystems.

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Is Your Company Squandering Digital Opportunities?

Many companies today fail to see the threats and opportunities that new digital technologies represent.

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Social Innovation

Social innovation creates solutions that benefit society by addressing immediate needs more effectively than current policy or business activity. Social innovation develops products, services, markets or models and processes and relies on collaboration to optimize its impact on global society. The IMD elea Center for Social Innovation views ecosystem development as integral to the development and acceleration of social innovation.

Below are some examples of successful collaborations that have helped accelerate the speed, scale, and effectiveness of social innovations.

elea Entrepreneur Program

In 2021, a leadership development program for social impact leaders was launched in partnership with the elea Foundation for Ethics in Globalization. The elea Entrepreneurs’ Community represents a vital element of IMD and elea’s engagement with its partner organizations. The Community provides a forum where social impact entrepreneurs can exchange ideas, co-create, and build capabilities to achieve impact and entrepreneurial success.

Schwab Foundation

The Schwab Foundation identifies and selects the world’s leading community of social innovators – entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs – and engages them in shaping global, regional, and industry agendas that improve the state of the world in close collaboration with other leaders in business and government.

The Global Impact Investing Network

The Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) is dedicated to increasing impact investing around the world by building critical infrastructure, education, research, and other activities. Impact investments are investments made to generate positive and measurable social and environmental impact alongside a financial return. Impact investments can be made in both emerging and developed markets and target a range of returns.

EVPA

EVPA is a unique network at the intersection of finance and purpose, driven by knowledge and focused on impact. We aim to increase prosperity and social progress for all, fix inequalities and injustices, and preserve the planet.

EVPA gathers a diverse group of capital providers (funds, foundations, investors, banks, public funders) and innovators to catalyse, innovate, and scale impact.

Ashoka

Ashoka is an international citizen-sector organization whose mission is to build an ‘Everyone a Changemaker World’™. Its vision is a world that responds effectively to social challenges, and where everyone is empowered to be a driver of positive change.

Ashoka has a community of over 3,500 social entrepreneurs it supports by helping them get started, grow, and collaborate.

Impact Finance Forum

The global financial system is changing, and Switzerland plays a leading role in it. Launched in 2021, the Impact Finance Forum addresses this change and contributes to strengthening the position of the financial sector as well as laying the foundation for a sustainable future for our next generation.

LEVO Framework

Levo helps entrepreneurs combine financial with social and environmental sustainability and bring it into the heart of their business planning. The framework provides entrepreneurs the tools to help them assess, monitor, and continuously improve the operational sustainability and impact of their business – future-proofing them year after year.

Our History

Jim Pulcrano, Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship and Management, created the entrepreneurship stream of IMD’s EMBA program in 1999. His insights in the Silicon Valley model of entrepreneurship over 24 years led to the creation of the IMD Startup Competition.

Since 1999, IMD EMBAs and MBAs have collaborated with over 500 Swiss startups and experienced entrepreneurship first hand. In doing so they developed respect for those who took a different path and gained valuable insight into the extreme ambiguity that founders face every day. Some have even been inspired to embrace entrepreneurship themselves.

Previous winners of other IMD Startup Competitions have flourished. In the recently announced Top 100 Swiss Startups, 40 were ventures that had worked with us, including five of the top 25 scaleups.

Some of our top entrepreneurial ‘alumni’ include, AC Immune (now a public company), Artmyn (which was sold to Invaluable), Dacuda (acquired by Magic Leap), Doodle (acquired by Tamedia), Faceshift (acquired by Apple), GlycArt (acquired by Roche), Kooaba (acquired by Qualcomm), and Swiss unicorns MindMaze and Nexthink among many other successful firms.

Case Study Timeline

  • 2001

    New-animal.com: Merging Three E-Marketplaces

    An exploration of the target market, core proposition, ancillary services, competitive environment, and business model of three European Read the case
  • 2002

    Papyrus Laser

    Papyrus Laser markets specialized stationery and products that enable small quantities of high-quality printed communications with just a PC and printer.

    Read the case

  • 2003

    Shockfish

    Shockfish, a 1998 Swiss startup, produced and sold SpotMe, a wireless networking device that enables people to meet, conduct business and interact at conferences.

    Read the case

  • 2005

    Genedata

    Venture Valuation conducts a valuation of Genedata, a Swiss start-up, to help Novartis Venture Fund structure the next financing round.

    Read the case

  • 2006

    Endoart SA

    EndoArt SA, a small venture, develops and commercializes medical devices for the telemetric control of the flow of bodily fluids.

    Read the case

  • 2011

    Netflix

    This case describes how Reed Hastings started up a DVD rental service in 1997 that gained over 4 million subscribers by 2007.

    Read the case

  • 2013

    Social Entrepreneurship on Fogo Island

    The Shorefast Foundation aims to promote economic and cultural resilience using a social entrepreneurship model in isolated communities of Newfoundland, Canada.

    Read the case

  • 2014

    Freitag: Desiging the agile company

    FREITAG specializes in bags made of recycled truck tarpaulins. Two graphic designers, Markus and Daniel Freitag, founded the company in 1993.

    Read the case

  • 2016

    Gamaya: Taking Farming into the 21st Century

    Gamaya credibly demonstrated the contributions its drone-born miniaturized hyperspectral cameras could bring to local sugar cane farmers in Brazil.

    Read the case

  • 2018

    AM-Pharma: Creating value

    This case describes the inception of biotech firm AM-Pharma in 2001, then continues up to its deal with Pfizer in 2015.

    Read the case

  • 2019

    Beekeeper: From pivoting startup to disrupting scaleup

    Beekeeper faced considerable challenges to become a fast-expanding company with over 130 employees across the world, with a plethora of large clients.

    Read the case

Research, Insight & News

IMD professors and research fellows now produce around 40 cases per year related to new ventures. Faculty insights into entrepreneurship are also featured in a growing number of articles, webinars and podcasts focused on this domain.

Much of this has been made possible due to increased opportunities to interact with entrepreneurs, and the appointment of six research fellows who work alongside faculty to capture the learnings.

In our wider community, IMD’s Alumni Center for Entrepreneurship strives to foster an ecosystem aimed at facilitating mentoring and the funding of business projects as an engine for innovation and growth.

Video
IMD Interview – Jim Pulcrano with Samantha Anderson, DePoly
Topics: Entrepreneurship, Innovation

By Pulcrano, Jim

DePoly CEO tells us more about the startup’s technology, which converts post-consumer PET items into virgin-grade raw materials, creating circular economy for plastics.

 

23 January 2023
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Article
Growth at all costs. Not so fast! There are alternative playbooks
Topics: Innovation

By Jim Pulcrano

In a time of more turbulent markets, there’s something to be said for slow and steady growth – with or without large amounts of capital.

11 November 2022 6 min. read
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Video
IMD Interview – Jim Pulcrano with Valentina Triacca, Lymphatica
Topics: Entrepreneurship, Innovation

By Pulcrano, Jim

Valentina, founder of Lympathica Medtech, tells us more about the startup’s solution, LymphoDrain, a micropump designed to be implanted just under the skin.

26 January 2023
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Article
Seven qualities of successful scale-up CEOs
Topics: Innovation

By Jim Pulcrano

Being humble, identifying key metrics, and partnering with anchor customers are some of the traits that might help CEOs beat the odds and reach “scale up” status.

17 August 2022 7 min. read
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Video
IMD Interview – Jim Pulcrano with Semira Gonseth Nussle, Genknowme SA
Topics: Entrepreneurship, Innovation

By Jim Pulcrano, Stuart Woodcock, Ulrich Wendt, and Adrian Hunn

Semira, a medical doctor specializing in preventive medicine and a researcher in epigenetics, tells us more about her work and experience running her own company, Genknowme.

16 September 2022
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Case study
Roasting plant coffee: From engineer’s dream to customer’s delight
Topics: Brand Management, Value Creation

By Jim Pulcrano

Jamie Robertson joined in 2017 as an investor and CEO of a new unit in the UK and opened a store in London. Jamie perseveres as he realizes that the customer experience will make a difference.

16 August 2022
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News
How IMD’s EMBA team helped one startup to fly
Topics: Strategy, Entrepreneurship

By Alexandre Catsicas

How a group of EMBA students helped an industry-disrupting startup win over Silicon Valley investors during a discovery expedition to Palo Alto.

09 June 2022
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Case study
Matternet-Swiss Post: Drone-Based Healthcare Delivery (A)
Topics: Strategy

By Howard Yu and Marc Chauvet

Startup Matternet entered in 2017 the market of drone-based delivery of medical samples in Switzerland, via an investment from Swiss Post.

08 September 2009
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Case study
Baabuk’s All Wool, No Bull: Choosing the Best Next Step
Topics: Strategy, Marketing, Entrepreneurship

By Jim Pulcrano, Stuart Woodcock, Ulrich Wendt, and Adrian Hunn

Baabuk is a Swiss-based startup brand that sells woollen footwear. The case assesses the benefits of pricing over deep market analysis and considers the benefits of ‘customer fit’.

15 December 2019
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Case study
Netguardians: Beating Fraud From the Inside
Topics: Strategy

By Carlos Cordon and Teresa Ferreiro Vilarino

After developing powerful software, young entrepreneurs Raffael Maio and Joël Winteregg founded NetGuardians in 2007.

30 August 2016
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Case study
Eat Me: The World on Small Plates

By Benoit Leleux, Vikas Menon, Garrett DeCock, and Hoi Wah Ma

As Serena Shamash opened the doors to her newly renovated restaurant, the last thing she was expecting to see was two inches of water covering the floor of the bar.

29 September 2014
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Case study
IR Microsystems (A): June 2002

By Benoît Leleux

IR Microsystems developed a unique technology to produce a detector array for infrared light that could be used in a number of industrial sectors, most notably for composition analysis of gases and liquids.

31 December 2004
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Case study
Flybaboo: How High Can It Fly?

By Benoît Leleux, Dinos Constantinou, and Henri Bourgeois

A niche airline startup in a crowded market provides students with the opportunity to examine topics such as market entry, competitive strategy, product differentiation and positioning, branding, and entrepreneurship.

31 December 2004
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Case study
Novartis Venture Fund: Valuation Dilemmas

By Benoît Leleux, Victoria Kemanian, Atul Pahwa, and Katrin Siebenbürger Hacki

The Novartis Venture Fund is considering investing into a start up, Genedata, and must take into account the valuation analysis.

01 January 2005
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Case study
SourcingParts: Offering a supplier Relationship Management Solution

By Carlos Cordon, Petri Lehtivaara, and Jussi Heikkilä

SourcingParts is a startup company providing supplier relationship management solutions. This case describes the situation that SourcingParts faced in the summer of 2002 and the development of its business.

01 January 2002
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Case study
Cell Network: From Idea to Take-off

By Paul Strebel and Anne-Valérie Ohlsson

The case describes the initial phase, including focusing the business, venture capital funding, winning the first client orders, reorganization, and diversification.

01 January 2001
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Article
How investors can spark positive change
Topics: Social Innovation

By Vanina Farber

Impact investment is a rapidly evolving, diverse world that offers value beyond financial returns for investors and social enterprises of all shapes and sizes.

10 December 2021 6 min. read
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Article
IMD alumna honored for empowering communities in South Africa
Topics: Social Innovation

By Sibongile Manganyi-Rath

Sibongile Manganyi-Rath, EMBA 2018, recognized with Influential Leaders award for improving access to healthcare in low-income communities in South African townships.

01 February 2022 3 min. read
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Article
In the field with Angaza: A Silicon Valley journey
Topics: Social Innovation

By Vanina Farber and Shih-Han Huang

How can a social enterprise stay true to its purpose while making money for itself and its investors, both traditional and impact?

01 February 2022 3 min. read
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Article
Sharing the spoils: lessons from Peru
Topics: Social Innovation

By Rosario Bazán

One Peruvian company has grown a leading agribusiness while nurturing the health of communities and fostering female employment at the same time.

 

18 February 2022 3 min. read
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Case study
Largo.ai in Hollywood: Good enough?
Topics: Digital

By Jim Pulcrano, Laure Frank, Désirée Gilgen, Konrad Meyer, and Federico Paparella

The case tells the story of Sami Arpa, a young entrepreneur with a passion for cinema. Sami Arpa and his startup Largo leverage technology to improve the movie industry.

16 August 2022
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Meet the Team