IMD Startup Competition

Benefit from the free experience from our MBA and Executive MBA participants

IMD Startup Competition

Benefit from the free experience from our MBA and Executive MBA participants

IMD Startup Competition 2022/2023

The competition is now closed. See you in September 2023 for the next edition!

IMD Startup News
New
KOA
Start-up
2021 MBA Startup Winner

KOA secures additional capital to expand production capacity

Until now, more than 75% of the cocoa fruit, including the cocoa pulp, was discarded. Together with experts from Swiss and Ghanaian universities, Koa developed a process to upcycle the entire fruit to create food products, increase farmers’ income, and reduce food waste by 40%. The working capital facility from responsAbility allows Koa to grow its current production capacities and work with more farmers.

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New
Genknowme
Start-up
2021 EMBA Startup winner

Genknowme on the expansion course

For the third consecutive and final year, Genknowme has won the support of the Biôpole Start-up Fund. Since 2021, the Swiss startup co-founded by Semira and Sébastien Nusslé has been gaining market traction and attracting prestigious clients such as La Prairie Clinique in Clarens. Committed to sustain constant innovation, the startup is expanding in the Swiss German part of Switzerland, and internationally, in Spain and the UK.

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New
Ecorobotix
Start-up
2018 MBA Startup winner

USD 52 million to power Ecorobotix rapid expansion

Ecorobotix completed a USD 52 million funding round. Co-lead investor is AQTON PE, a holding company wholly owned by the German entrepreneur Stefan Quandt, the largest single shareholder of BMW. The funding will accelerate Ecorobotix’s geographic expansion across new and existing markets and accelerate new product development.

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New
Bioversys
Start-up
2012 EMBA Startup winner

Biotech startups turn gear into Phase 2 clinical trials

The dozing of their first patient marks the start of phase II clinical trials for BioVersys ‘ BV100. With the granted approval and completion of the first studies, Aurealius, Alentis and Anokion are preparing to enter the new phase.

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CompPair
Start-up
2021 EMBA Startup winner

CompPair Second Product Line sparks momentum

CompPair expanded its HealTech Standard product family by introducing CS02, its second product line tailored to enable faster production manufacturing for the sports, leisure, and industrial sectors. More than 20 customers are already implementing its products, with clear roadmaps for series productions in the coming years. The EPFL startup showcased last week at JEC World 2023 some of these exciting collaborations.

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Klepsydra
Start-up
2021 EMBA Startup winner

Klepsydra raises over one million Swiss Francs to accelerate growth

Klepsydra, the provider of onboard software for edge computers, has secured CHF 1.05M in a funding round led by Spicehaus Partners. The new investment will allow Klepsydra to accelerate its growth and expand its product offerings to meet the increasing global demand for innovative solutions on the edge.

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Flisom
Start-up
2005 EMBA Startup winner

US company acquires Flisom’s thin-film solar manufacturing equipment

ETH Spinoff Flisom, which produces photovoltaic thin-film solar modules has found a buyer for its manufacturing asset: Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. Established as a US innovator in the design and manufacture of featherweight, flexible, and durable CIGS thin-film photovoltaic (PV) solutions, Ascent Solar will immediately start manufacturing from its new site in Zurich.

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RetinAI
Start-up
2021 MBA Startup winner

RetinAI joins forces with Boehringer Ingelheim

Boehringer Ingelheim has become a partner and customer of RetinAI Medical AG, a leader in clinical and imaging data management software and advanced analytics using artificial intelligence (AI) for ophthalmology. The companies aim to improve patient outcomes in geographic atrophy by combining RetinAI’s Discovery platform and AI tools with Boehringer Ingelheim’s research in retinal diseases. RetinAI will be receiving compensation for providing access to its services and products.

Read more

Seize your chance now!

Could your startup benefit from highly talented, experienced and motivated individuals who have been carefully screened to participate in two of the most selective and rigorous business programs in the world?

If so, this competition provides a unique opportunity for you to get the help and insights of participants in IMD’s MBA and Executive MBA programs.

This offer is open to all Swiss-based startups and runs in collaboration with the Swiss government’s Innosuisse-Swiss Innovation Agency, VentureKick, MassChallenge Switzerland, Verve and Amazon Web Services.

We select up to 38 different startups to work with IMD MBAs and Executive MBAs.

We are looking for early-stage companies that have a solid chance of market success, have a team that is curious and willing to open themselves up to a small group of management “students”, are pleased to enter into both strategic and business model discussions, and can provide a good learning opportunity for our participants with timing that aligns with the IMD programs.

2023 date tbd, 5pm CET: Registration Deadline
2023 date tbd: Formal notification to all selected startups
2023 date tbd: Deadline for the selected startups to accept or decline the IMD offer

Grow your business, test your concepts, get new insights:
work with our MBA and EMBA participants

Many ventures got lasting value from working with our MBAs and EMBAs. In the most recent Swiss Top 100 report, IMD-supported startups captured 28 of the 100 places, including 2 out of the top 10, and six of the top 25 scaleups! Do you want to be in that group next year?

As additional support for Swiss startups, and to help the Swiss entrepreneurial ecosystem, winners of the IMD Startup Competition will now receive a CHF 5,000 Startup Scholarship to be used to participate in any of IMD’s online or open programs!

And this year we’re pleased to announce that Amazon Web Services is partnering with us once again and will support the winners of the IMD Startup Competition: “From Airbnb to Zocdoc, the world’s top startups build on AWS. But they didn’t do it alone. So whether you need help solving a technical challenge, hiring the right engineers, or finalizing a fundraising round, AWS has all the resources you need to get started. There’s a reason more startups build on AWS than any other provider: AWS is there to help you succeed, from inception to IPO. With this partnership, the Startups winning the IMD Startup Competition get access to the network of opportunities through AWS Startups.

Recent Winners of the Startup Competition

Boost your chances of funding and success
Get fresh input on your business ideas
Gather new information with the help of IMD talent

Executive MBA project opportunity

  • Up to eighteen startups will be chosen to work with three Executive MBA classes
  • Split into small teams each working with a dedicated startup, our EMBAs help analyze and challenge your business plans and company strategies
  • Their ultimate goal is to make a pitch on your behalf to venture capitalists and angels in Silicon Valley in September or November (with the presence of your founders)

Location

EMBA 1st Intake

(Dec 2024 graduating class)

EMBA 2nd Intake

(Apr 2025 graduating class)

EMBA 3rd Intake

(Sept 2025 graduating class)

At IMD Lausanne

2024 date tbd

2024 date tbd

2024 date tbd

In Palo Alto, California

2024 date tbd

2024 date tbd

2024 date tbd

*Subject to change

MEET

Meet with EMBAs @ Imd, Lausanne

WORK

Collaborate at a distance with EMBAs

TRAVEL

Travel to Silicon Valley with the EMBAs

MBA project opportunity

  • Up to 20 startups will receive the support of our MBA class
  • Split into small teams, each working with a dedicated startup, our MBAs put in an average of 6-8 hours per person on this project each week, for a total support of at least 500-600 work-hours

Dates

Description

2024 dates tbd

MBA-selected companies meet with their MBA teams at IMD in Lausanne that evening

2024 dates tbd

In-company introductory visits for MBA participants at the company's site (wherever possible or desirable)

2024 dates tbd

MBA-selected companies collaborate with their MBA teams

MEET

Meet with MBAs @ Imd, Lausanne

WORK

Face-to-face & virtual collaboration

DELIVER

Mutually agreed upon project

Contact us
Blandine Malhet
Program Manager, Executive MBA Department, IMD