The Venture Leaders Deeptech leave their marks with investors in Munich and London 

The Venture Leaders Deeptech roadshow 2021 brought 14 selected startups to Munich and London, where the entrepreneurs strengthened their network to take a critical step toward global expansion. During the week-long trip, the Swiss National Startup Team members expanded their skills and expertise through exchanges with fellow entrepreneurs, pitch sessions with investors and experts, and hands-on business development.

Venturelab has been organizing international roadshows for the Swiss National Startup Teams for 16 years. The ambitious entrepreneurs and their promising startups are introduced to high-class investors and potential customers in leading technology hubs such as Silicon Valley, Boston, New York, China, Hong Kong, and Barcelona. The deeptech startups used to fly to China, but as the borders of the world’s most populous country are still closed, the Venture Leaders Deeptech roadshow offered a one-week exploration of the European startup ecosystem. The trip to Munich and London included several pitch sessions to investors, expert workshops, and industry insights. The participants built a strong network and learned from fellow entrepreneurs who share the same objectives and challenges. Deeptech alumni comprise startups such as Dacuda (acquired by Magic Leap), Astrocast (IPO 2021), Climeworks, Flyability, and Technis.



One week, two cities, and countless opportunities to impress investors  
The roadshow started in Munich—the extension of the deeptech axis from Lausanne and Zurich to the south of Germany, where many investors are located. For the first half of the week, the Swiss National Startup Team pitched to 10 handpicked investors at the Occident investor pitch event, to UVC Partners—which just announced a new EUR 255 million fund—and to Earlybird Venture Capital. Business development was the focus of a workshop with Helbling Technik, and a networking dinner hosted by the Consul General Elisabeth Bösch Malinen and the Swiss Business Hub provided the opportunity to meet with business contacts in Munich.

“The week with the Venture Leaders was very efficient in networking with peers from the Swiss startup network and being introduced to investor and business contacts in Germany and the United Kingdom. Positrigo is, and I am personally honored to be selected as part of the team and want to thank Venturelab for the opportunity.”
– Jannis Fischer, CEO of Positrigo


 
On Wednesday, London called: The second half of the week started with a welcome to the UK Session followed by the Swiss Pitch Night hosted by Swiss Ambassador Markus Leitner at the Swiss Embassy in London. The Venture Leaders Deeptech also pitched at the Forestay investor pitch event to eight handpicked UK investors and Ataraxia, which already invested in Swiss startups such as IDUN, Nanoleq, and Planted Foods. The entrepreneurs then honed their skills with fundraising and business development workshops.



“This year’s Venture Leaders roadshow was an exquisite chance to connect to VCs and investors in the field of deeptech, including hardware- and engineering-oriented startups in Munich and London. Sharing the experience with other highly skilled entrepreneurs and founders of tech companies and growing my network were substantial parts of the successful journey. Very intense and rewarding—and good fun! Great being part of it, I would not have wanted to miss it!”
– André Bernard, CEO and co-founder of matriq 


 
At the #VDtech Night, supported by Innovaud, selected UK entrepreneurs shared their lessons learned over a traditional fondue with the Swiss entrepreneurs.

“The first Europe-only Venture Leaders Deeptech roadshow was a success! The week was packed with opportunities for the entrepreneurs to advance their international growth—with the added bonus of not feeling jet-lagged. The investors and experts in Munich and London were impressed by the quality of the startups and their pitches, and we are excited to see what the future holds for the Venture Leaders Deeptech 2021,” summarized Stefan Steiner, co-managing director at Venturelab

The Venture Leaders Deeptech 2021 program is organized by Venturelab and swissnex, and supported by EPF Lausanne, ETH Zurich, Helbling Technik, Walder Wyss, the Canton of Vaud and the Canton of Zurich. 

The week in tweets—discover the Venture Leaders Deeptech roadshow on social media: 
 

Good morning Switzerland. Discover the impressions from the Venture Leaders Deeptech roadshow from last week: https://t.co/KKDlr9Ief3. A big thank you to our partners @EPFL_en, @ETH_en, @HelblingTechnik, #WalderWyss, @Innovaud, @StandortZurich, @SwissStartupsUK #VleadersDeeptech

— Venturelab (@venturelab_ch) November 22, 2021