08.06.2026 15:00 Rita Longobardi
The Venture Leaders, the Swiss National Startup Team members, have a clear objective: They envision themselves as global players and aim for international expansion. The Venture Leaders Biotech roadshow 2026 brought 10 handpicked Swiss entrepreneurs to Boston, one of the world’s largest life science hubs. Over the week, the members met investors and experts, received targeted feedback, participated in hands-on workshops, and visited companies already operating in the US. The roadshow is organized by Venturelab and supported by EPFL, ETH Zurich, University of Basel, Hansjörg Wyss, Kellerhals Carrard, and VISCHER.
Venturelab has been organizing international investor and business development roadshows for the Swiss National Startup Teams since 2006. The ambitious entrepreneurs and their promising startups are introduced to high-caliber investors and potential customers in leading technology hubs such as Silicon Valley, Boston, Asia, Barcelona, Munich, and London.
"The Venture Leaders Biotech program is a great way to access the Boston biotech ecosystem early on, connect with investors, and gain firsthand insight into investor expectations."
The Venture Leaders Biotech roadshow offers a one-week deep dive into the Boston life science ecosystem, pitching to US investors, expert workshops, industry and market insights, and peer-to-peer exchanges with entrepreneurs. Venture Leaders Biotech alumni include high-flying startups such as Covagen (acquired by Johnson & Johnson), Versantis (acquired by Genfit), SimplicityBio (acquired by Precision for Medicine), AMAL Therapeutics (acquired by Boehringer Ingelheim), NBE-Therapeutics (acquired by Boehringer Ingelheim), Alentis (USD 105 million funding round in 2023), Interax Biotech (Seed round with US investors met during the roadshow), and BioVersys (IPO in 2025).
"Venture Leaders Boston Roadshow gave Baxiva direct access to the US ecosystem and serious investors. Their network opened doors we couldn’t reach otherwise, and it’s already reshaping our strategy and priorities going forward."
Selected from over 70 applications, the ten Venture Leaders Biotech immersed themselves in Boston’s life science ecosystem while building strong connections with fellow entrepreneurs navigating similar challenges and ambitions. The startups showcased a diverse range of technologies and therapeutic approaches, including AI-driven drug design, vaccines, peptide therapeutics, CAR-T therapy, in vivo gene editing, proteomics, and organoid automation.
The week-long roadshow in Boston featured investor pitch and feedback sessions with leading US investors, alongside a pitch event hosted by Arnold & Porter. Participants engaged with investors including Cure.Bio, Insight Partners, Novartis Venture Fund, Cure Ventures, Pappas Ventures, M Ventures, Pac8 Ventures, Solasta Ventures, P74 Capital, and RA Capital, gaining direct exposure and feedback that helped refine their strategies for entering the US market and expanding internationally.
"One of the biggest values of this trip is the opportunity to build relationships, not only with U.S. partners, investors, and customers, but also with fellow Swiss entrepreneurs. These connections can be just as valuable in the long run."
Beyond investor meetings, the startups participated in a series of workshops and expert sessions covering legal, regulatory, and commercial topics. These included legal strategy workshops with Kellerhals Carrard, regulatory and legal strategy sessions led by Arnold & Porter, U.S. market landscape and business workshops with NEMIC, Knightsbridge Advisers, and Seqens, as well as business visits to Asymmetrex, Biognosys, and SOPHiA GENETICS.
The Venture Leaders Biotech is organized by Venturelab and supported by EPFL, ETH Zurich, University of Basel, Hansjörg Wyss, Kellerhals Carrard, and VISCHER.
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