Switzerland’s Edge In Global Innovation

We sit down with Swiss Tech campaign manager to crack open the machine. This isn't luck—it's a surgical combination of world-class universities, patient capital, and a public-private alliance that treats every spinout like a potential Rolex.

From AI and robotics to medtech, biotech, and precision manufacturing, Switzerland weaponizes its obsession with quality. The ecosystem doesn't just fund research; it drags it kicking and screaming into the market, then flies it around the world to prove it works.

**Enter the Swiss Tech Pavilion: startup diplomacy on steroids.**

CES. VivaTech. MWC Barcelona. SusHi Tech Tokyo. Web Summit Vancouver. These aren't just booths—they're engineered collision zones where founders lock down investor meetings, corporate partnerships, and media hits in seventy-two hours. Patricia walks us through the formula: Swissnex handles the intel, Switzerland Global Enterprise opens corporate doors, and Innosuisse bankrolls the ambition. The right platform. The right rooms. The right moment.

Then there's the Global Deep Tech Battle—a gladiator arena for founders. International teams compete in front of investors and journalists who double as judges. It's not about participation trophies. It's about forcing Swiss startups to measure up against global killers and come out sharper.

**The pipeline starts in the lab.**

ETH Zurich and EPFL aren't just top-ranked universities—they're idea factories with built-in incubators and accelerators that turn research into revenue. Clinical trials. Industrial pilots. Product-market validation. But Patricia doesn't sugarcoat the gaps: early-stage support is world-class, but late-stage capital for hardware-heavy or regulated plays? That's where things get tight. Stability and quality of life keep teams grinding, but cross-border expansion, corporate venture checks, and Series B+ rounds remain the final boss.

If you're obsessed with how AI, robotics, and life sciences jump from whiteboards to the real world, this is your blueprint. From the hidden champions supplying Apple and Tesla to the festivals that turn unknown founders into marquee names—this is how Switzerland plays the long game and wins.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Hey everyone, Evan here. Uh good morning. And Groupsy metanand uh as we have a live chat to Switzerland with Swiss Tech. Uh Patricia, how are you?

SPEAKER_00 0:13

I'm doing fine. Just note um today a little bit. I'm calling from Bern. It's the capital of Switzerland. But I I I've learned that you've been to Switzerland many times. You've even lived here. So Guti.

What Swiss Tech Campaign Does

SPEAKER_01 0:27

Very fun. And um thank you for joining. That was, gosh, probably 30 years ago, feels like a lifetime. But in the meantime, Switzerland has been punching above its weight class in technology and innovation and RD. And it's been a fascinating journey to watch. Before that, maybe introduce yourself. And what is Swiss Tech and your role in promoting Swiss, uh nurturing Swiss technology?

SPEAKER_00 0:55

Yes. So my name is Patricia. I'm from Present Switzerland. Present Switzerland is uh part of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and I'm the Swiss Tech campaign manager. And very easily put so Swiss Tech. Um it's a campaign that is run by four private public um organizations with the goal to promote Swiss innovation abroad. And to do this, we have built this um platform, the Swiss Tech Pavilions, that we bring to all major um global tech events and trade shows. We were just at CS in January, and um we give uh a strong um brand, um, strong visibility to uh startups, uh important um innovation um ecosystems from Switzerland, and um yeah, increase their uh chances of meeting with investors, um business um people to um yeah to grow their success.

Why Switzerland Leads Innovation

SPEAKER_01 1:53

Yes, well great mission and um really matters for Switzerland's positioning uh in the global tech landscape as a small uh company, country rather, lots of small and not so small companies, uh particularly Bairn, we have so many form of innovators and even giants. But but Switzerland ranks consistently in the top of these global innovation indexes, right at the top. Um what are some of the factors beyond you know uh the obvious uh smart people and uh uh smart education system and on and on? But there what's the magic behind that?

SPEAKER_00 2:28

Yeah, so so it's actually the 15th consecutive year um yeah, that we are the most innovative country in in the world. And I would say it's it's really a mix of many factors. First of all, we have very, very strong research. Yeah, we have world-leading um universities, and and well, we will come to this maybe later. Um so strong research, um, big talent, and I think one other very important factor is that we invest, Switzerland really invests a lot into RD. Um, and um, and let's not forget, uh the Swiss, we have uh a culture, you know, we are we like to be precise, trained, they always run right on time. Um, we love um quality. And um, and yeah, when we build things, we we build things um to last. I mean, uh you know, we have a very strong uh watchmaking um history. Um, and these are our pieces um yeah, they that last um like forever.

Swiss Strengths: AI, Robotics, Biotech

SPEAKER_01 3:30

Oh yeah. Well, don't get me started about watches because we can have a whole hour just on watches. I'm a bit of a watch fanatic. But there are also many other unique strengths um you know, from AI, life sciences, crypto uh stuff that's happening. How do you you see Switzerland in as as a global tech hub? What are the strengths and focus areas?

SPEAKER_00 3:50

Yeah, I think um we are really strong in the tech. Um so areas um in AI, yeah, you mentioned AI. Um in greater Zurich area, so where where you lived, we have um many uh global um companies that we have meta, we have AWS, the the Disney Research Labs, um, Nvidia as well. So they come they come to Zurich, to Switzerland, um, because they get really close access to um to top talent. Um so it helps them um uh really um create um or bring their innovation forward. Um so in AI, but also um robotics has been um uh developing um very strongly. Um well Switzerland is of course very strong and known for med tech, um biotech. That's especially uh true for the Basel area where yeah, we we have um big corporate companies such as Novartis and Roche, um which which are also um um important uh partners um for for and innovation drivers. And um and we uh another um sector um we are strong is all that is around precision manufacturing. Um and uh Switzerland has what we call what we like to call the hidden champions, um SMEs that are so specialized um and um and uh supply um technol tech big tech companies such as Tesla and yeah, so yeah, so so many companies that aren't uh necessarily on the radar.

Universities As Deep Tech Powerhouses

SPEAKER_01 5:30

They don't make the Wall Street Journal. Uh so hence your job is really crucial in getting them seen and heard outside of Switzerland. Uh we talked about the academic excellence um and the privilege of spending a couple of years at the ATH in Zurich uh studying elektrotechnik auf Deutsch, just as her son, and uh learning learning a bit of uh Swiss German, Sweitzer Deutsch, so uh which which is a little difficult, I'll be frank. But um what role does the Swiss academia play in public uh private partnerships and feeding the global tech talent?

SPEAKER_00 6:07

Yeah, so uh so they are uh for us, they are really you could you could call it a powerhouse that builds um talent but also um uh drives research. So we are very lucky to have um uh two of um world's leading um uh universities. You just mentioned ETH Zurich, but also EPFL in in Lausanne. So they they um last year in the uh university rankings in Europe, it ETH was number one, uh EPFL number 10, and um and uh according to um Deal Room, um DeepPEC, um the European Deep Tech report that was released um uh last year, um ETH Zurich is number two in um that created the most DeepEch spin-out value. So so these figures they they speak um a lot, and um and as as I mentioned, so so they they um really educate the next um generation of uh top uh researchers and talent, and they have built their own ecosystems already at the universities. So they have now um as a next step of the different research labs, you have um you you can find different incubators, accelerators that um specialize uh for these um uh university projects, and and they uh accompany um these um uh very scientific teams um on bringing their innovation um to the market. Uh and um and that's really um I would say uh a very important uh connection because um these are super smart people, but um it's one thing to um to spend hours hours in a research lab, but then if if you really uh want to bring it to market, um then a lot of other um I would say um skills are required. Um and and so these um uh yeah these specialized incubators accelerator programs, they um they fit into this role. So what they yeah, what they do, they they they also for so um they help um doing collaborations and um and to really turn these um uh research projects in into real-world um products or solutions. Yeah.

Taking Swiss Tech Global At Events

SPEAKER_01 8:27

Yes, there's a lot a lot of very practical technology that comes out of Switzerland. I'm thinking robotics in particular, and the the physical, we call it physical AI, but it's you know AI and meets robotics and so many important innovations happening there. So, how did you get the word app? You're at stages like CES. I see here, VivaTech is another one. Where else can you be seen and heard around the world?

SPEAKER_00 8:49

Yeah, so um, well, um uh Swiss, the Swiss campaign, as I mentioned, um it's for organizations um behind it. Um we from Present Switzerland um we represent the government, um, but we also work um together with uh SwissNEX. Swiss Next is our international um you know innovation network. So basically they connect uh Swiss startups with the the world um um important tech hubs. Um and um and then we have uh Switzerland Global Enterprise, it's the the Swiss um export and and invest promotion agency and and Inoswiss. But maybe we'll come to Inoswisse, it's our innovation agency later. But yeah, so thanks to these um uh four strong partners, um we can um bring Swiss tech to many different countries. So the next one coming up um will be um sushi, sushi tech in uh in Japan in Tokyo. I uh yes, it's it's uh it's a local um very important um tech event, and uh and so this is organized by our SwissNEX and um Swiss Business Hub teams directly in in Tokyo. And um, and yes, so thanks to this uh global collaboration, we are I would say at around 10 to 12 events um every year.

Engaging Investors And VC Networks

SPEAKER_01 10:10

Fantastic. Well, that's a very busy event schedule for you. Um and how do you think about investors? Uh obviously, investors are always looking for good opportunities and founders, which you have many of. Um how do you see uh Switzerland as a destination for dollars and euros and and uh and and the like?

Global Deep Tech Battle Competition

SPEAKER_00 10:32

Yeah, so um uh very very interesting, um I would say uh because Switzerland offers um very top um top-notch DPEC um innovation and um and um also uh it's it's it's a place with a high quality of life. So um we we we do have um regularly uh foreign investors, they love love coming to Switzerland. Um some even um you know they they never leave. So but um but yes, maybe I can also um give you more information how we engage with investors because obviously um to make uh innovation grow um it needs um funds. Funding is uh super important. And um and so Swiss Tech um at our um tech presences, so at the Swiss Tech Pavilions, we um also invite um uh Swiss um VCs to be part of the the Swiss Tech delegation and and their role is is a bit multifold. Um first of all, they uh they will network with our own startups, but also their mission is to um represent Switzerland uh abroad um at these uh tech fairs to um also network with the uh foreign um investor um networks and and do this um very important exchange um uh yes with with Switzerland and and many other um uh countries. And um and uh since we like to be innovative, um we last year went even one step further. So we um created our own um uh pitching competition, the the Global Deep Tech Battle, which um we launched at um at VivaTech for the first time, then um at Slash in uh Helsinki in November, that was the second time, and we also um built up on the success and run it at CS in January and and it's it's a format. Um so we specifically uh wanted it to be global um because um we want to really um invite the best of um deep tech startups to come to the Swiss Tech Pavilion and pitch their um innovations in front of an international jury. Um so uh you know competition usually um uh um drives um uh output um in innovation, so it's also a means for Swiss startups to um yes uh go um battle against the best um uh other um uh innovations. And and so we um uh for us it's very important to um have an international jury that consists of different profiles. So so of course we have um people that are experts in a specific field, but um we also um invite um investors um and and and journalists. So maybe um next next time um you could um also sit in one of the juries.

Upcoming Shows: MWC And Web Summit

SPEAKER_01 13:26

Yeah, no, I'd love that. And I promise to be fair and not biased uh towards uh all Swiss uh things, but uh that's fantastic. I also noticed while you were speaking, you're exhibiting at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, where I'm off to in just a few weeks. And uh I'm sure there's some really interesting Swiss startups and companies uh there as well.

SPEAKER_00 13:48

Absolutely. So this uh event is run um by um our partner SG, so Switzerland Global Enterprise. As I said, it's one of these um collaborations that allows us to be present in in so many uh events. Um we are also going to be at the the um the web summit in Vancouver. Um I think it's in May. It's a great one. Yeah. So it's gonna be the first time for us.

Scaling Challenges And Risk Culture

SPEAKER_01 14:10

What what are some of the, I mean, looking forward over the next few years, so many opportunities, but also challenges over the next decade. Yeah. You have global economic challenges. Of course, we won't get into politics, but things like tariffs and other barriers are being discussed, uh, immigration challenges. Uh, but what how do you see yourself staying ahead of of all of this uh from a strategy?

SPEAKER_00 14:35

Yeah, so so uh so luckily um um one of the factors um that breeds uh is a is a strong breeding ground for innovation in Switzerland is that we we do have a stable economy um and and a very stable political system um in in Switzerland. Um so so this is very important um for especially when you have um well deep tech um technology that takes so many years to um to to develop. Um so that's a very important factor. And and I think one of the um the challenges um that's that we are facing and that we are actively tackling is to um to increase the support um to scale um innovations, um, scale up innovations, scale up startups um to really go globally. Um so we have now in the recent years really very, very strongly um developed the the local and investment um support. But um when it gets to the point that a company needs to raise uh uh uh a few hundred uh millions of um Swiss francs, um then it's still uh a challenge to find these um uh these um funds in in Switzerland and and startups they tend to uh go to the to the US um very often, where also the mentality is much uh in Wessels like to take uh much more risk um than um uh in Switzerland, which very traditionally is super risk averse.

Quality Of Life That Attracts Founders

SPEAKER_01 16:14

Um if you've been around for um a thousand years, it helps to be a little risk averse uh and not take too many as a small country. But that that's really fun. Just on a on a personal note, I mean the things that I found so um wonderful about living in Switzerland where you know the natural beauty with the history and the architecture, also the wonderful food and the and just the um the pure um environmental beauty, you could swim in the river and the lake in Zurich, a major metro area, and you can't do that in most cities here in the US. What do you find founders like most about working, living, investing, even visiting Switzerland?

SPEAKER_00 16:57

Yeah, so actually um uh also fun fact about myself, I've I've lived um and worked abroad for 15 um years. So I I came back to Switzerland recently, um almost two years ago. Um and I'm from the eastern um area, so St. Kallen, near uh beautiful lake of Constance. And um and so when I arrived at Bern, I I mean I've visited Bern a few times uh before, but I I've never lived in this region before. And and um indeed, as you said, people they um they swim in in the river. And uh let me tell you, in in summertime, I mean it's uh it's a festival on the river. Uh there's even um the um the custom that the people they um they uh go um to the next town, which is I think it's uh half an hour uh um car drive from Bern um to Toon. They um they bring their floatable boats and um and then they uh yeah, they they how you say they cruise down the river uh to to Bern. And um and when it's hot in summer, I mean it's it's full of people and and they're just having a blast and and people swimming, swimming all ages, young, old. Um it's it's fantastic. So so this, yeah, I I've lived in in France. Um you don't see it, you don't see there, you don't even want to put your foot in the in the sand river, you know.

Closing And TechImpact TV Mention

SPEAKER_01 18:28

No, not uh not if you want to stay well. And um well, look, I mean, uh wonderful to see you. I'm sure we'll see you thank you out at the many events in the future. And thanks so much for sharing just a peek behind the curtain at Swiss Tech.

SPEAKER_00 18:42

Thank you, Ivan. It was really uh a pleasure to uh be here with you today and yeah, to uh have a nice discussion about Switzerland and over time for you.

SPEAKER_01 18:52

Thank you, Mercy Fieldma, I say. Merci Fiumon. Thank you everyone. That's about as far as I'm willing to go. But thanks everyone for listening, watching, and uh sharing this episode. Also, check out our TV show, Techimpact.tv, now Bloomberg TV and Fox Business. Thanks, everyone. Thanks for taking care.

SPEAKER_00 19:10

Thank you. Bye bye.