BENEFits

Benefits FOR startups

BENEFITS

WHY JOIN

Embark on a transformative journey of development and scale-up for your startup:

  • join an international community of leaders and partners
  • access invaluable resources, contacts, and expertise
  • add your contribution to a global movement defining a new paradigm of regeneration, collaboration, and inclusive prosperity, substituting the traditional neoliberalism story and its focus on perpetual economic growth
  • get tailored support to help refine your business model, develop effective industrialization and go-to-market strategies, connect with investors and customers, and gain international visibility

Vibrant and engaged network

Connect with representatives from thriving enterprises and international organizations, and access invaluable support, collaboration opportunities, and industry insights to fuel your growth.

Individual coaching and mentoring

Get access to a wealth of knowledge and guidance from our multidisciplinary team of experts who will assist you with financing, operational or marketing challenges, or any other obstacles to achieve your goals and impact.

Immersive workshops

Participate in various engaging workshops designed to enhance your business skills, strengthen your entrepreneurial vision, and unlock the potential for positive contributions to nature, climate and society.

Investor connections

Seize a unique matchmaking opportunity to connect with a wide network of impact investors, increasing your chances of securing funds and propelling your project forward.

Pilots and market validation

Explore synergies and opportunities for partnerships around impactful proof-of-concept projects, pilots, and field-testing of your solution and business model.
benefits

Experts

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Program Team
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Trainer
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Mentor
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Program Coach
Academia-Company Partnership
Bizdev
Business-model
Certification
Circular Economy
Finance
Fundraising
Governance
HR
Human centered design / Design thinking
IP
IT
Impact investing
Impact/Carbon Accounting
Industrialization
Internationalization
Leadership
Legal
M&A
Manufacturing
Marcom
Operations
Partnerships
Pricing
Project Management
Public Funding - Innosuisse
R&D
Sales
Strategy
Sustainability
Transformation, Growth, Transition from start-up to scale-up

Dr. Cara Tobin

Innovation Coach, Founder | C Greene Solutions

Dr. Cara Tobin

Innovation Coach, Founder | C Greene Solutions

Experience:

Cara founded a successful blended climate finance platform in 2015.

In 2018, she was invited to join Clean Energy Ventures (CEV) where she mentors start-ups  funded by CEV at seed and Series A levels.

Cara mentors approximately 40  companies annually for Mass Challenge (MC) Switzerland  as their climate solutions and sustainable manufacturing coach. She supports  MC start-ups to identify KPIs, improve pitches and financial projections and  find paid pilots and investment. This year, Cara supported start-ups to  quantify their impacts on the SDGs. In 2023, she coached 6 of the top 10  start-ups and has received the highest ratings as a coach for 2 consecutive  years. Some of the start-ups that Cara has coached/is coaching include:  LiveGrow Bio, Carbonaught, Gaia Technologies, Databaum, Revocircle and  Instaheat.

Cara is also an Energy and Environment expert for Innosuisse and accredited Special Coach for Sustainable business strategies and impact measurement (SDGs).

Industries:
Natural Resources
Consumer Products
Energy
Food & Agriculture
Infrastructures
Fields of expertise:

Dr. Eric Favre

Startups coach & innovation expert

Dr. Eric Favre

Startups coach & innovation expert

Experience:

Passionate, successful, and seasoned engineering and innovation executive, having led multiple R&D teams around the world, benefiting from a sharp and holistic business understanding to shape and optimize processes, tools, and organizations, to timely deliver and produce new products impacting the business, creating value for all stakeholders.

Took benefit from the above to coach and drive technology startups to success, highly appreciated by owners and shareholders, staying close to small SMEs and research organizations to develop collaborations and a proper agile innovation mindset.

MSc (1986) and PHD (1990) from EPFL, then always active in developing business / products (motors &electronics, sensors, fluidic related products) for OEM customers, working first 10 years for a startup (ETEL), then 10 years for a mid-size and global sensors’ company (LEM), then 12 years for a large multinational (IMI) as Global Engineering Director.

Industries:
Natural Resources
Energy
Transportation
Food & Agriculture
Fields of expertise:

Katia Gutknecht

Supply Chain Expert | Project Director | Trainer | Lead Auditor

Katia Gutknecht

Supply Chain Expert | Project Director | Trainer | Lead Auditor

Experience:

Katia has more than 20 years of international and more local Supply Chain, Procurement & Project Management experiences.

Katia’s qualifications include a PMP© Certification from the Project Management Institute, an ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Systems Lead Auditor Certificate and a Master in Procurement & Supply Chain.

Katia founded her own company a few years ago and now guides SME and startups through their journey, providing pragmatic answers to common challenges such as:

  • The ability to anticipate risks and transform them into opportunities.
  • Efficient management of increasingly complex projects.
  • Change management and resistance elimination.
  • Cost transparency throughout the value chain.
  • Process & resource efficiency (and waste elimination).
  • Use of the quality approach as an asset to increase organizational resilience.
  • The transition from training to practice.

Industries:
Food & Agriculture
Consumer Products
Enabling Technologies
Fields of expertise:

Vincent Bieri

Nexthink (UNICORN)

Vincent Bieri

Nexthink (UNICORN)

Experience:

Co-founder of Nexthink, a Swiss Unicorn, Vincent played a pivotal role in scaling the company from inception, pioneering the Digital Employee Experience (DEX) market globally.

With a solid foundation at Cisco, where he spent 7 years in systems engineering and product marketing, Vincent seamlessly transitioned from a successful professional cycling career.

Today, he is not only an advisor and investor, supporting entrepreneurs and innovators, but also a passionate mountaineer. Vincent embodies a unique blend of entrepreneurial acumen and adventurous spirit.

Industries:
Natural Resources
Energy
Infrastructures
Transportation
Enabling Technologies
Fields of expertise:
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TRAINING Workshops

The programme offers a comprehensive set of training workshops and seminars covering the most important aspects of the development of regenerative businesses, conducted by top-notch professionals specialized in their field.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The workshops below are provided as an indication and may be subject to changes at anytime without notice.

W1 — Regenerative Business Strategies

Date & location

📅 Date: March 19, 2024

🕒 Time: 11:00 - 12:30 / 13:30 - 16:00

📍 Location: EPFL Innovation Park, Building D, ground floor, room PLUTON

Rationale

To generate scalable and sustainable Net Positive Impact, regenerative technologies need to be combined with appropriate business models and operational strategies. 

Goal

The workshop aims at exploring innovative business approaches that are needed to finance regeneration at scale.

  • Understand the importance and principles of regenerative entrepreneurship.
  • Define your impact strategy with the help of well-known analysis tools, methodologies, and reporting standards.
  • Turn your purpose into an inspiring vision and mission statement.
  • Design a business model combining profitability and purpose in symbiosis, using specific canvases.
  • Assessing the regenerative impact.
  • Find out how to finance your impact venture and manage shareholders expectations.

Trainers

  • Géraldine Fiol, Sustainability Consultant

Géraldine is a Strategy and Sustainability Consultant

In 2019, while Director of Strategy Business Planning Europe for the car manufacturer Nissan, she founded besustainaball to engage companies in reinventing themselves and creating innovative business models for a more sustainable and inclusive society.

Trained in sustainable management, circular economy and climate issues, she guides organisations and their teams in structuring and implementing their sustainability strategy, enabling them to combine business performance with positive impact on ecosystems and human communities.

  • Bertrand Klaiber, Impact entrepreneur & startup coach

Bertand Klaiber has 30 years of experience in Cleantech and Medtech industries, where is hold several positions related to engineering and innovation management, strategic marketing and international business development.

In 2012 he co-created the EssentialTech program at EPFL and developed an impact entrepreneurship approach to harness technology and business to drive sustainable development.

From 2015 to 2022 he founded and led as the CEO the startup Pristem (teleradiology services and battery-powered medical X-ray systems), thus gaining experience in the whole life cycle of a startup, from scientific research to fundraising (CHF 18mio), team building, product industrialization, certification and go-to-market.

In 2023 he launched Tech4Regeneration program at EPFL Innovation Park.

W2 — Fundraising

Date & location

📅 Date: April 29, 2024

🕒 Time: 10:00 - 12:00

📍 Location: EPFL Innovation Park, Building D, ground floor, room URANUS

Topic

  • Fundraising, main principles and realities on the ground

Goal

  • Fundraising strategy at different stages
  • Expectations of investors
  • Investment information required in pitch deck and business plan
  • Due diligence process and data room requirements

Trainer

  • Marie-Laure Berthié, CEO of Eolus Partners, a financial services company in Switzerland. Her main activities are:
  • Advising family offices on investments in private equity and private debt funds.
  • Advising entrepreneurs (SMEs and start-ups) on strategy, business development, board preparation, fund raising. Examples include the fundraising of round A for Ecorobotix (CHF 10.6m, 2018),  Dufour Aerospace (CHF 5m, 2019), Cleangreens (CHF 4 m 2021).
  • Marie-Laure is active as a finance coach for Platinn, an association that provides coaching services for SMEs and start-ups in Switzerland. She has coached more than 40 startups for their seed stage / pre-series A fundraising.
  • Marie Laure is board member of Schmidt Groupe, mostly supporting the company for its digital strategy and M&A.
W3 — Structure your Company for Impact

Date & location

📅 Date: April 29, 2024

🕒 Time: 13:30 - 17:30

📍 Location: EPFL Innovation Park, Building D, ground floor, room URANUS

Rationale

Regenerative ventures need to build appropriate company’s governance, structure, and culture.

This workshop explores how to root impact in the company’s DNA through legal and organizational means.

Goal

Get an insight and some advice on several aspects related to the company's structure and legal aspects:

  • Legal form of the business, articles of association, protection of the mission, ...
  • Role and Duties of the Shareholders, the Board of Directors and the Executive management
  • Better redistribution of benefits (within the company and all along the supply chain)
  • Integration of impact & sustainability requirements or ethical rules in various contracts (procurement, partnership, distribution, licensing, etc.)
  • Protecting David from Goliath, and cases of force majeure
  • Human rights & Nature rights, possible impact on your business
  • etc.

Trainer

For the past 25 years, Michel Jaccard has been involved in corporate finance and M&A deals in Switzerland and abroad, acting for entrepreneurs and owners, venture capital and private equity firms, industrial buyers and financial sponsors. He also advises purpose driven, hybrid companies and impact investors on governance and sustainability issues.

He is co-creator of the Impact Term Sheet, member of the working group for introduction of a new legal status of Sustainable Enterprise in Switzerland, and also Lecturer at E4S Enterprise for Society Center (UNIL, IMD, EPFL) 

Michel Jaccard holds a Ph.D. in Law from University of Lausanne and a Master of Laws from Columbia Law School (LLM’97). He is CEDR Accredited Mediator and also admitted to the New York Bar.

W4 — Public speaking & pitching

Rationale

Captivate your audience from the very first second, grab their attention and leave a lasting impression. Here's how to rework your introduction and pitch, whether for online courses and presentations, conferences or networking events.

Time & Location

Part 1 - Intro CHOC

📅 Date: May 13, 2024

🕒 Time: 13:30 - 15:00

📍 Location: Zoom Session (Online)

Part 2 - Storytelling

📅 Date: September 4, 2024

🕒 Time: 10:00 - 11:30

📍 Location: Zoom Session (Online)

Part 3 - Face-to-face training

📅 Date: September 11, 2024

🕒 Time: 14:00 - 17:30

📍 Location: EPFL Innovation Park, Building D, Pluton

Goals

  • Create a compelling opening line that captures attention and entices the audience to keep listening or watching.
  • Clearly communicate why the topic matters to your audience. Highlight the benefits they will gain from engaging with you.
  • Show passion for the subject matter through your tone, energy, and body language to inspire a positive response from your audience.
  • Develop a unique hook or story that resonates with your audience, ensuring they remember you long after the introduction or pitch.
  • Invite audience participation through questions, prompts, or engagement activities to foster a sense of connection and involvement.
  • Share relevant experience, qualifications, or success stories to build trust and establish authority in your field.
  • Keep your introduction and pitch concise, focusing on the key points that align with your overall goal.
  • End with a clear call to action, guiding your audience on the next steps to take and encouraging further engagement.

Trainer

Céline is an entrepreneur and speaker who joyfully accompanies others in public speaking and storytelling. After founding and leading JMC Lutherie for over 15 years—a pioneering lutherie workshop combining sustainability and artistry, fueled by her passions for music, nature, and humanity—she successfully transitioned its ownership to five enterprises in 2020. Within this role, she has delivered over 3,000 talks and performances worldwide, averaging more than 300 engagements annually in recent years. She is also a storyteller, columnist, and author of two books on entrepreneurship. Prior to this, she spent a decade in luxury watchmaking (in marketing and finance) and industrial enterprises. Additionally, she has been repeatedly nominated as a prominent entrepreneur, recognized among the top 100 personalities in French-speaking Switzerland (L’Hebdo/Le Temps), one of the 100 women shaping the economy (Women in Business), and one of the 20 influential women in Switzerland (Bilan).

W5 — Regenerative Branding & Marketing Strategies

Date & location

📅 Date: May 30, 2024

🕒 Time: 10:00 - 17:00

📍 Location: EPFL Innovation Park, Building D, ground floor, room URANUS

Rationale

To lead for a Regenerative future, brands need to deeply rethink their positioning, from a consumer centric approach towards a new communication including society and environment as key stakeholders.

Goal

This workshop takes you on a journey of how to create a sustainable brand and business from scratch, from brand concept to business strategy and its communication.

You will learn:

  • Why building an efficient & adequate ecosystem is key to success
  • What are the regenerative drivers of an impactful go-to-market strategy 
  • How to boost visibility with a sustainable communication — insight & pitfalls

Trainers

  • Chantal Baer &  Marine Gruaz-Rébuffat, co-founders and partners of Swiss House of Brands, born from the merger of a brand & business strategy consultancy and a communication agency to support multinational, SME and start-ups on a strategic and implementation level.

Chantal Baer The art of strategically combining her expertise as a linguist, marketing expert and sustainability consultant to build successful brands. Chantal is co-founder of Swiss House of Brand and founder of Admarka, co-author of the book “les leviers de croissance à l’ère de l’économie numérique", member of the “Cercle Suisse des administratrices “, member of different Boards, speaker & moderator.

Marine Gruaz-Rébuffat — A seasoned entrepreneur with over a decade of experience in the fields of branding, communication strategy and digital. Throughout her professional journey, Marine has founded 2 communication agencies and co-founded Swiss House of Brands, where she honed her skills in creating impactful and innovative communication strategies for various clients & industries. She furthered her commitment to sustainability by undertaking a sustainable business management program at the University of Cambridge. Marine passion lies in blending her entrepreneurial spirit with a sustainable mindset and strong communication skills, and she's always eager to explore new opportunities and collaborations that align with these values.

W6 — Regenerative Leadership

Date & location

📅 Date: June 13, 2024

🕒 Time: 15:15-17:15

📍 Location: Climate HACK SUMMIT, Lausanne, Switzerland

Radical changes require strong leaders!

A new generation of inspired leaders is needed more than ever to forge a world in which humanity can live and flourish, within planetary limits and in symbiosis with the natural world.

We are at an important point in our development where the challenges we face may seem so great that we don't know where to start. As the leader of your company, your start-up or your life, it's time to refocus on yourself, to connect with meaning in order to take action the best possible way forward. 

Goal

  • Rediscover what meaning is, where it comes from, and how to use it as a force for moving forward.  
  • What if the solution was to bring happiness back at the root of success ?
  • How to innovate, create regenerative applications and opportunities with happiness. 
  • Harness learnings from Nature to reconnect and guide your next steps.
  • Design your own solutions to drive your personal and professional elevation.

Trainer

  • Fabrice Leclerc — Fabrice is an innovator and entrepreneur who makes innovation a force for positive human and environmental evolution. His collaborations with renowned organisations such as Haagen Dazs, L'Oréal's Prestige, Apple, SKY, Nespresso, Google, the United Nations and Patagonia have received international recognition. He sits on the board of directors of several start-ups and major groups, and lectures at Bocconi. EPFL and HEC universities
W7 — Assess & reduce your solution's carbon footprint

Date & location

📅 Date: June 25, 2024

🕒 Time: 13:30 - 17:30

📍 Location: EPFL Innovation Park, Building C, 1st floor, room NEPTUNE

Rationale

Your customers probably need solutions that can help decarbonize the whole life cycle of their products and services, from eco-conception to production, integration, distribution, operation, and disposal or recycling. This trend is further fueled by new environmental regulations and policies as well as market and consumers’ expectations.

The whole supply chain shall be considered as it typically induces far greater environmental costs than the company’s own operations, often accounting for more than 80% of greenhouse-gas emissions and more than 90% of the impact on air, land, water, biodiversity, and geological resources.

Goals

  • How to quantify CO2 emissions of your solution, and implement CO2 reduction strategies to reach net zero target.
  • How to set up relevant targets and KPIs and integrate non-financial data into your reporting.
  • How to comply with relevant certifications and labels.
  • How to work closely with your suppliers to lessen your overall environmental impact and position yourself for sustainable impact.

Trainer

After obtaining his doctorate in geochemistry at McGill University in Montreal, Werner worked as a post-doc in the geology department of the University of Lausanne and as assistant professor at the ETH Zurich. Seeking new challenges, he left the academic world to run the company Swiss Climate in Bern, which specializes in CO2-related issues, between 2008 and 2013. With a view to further developing the concept of CO2 management for SMEs, Werner founded Climate Services in Fribourg in 2013. Over the last 10 years, he supported hundreds of companies as well as public entities in developing an approach to manage the transition to a net zero carbon economy.

W8 — Sales & Strategic Partnerships

Date & location

📅 Date: August 29, 2024

🕒 Time: 9:00-12:30

📍 Location: EPFL Innovation Park, Building D, ground floor, room PLUTON

Topics

  • Sustainability as a sales enabler
  • Managing complex sales
  • Art of negotiation
  • International development & strategic partnerships for growth
  • Role of entities
  • Basic of sales contract
W9 — Responsible Digitalisation

Date & location

📅 Date: September 12, 2024

🕒 Time: 13:30 - 18:30

📍 Location: Unlimitrust campus, Rte des Flumeaux 48, CH-1008 Prilly

Rationale

Digitalisation plays a key role in regeneration, providing powerful tools to link financial investments to verified impact on the ground, optimizing agricultural and industrial processes, etc.

However, digital services already account for an increasing 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions, which must be tackled as soon as possible.

Many startups have difficulties in disclosing their environmental footprint, especially regarding their ICT infrastructures and services. The lack of common standards and tools to report the impact of Web3 and Cloud applications is becoming a real challenge.

Goal

At this workshop, startups will understand what tools and norms they must follow to make sustainable digitalization an opportunity. 

  • As a first step, they will be guided on how to disclose their activities so that they can be considered “sustainable investments” (Taxonomy, SFDR). 
  • Then, the different environmental reporting standards for the ICT sector will be explained (LCA, GHG emissions). 
  • Finally, an overview of the tools available to track and reduce the footprint of their applications will be presented.

Trainer

  • Resilio is a Swiss company leading the sustainable transition for IT. Resilio helps companies keep track of the environmental footprint of their IT activities through Life Cycle Assessment, from IT infrastructure to Cloud services.
W10 — Impact Reporting & Regenerative Finance

Date & location

📅 Date: October 7, 2024

🕒 Time: 10am - 5:30pm

📍 Location: Pictet Geneva (Map)

Rationale

  • Tools and metrics needed to link financial investments with regenerative impact on the ground

Goal

  • Identify appropriate sources of financing
  • Understand how impact investors look at companies, the frameworks they use and how you can communicate your company’s impact succinctly
  • Concepts of sustainable finance and regenerative Economy – ReFi

Speakers

  • to be announced soon...
Additional workshops to support strategies & operations

Innosuisse Instruments Introduction, with Pascale van Landuyt and Cara Tobin

📅 Date: June 25, 2024

🕒 Time: 09:00 - 10:30

📍 Location: EPFL Innovation Park, C Building, Neptune Room

IP for Greentech startups, with Christian Moser Nikles and Nathalie Goetschi

📅 Date: June 25, 2024

🕒 Time: 11:00 - 12:30

📍 Location: EPFL Innovation Park, C Building, Neptune Room

AI Productivity Tools for Greentech startups, with Raphaël Briner

📅 Date: August 22, 2024

🕒 Time: 12:00 - 13:30

📍 Location: unlimitrust campus

Startups

Eligibility Criteria

If your startup meets these criteria, we encourage you to apply and take advantage of this exceptional opportunity to propel your venture forward and make a lasting positive impact on Biosphere and Society.

Company

Less than 7 years of incorporation — We welcome registered startups that are in their early stages, recognizing the potential for groundbreaking ideas to emerge and make a significant impact.

Innovation

Demonstrated technological innovation — Your product or solution should be based on disruptive technology, patented IP, or scientific breakthrough, responding to a well identified problem.

Technology readiness

Ready-to-market product or solution — Your startup should have a product or solution that is developed and tested, ready to be launched or already on the market. This ensures that you can take full advantage of the programme's resources and support to accelerate your growth.

Traction

Customer acquisition and/or internationalization phase — You should be actively seeking to acquire customers and expand your user base. This indicates that you are ready to scale your operations and benefit from the program's exposure and networking opportunities.

Impact

Alignment with our mission — Your solution should demonstrate a potential net positive impact within at least one of the application fields outlined by our program. We aim to accelerate startups contributing to the transition towards a regenerative economy, i.e. moving away from business models based on overconsumption, extraction and exploitation, to ones where social and ecological goals are integral to the company’s mission.

Commitment

Dedication and active engagement — We expect participating startups to attend all programme activities and foster open, collaborative exchanges with fellow participants to fully leverage the available resources, mentorship, training, and networking opportunities.
Although the programme is open to international startups, beware that some events require the physical presence of one of the startup founders or leaders at EPFL or other locations in Switzerland.
benefits

FAQ

At what stage can we apply?

Participating startups must already have a technical product or service to get the most out of the programme.

They should at least have demonstrated the feasibility with an operational prototype and possibly already get some first customers.

The programme does not aim to help develop your technical solution, but rather build and implement successful business strategies for existing products or services.

Our experts from various specialized fields may possibly help improve your existing solution to adapt to new systems, applications, regulations or markets.

But more importantly, they will help develop sound go-to-market strategies, manage overall impact, grow the company structure and culture, prepare communication plans, and raise funds.

What are the benefits of taking part in the programme?

By joining the 9-month Tech4Regeneration programme, you will gain access to a leading Cleantech ecosystem.

To develop and unlock the full regeneration potential of your business, you will receive personalized coaching and mentoring, and participate in specialized workshops and roadshows.

You will benefit from unique expertise and network from our partners, and will receive direct feedback from a panel of business and technology experts from the EPFL network and partner Universities.

Additionally, the programme offers opportunities to develop pilot projects with partner companies, connect with potential customers and access to international investors.

What are the main events of the programme?

The programme is still under construction and will be finalized by the program launch.

The main events will be the opening ceremony in March 2024 (kick-off event) and the closing ceremony in November 2024.

In between, a few roadshows, a dozen of thematic workshops and seminars, as well as regular peer-to-peer meetings and coaching sessions will be organized.

Can we participate remotely or do we need to be based in Switzerland?

The programme will include virtual, hybrid and physical events.

Startups from all over Switzerland and even other countries can participate, but shall be able to attend in-person a few important events at EPFL or some Swiss or International Roadshows (typically 1-2 days a month).

Is there a fee to apply or participate in the programme?

Participation in the programme is completely free, including the application process.

The programme is fully sponsored, and we do not require any equity in return.

Selection will be solely based on the quality of the applicants' proposals with regard to the impact potential.