Innovation and entrepreneurship - presenting the future accelerator program for startups in Ticino
Institutional Communication Service
25 May 2018
Until a few years ago, despite its universities and vanguard research centres, the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland was little known for entrepreneurship and innovation in the national context, at least outside academic circles. Since 2009, however, this belief has been progressively overturned, thanks also to local initiatives aimed at supporting innovative business ideas in the region.
Among these, the “Award for the best business idea in Ticino”, also known as “BSI Award” for the support of the then BSI Bank (today EFG), which was launched exactly ten years ago by initiative of the USI Start-up Promotion Center (CP Start-up). One of the first sponsors of the competition for startups was the Swiss Post and, a few years later (in 2014), the competition changed name and was called ‘StartCup Ticino’. Since 2016, the involvement of the Department of Finances and Economy of the Canton Ticino (DFE) has shown not only the willingness to support the winning projects, but also the DFE's commitment to finance – as proposed by the USI CP Start-up together with Agire Foundation – the Cantonal Accelerator, a coaching program for startuppers during which they meet and work with experts in the various fields of activity, helping them to improve their projects.
The impact of the competition can be measured by the success of the startups which today operate in the region (for example, Designergy, Beehelpful, and Swissponic) and around the world (Newscron, Vissee, and Gondola). The StartCup Ticino ‘hall of fame’ is available at http://www.startcup-ticino.ch/website/en/content/hall-fame
In the name of continuity and building on the success the previous edition, in June the future Accelerator program for startups in Ticino will be presented, with a press conference on June 6 (at 10AM, at the Hotel Pestalozzi Lugano) and with a public presentation event on June 26, in the afternoon at the Lugano Lido.
For further information: CP Start-up, [email protected]
