The latest USI Startup Centre Annual Report is out

The report outlines the USI Startup Centre’s activities in 2024 across three strategic pillars: startup incubator, entrepreneurial education, and community engagement. It also highlights the achievements of more than 20 incubated startups supported throughout the year.

The latest USI Startup Centre Annual Report is now available, providing an overview of the activities carried out throughout 2024 to support early-stage science-driven ventures and foster entrepreneurship within the academic community. Structured around the three key pillars of activity, startup incubator, entrepreneurial education, and community engagement, the report also highlights the results achieved by the supported startups.

Through a series of tailored initiatives, USI Startup Centre (USC) supports members of the academic community at various stages of their entrepreneurial journey, acting as a point of reference for researchers from USI and SUPSI aiming to translate research findings into viable business ventures, as well as for students interested in exploring entrepreneurship during their studies.

Startup incubator

Starting from 2024, startups admitted into the incubation programme are awarded the Incubation Programme Voucher worth CHF 60,000 during the Incubation Kick-off Pitch. It quantifies the in-kind support provided to a single project over two years, which includes a wide range of services and benefits. During the reporting year, 23 early-stage science-driven startups, primarily in the ICT and Life Sciences sectors, that participated in the incubation programme achieved important results, particularly in fundraising, securing CHF 4.9 million in both dilutive and non-dilutive funding.

Entrepreneurial education

Throughout 2024, USI Startup Centre delivered 10 thematic sessions and workshops from its training curriculum for startup founders aimed at fostering the development of entrepreneurial knowledge and skills. Furthermore, several events and courses were organised within the framework of the Innosuisse Entrepreneurship Training programme, engaging 167 researchers and students.

Community

To strengthen collaboration with various stakeholders, including academia, experts, investors and industry players, USI Startup Centre organised 25 events in 2024. These included a dedicated seminar on entrepreneurship as a career path in computer science and a Life Science Investor Day reserved for incubated startups and invited VC funds, in addition to multiple joint initiatives carried out in collaboration with ecosystem partners. The team of USI Startup Centre aims to be the first point of contact for members of the academic community interested in entrepreneurship. Thus, in 2024, it reviewed 56 initial project ideas through the “Desk” service.

The full report is available here.