Lab-to-Market ICT

Promising startup projects are often born in the labs, and USI supports members of the academic community interested in entrepreneurship through different services and initiatives.

This introductory seminar organised by USI Startup Centre in collaboration with USI Transfer is designed specifically for researchers in the ICT field and offers valuable insights into the entrepreneurial process and different options for commercialising research findings and inventions to maximise their potential and impact.

Programme:
17:15 - Attendees welcome
17:30 - Quick intro about USI Startup Centre with Samuele Morales, Incubator Coordinator
17:40 - “What’s happening in the Swiss deeptech scene?”, with Lorenzo Leoni managing partner at TiVentures SA
18:00 - “How to create a spin-off from USI”, with Andrea Foglia, Head of USI Transfer
18:20 - “Funding opportunities for researchers: from BRIDGE to Innosuisse” with Marcello Triulzio from Research Service.
18:40 - Panel discussion with Gianvito Grasso, CEO of InVirtuoLabs and Dario Mantegazza, CEO of Flycatcher. Moderated by Samuele Morales
19:00 - Q&A
19:15 - Apéro

Registration:
Please sign up using this link to confirm your participation.

On December 2nd, an optional hands-on workshop will be offered to the participants who are interested in applying these concepts to real-world project cases guided by industry experts and advisors.

Programme of the hands-on workshop, Dec 2:
17:15 - Attendees welcome
17:30 - Introduction with Marco Alberti, ICT Coach at USI Startup Centre
17:35 - “Best practice paths to monetization” with Barbara Fischer, Startup consulting and Innosuisse Coach
18:15 - Q&A
18:30 - Workshop: each project works on Business Model Canvas and a basic pitch, with startup coaches
19:45 - Project presentations and feedback
20:30 - Standing apéro

Speakers:

Andrea Foglia, Head of USI Transfer, Technology Transfer Office
Andrea has extensive experience in technology transfer and a strong background in intellectual property rights (IPRs). At USI, IRB and IOR, he advises researchers in the areas of IPRs, collaboration with the industry, commercialisation, legal and licensing. He is also a Board Member of the Swiss Technology Transfer Association (swiTT) and a member of the Licensing Executive Society (LESI).

Lorenzo Leoni, Managing Partner of TiVentures SA
Lorenzo is a serial entrepreneur and founder of several biomedical companies in the US and in Europe. He has deep experience and extensive network in drug development, academic research, venture capital and strategic innovation. Lorenzo was the founding managing director of the innovation agency of southern Switzerland (Agire) and started Agire Invest (now TiVentures). He holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry from University of Lausanne and was Assistant Professor at the department of Medicine of UCSD, San Diego, working in immunology and oncology.

Marcello Triulzio, USI Research Service
Marcello has worked in both startups and startup accelerators, gaining extensive experience in entrepreneurship. At USI, he advises researchers on research funding opportunities and supports them in identifying the most suitable grants for their projects. He also serves as the Euresearch regional representative for Ticino, providing guidance to companies on European funding and collaboration opportunities.

Barbara Fischer, Startup consulting and Innosuisse Coach
Barbara is the founder of Arena Ventures AG, a startup consulting firm specialising in fundraising advice for technology startups. Prior to founding Arena, Barbara grew, scaled and sold her first ICT business in Sydney, Australia. She says about herself that she “eats tech for breakfast” and is fundamentally driven by growth in life.

Samuele Morales, USI Startup Centre – Incubator Coordinator
Samuele holds a Master’s degree in Economics and International Politics from Università della Svizzera italiana and Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore. At USI Startup Centre, he manages the incubation process and coordinates team activities to support startups. He has experience in technology transfer and innovation, gained through collaborations with leading research institutions such as the Bruno Kessler Foundation, the University of Trento, and the Italian Institute of Technology. His areas of expertise include life sciences, industry 4.0, and space technologies.

Marco Alberti, ICT Coach at USI Startup Centre
Marco holds a Master’s degree in Information Systems from HEC Lausanne and has over a decade of entrepreneurial experience. He co-founded Stagend SA, an innovative startup in the events industry, where he managed multiple Innosuisse projects and participated in the Scale-up programme. Formerly an Innosuisse Business Creation coach, Marco now serves as ICT Coach at the USI Startup Centre, providing strategic support to ICT startups and scouting university technologies with market potential.

Gianvito Grasso, Chief Executive Officer InVirtuoLabs
Gianvito Grasso is the Chief Executive Officer of InVirtuoLabs. He holds a PhD in Computational Science and a background in Biomedical Engineering. With over ten years of research experience in molecular simulations and machine learning, he has led several national and international research projects as Principal Investigator.

Dario Mantegazza, Co-founder and CEO Flycatcher
Dario Mantegazza holds a PhD in Artificial Intelligence from IDSIA (Lugano), where he worked as a researcher from 2017 to 2025 on deep learning and robotic vision for industrial applications. He has developed advanced AI systems for robotic perception and co-authored over ten peer-reviewed publications in the fields of industrial AI and robotics. Since April 2025, he has been working full time as CEO of Flycatcher.