Our 61 finalists from the first online jury round must now give their all in a 5-minute closed pitch session in front of a new group of jurors, who will determine whether or not they move on to the final round in the competition on June 26, 2023.
In preparation for this, >>venture>> has partnered up with McKinsey & Company and several investors to best prepare the startups for their pitch session.
We're really excited to announce that we are working with the following industry experts for the 2023 >>venture>> pitch training.
Communications Experts
Andrew Loan: A communications
consultant with a flair for storytelling, change management and impactful presentation, Andrew draws on over 20 years’ experience at the frontline of corporate communications to help organizations in the DACH region ‘dejargonate’ their corporate messaging. A former McKinsey communications specialist and journalist, Andrew has also served companies in the financial, healthcare, energy, marketing, IT and sports sectors. He holds a Master’s degree in Modern Languages and Economics from the University of Glasgow.
Jonathan Turton: Jonathan has 25 years’ experience as a writer, editor and coach. Having started his career as a banking and financial journalist in London, he joined McKinsey & Company in Germany where he worked on a wide range of communications projects including helping start-up clients in the firm’s incubator program. Since returning to the UK, Jonathan has helped hundreds of teams and individuals craft their messages, challenged their logic, and coached them to deliver their ideas in a compelling and lively way. He regularly trains spokespeople for the media, and has supported presenters and organisers at more than 70 conferences. Jonathan has worked across a wide range of industries, with a focus on financial services, tech, healthcare, and consumer goods; and has extensive experience of strategy, corporate finance, marketing and sales, and leadership topics.
Finance & Insurance
Jiri Havran: Jiri joined Seed X in July 2019. Currently, he is working as a senior investment manager, focusing mainly on FinTech and PropTech early-stage investments. Prior to Seed X, Jiri was responsible for M&A and business development at eBay, covering EMEA. He also spent a couple of years at Credit Suisse working on private equity deals. He holds a Master’s degree in Energy Science and Technology from ETH Zürich.
Health & Nutrition
Fariba Hashemi: Fariba has 25 years of experience in Economics research and higher education and holds a doctorate in Economics from the University of California in Los Angeles. Currently she is an ETH Lecturer at ETH Zurich, teaching Entrepreneurial Investments. In parallel to her academic engagements, Fariba is a member of the Investment Committee at Salus Partners SA - a regulated and independent Swiss Investment firm based in Lausanne/Zurich. She specializes in spatio-temporal patterns to identify and develop optimal investment strategies
ICT
Caspar Horne: Caspar an independent consultant with deep experience in the startup ecosystem in management and technology with over 20 years of Silicon Valley experience. He is an engaging public speaker, is a Distinguished Speaker with Toastmasters International, and has mentored many speakers. He consults on Intellectual Property, as expert witness and on intellectual property portfolios. He is an active angel investor and has an extensive portfolio of startup companies. His current interests are in impact investing, artificial intelligence and deep learning. He holds an MBA from the Wharton School of Business in Pennsylvania, a Masters from Delft University of Technology and a PhD in EE from the EPFL in Lausanne.
Industrials & Engineering
Sascha Horrig: Sascha is a passionate venture capitalist & angel investor.
Through his own investment company, Equity Pitcher, as a director of an international investment holding as well as angel investor, he has now supported more than 30 startups with know-how, network and capital.
Retail & Consumer Services
Claudius Stammbach: Claudius is an investment manager at Sparrow Ventures, the VC arm of Migros. Within this role, he sources, executes, and manages strategic investments (B2C and mostly DACH region) for the Migros Group while advising Sparrow's venture building team in financial planning and analysis. Previously, Claudius worked at Credit Suisse in financial crime compliance and as a research assistant at UZH, holding a master’s degree in Banking and Finance.
Gianmarco Hodel:
Gianmarco is a member of the investment team at Redalpine and focuses on early-stage tech startups. He studied at the University of St. Gallen (HSG), Harvard University as well as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) before founding his own startup and eventually joining Redalpine to continue his passion for supporting innovative ventures.
NPO Track
Jan Fülscher: Jan is a passionate startup ecosystem expert and entrepreneurship consultant with over 20 years of experience, who has dedicated his career to fostering innovation, nurturing new businesses, and connecting entrepreneurs with valuable resources. He is a seasoned mentor, and coach, with extensive experience in funding and fundraising. Jan is currently president of senozon AG, runs his own startup mentoring business which also focuses on nonprofit organizations, and is a partner of net-dot-work GmbH, providing support to government and business customers as well as start-up companies.
Luise Ammerschuber: Luise is the Founder and Director of YESS Impact, a renowned firm specializing in SDG consulting, social business, and impact investing. In addition to her role as an angel investor, Luise is the co-organizer of the Female Business Network (FIN) Swiss Chapter and an ambassador for the investor platform Collective W. She is a seasoned international keynote speaker and TEDx speaker, having authored several guide books. Luise's project, YESS Impact Sisters, is making a significant difference in Uganda by empowering local entrepreneurs. She is a global mentor for entrepreneurs and professionals, including at FeMentor and Grace – The Female Accelerator. Luise holds the position of Ambassador at Maastricht University and Mercy for Women and Youth Uganda. She is also a community member of the 2hearts tech community. Luise works in English, German, French, and Spanish, and holds an LLM Master (Honors Program) in International Human Rights Law and a BA (Honors) in International Relations & Development Studies from Maastricht University.