Boldbrain Startup Challenge is the accelerator in Ticino for early-stage innovative start-ups, organised by the Agire Foundation with the support of the CP Start-up USI. The challenge offers 20 start-ups a three-month coaching program that helps them develop their entrepreneurial skills and enhance their business ideas.
The 2020 edition attracted a total of 148 applications, of which 62 were examined by an evaluation committee formed by experts hailing from the business world, academia, and the entrepreneurial context. Subsequently, the committee selected 20 most outstanding applications taking into account various criteria, including the value of the ideas and their scalability, the possible economic impact in the region, the level of innovation, the business model and the quality of the team.
The selected projects represent the main innovative sectors such as ICT, consumer products and services and the renewable and cleantech energy sector. Several ideas arose from the COVID-19 crisis. This variety confirms Boldbrain's positioning as a horizontal accelerator that does not focus on a single business sector but on innovation and project scalability. Among the selected business ideas, ten are currently incubated at the CP Start-up USI and, compared to previous years, there has been an increase in the number of projects that come with a registered company.
The 20 start-ups selected for Boldrain Startup Challenge 2020 are:
4Devices (medtech) – Aargau
Excede (fintech/insurance tech) – Zurich
F-Helix (electronic and mechanical engineering) – Ticino
Finar Module Tech (electronic and mechanical engineering) – Italy
Lighthouse (medtech) – Ticino
NATIVE (sport/leisure/tourism/lifestyle) – Ticino
Proxying (consulting and services) – Ticino
QM_Project (life sciences, IT diagnostics, data) – Italy
Secondo (consumer products and services) – Ticino
Smart Power Center (energy, cleantech) – Russia
SwicketLive (ICT, software & data engineering) – Ticino
TeachRemote (social entrepreurship, education) – Zurich
Trading Stratagem (fintech, insurance tech) – Ticino
TurboGas-5.0 (electronic and mechanical engineering) – Ticino
UNIVERSUS-OS (ICT, software & data engineering) – Italy
VMall (consumer products and services) – Ticino
voltWALL (energy, cleantech) – Ticino
WeSaidYes (sport/leisure/tourism/lifestyle) – Ticino
WYTH (design, art, architecture, gaming) – Ticino
YSI (consumer products and services) – Italy
On 4th September, the teams kicked-off the three-month acceleration program, which offers coaching by experts and support to develop entrepreneurial skills through workshops. Besides sessions on the topics of value proposition, financial and intellectual property issues, and on communication, participants will also acquire insights on legal aspects of entrepreneurship, as of this year.
(DL)