SAFT Startup Challenge: Energy Solutions for 2050
SAFT invites entrepreneurs in Switzerland to bring their best early-stage ventures in smart cities, distributed ...
Silicon Valley leads the world in innovation. No one who visits leaves unchanged.
That’s why on January 28 in Zurich, 10 exciting new ventures from Switzerland will attempt to pitch their way into an accelerator program that includes a startup boot camp, a one-week market expedition to Silicon Valley, and three months of incubation services upon return.
These 10 ventures are the finalists in SAFT – Energy startup solutions for 2050, launched in September 2015 by swissnex San Francisco, Impact Hub Fellowship, and Impact Hub Zurich. The competition targets entrepreneurs in the fields of smart cities, distributed generation, and energy efficiency looking to take their startups to the next level. With SAFT, swissnex and its partners hope to help early stage startups accelerate Switzerland’s transition to a sustainable energy system by 2050.
“When we initiated SAFT with Impact Hub, we were sure that that we’d discover some interesting startups working to realize the clean energy transition but we didn’t realize how many there would be and how compelling their products would turn out to be,” says Laura Erickson, swissnex San Francisco’s Associate Director responsible for sustainability and strategy.
Later this month, with the guidance of SAFT program partners Climate-KIC Switzerland and Swisscom, the finalists will pitch their businesses to a jury of industry experts including Philipp Leo, Entrepreneurship Lead for Climate-KIC Switzerland; Peter Wildhaber, Head of Energy for Swisscom; Greg Stace, CEO of Earthed B.V.; Hans Dellenbach, CFO of Emerald Technology Ventures; and Markus Balmer, Head of Strategy and Innovation at IWB.
The 10 selected startups represent a cross-section of forward-thinking entrepreneurs working to advance clean energy in Switzerland. We wish them all good luck and success in powering their future! They are (in alphabetical order):