XGrant

 

 

Xgrant Entrepreneurship Camps

Learn the skillsets that make the bay area ecosystem unique with your early stage project – with an EPFL XGrant

 

Possible start dates

  • Applications Closed through XGrant. Next Program: July 30 – August 17th 2018.

How to apply

Follow the links below to learn more about the EPFL XGrant program at the website, and apply directly to EPFL XGrant VPI (must be enrolled in EPFL to be eligible).

 

What you’ll experience

 

Mondays: Office Hours

Weekly peer learning sessions with the swissnex team to exchange solutions and discuss progress

 

Wednesdays: Entrepreneurs’ Breakfasts

We invite successful community members to share their knowledge. You ask questions and meet.

 

Fridays: Toolbox Sessions

Expert sessions in US law, fundraising, marketing, growth, pitching, strategy and more. Depends on camp dates.

 

Continuous Demo Days

Opportunities to practice and gain feedback on your pitch to the community, investors, entrepreneurs and the public at pitching sessions and demo days.

Swissnex Viewlab Office Space

Freely schedulable Meetups, client meetings and lots of time to work on your project at our office space at Pier17.

 

No Cost, No Equity

As we’re a public funded program, we take no equity (depending on partner program, we can even pay a small stipend towards your costs).

 

 

Detailed program

Week 1-4: PREPARATION

Location: EPFL

1 assignment/ week

  • Preparation : reading material about Sillicon Valley, start-up ecosystem, sent from Swissnex
  • Prepare pitch of your project

Week 5: ARRIVAL

Location: San Francisco

  • Each student to pitch his/her project to the Swissnex team
  • Get feedback from Swissnex team

Week 5-8: IMMERSION

Location: San Francisco

Real Silicon Valley Talks (once per week, 2-3hrs):
Series of talks/workshops on themes ex. What is entrepreneurship? What is Silicon Valley (ex. Apple, Amazon), How to pitch my project internationally? Examples of failures, success stories from taking an idea to the market, etc. by a mix of guest speakers:

  • Experienced entrepreneurs
  • Innosuisse Alumni
  • Local mentors (ex. EPFL Alumni)
  • Investors
  • Other professionals involved in the start-up ecosystem

“Entrepreneurs toolkit courses” (once per week, 2-3hrs): Series of courses ex. pitch training, presentation skills, story telling, business model analysis, etc.

“Meet and learn from the Pier 17 residents” (once per week, 2-3hrs): Presentation by company residents of Pier 17, hear about their business development, projects and activities in the Bay area, collaboration with start-ups etc.

  • Ongoing: active participation in meetups and events (mainly in the evening) to network
  • Ongoing: Individual work on project work, feedback from Swissnex team during office hours if needed and group learning from other’s projects

Week 8: CONCLUSION

Location: San Francisco

Option to extend to 12 weeks.

  • Exit interview: each student to pitch his/her project to the Swissnex team in order to get feedback on the evolution of the project
  • Report from student:
    • List benefits from SF stay
    • Report of activities and project progress
    • Summarize most important learning
    • Demonstrate added value of the stay in SF/at Swissnex