On June 10, SwissTech Pitchinar, a pitching competition in webinar format, was joined by 20 leading Swiss startups in the fields of Advanced Instrument, Artificial Intelligence, Augmented/Virtual Reality, Biotech, Blockchain, Cybersecurity, Energy, Fintech, HealthTech, IoT, Robotics, Software and VehicleTech. This first-of-its-kind virtual event held on Zoom received overwhelming interest from top-level audiences with more than 950 registrants from top universities, blue-chip companies, media and 238 investors with strong interest in Swiss technology and innovation, seeking opportunities for investment, partnerships and project cooperation.

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The virtual pitching competition featured 90-second pitches from each of the startups, providing them with a platform to spotlight their products and services with prospective investors, partners and industry experts. Ambassador Nicolas Bideau, Head of Presence Switzerland, and Gary Shapiro, CEO of Consumer Technology Association, which organizes CES ASIA and Las Vegas, delivered the keynote messages.

Mithras Technology, a startup that developed wearable technology turning human body heat into usable electricity, emerged as the champion among the 20 competing startups. Eyeware, STOR-H Technologies, and Swiss Terahertz were chosen by the jury as finalists. The event reached its high peak as Swiss Ambassador to China Bernardino Regazzoni virtually awarded the trophies to the selected startups. The outstanding performance of all participating startups demonstrate the strength of the Swiss innovation ecosystem and the excellence of the world-class Swiss universities.

“This was completely unexpected. We feel very proud and honored to have won the first SwissTech Pitchinar 2020. We already received lots of positive feedback from people reaching out to us, which could result in very interesting leads and this highlights the inestimable worth of such events…”, said Franco Membrini, Founder & CEO of Mithras Technology, “We would like to thank the team of swissnex China for an outstanding organisation and wish all the presented startups best of success.”

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“Today, we pioneered a powerful virtual platform for Swiss startups to establish game-changing partnerships with investors, mentors, experts, potential business partners and highly-engaged audiences on a global scale: an unprecedented way to add value and build bridges”, said Dr. Felix Moesner, Science Consul and CEO of swissnex China. “We saw overwhelming interest in our DeepTech startups and wish them every success with their many follow-ups.”

SwissTech Pitchinar 2020 is organized by swissnex China in collaboration with SwissTech, CES ASIA and Venture Leaders, and in partnership with EPFL, ETH Zurich, Greater Zurich Area, Innovaud, Swisscom and Venturelab. The SwissTech Campaign partners are Presence Switzerland, Switzerland Global Enterprise, Innosuisse, digitalswitzerland and swissnex Network.