Zurich – The Center for Corporate Venturing Switzerland (CCVS) has been initiated by three important players in the Swiss early stage venture market: The Swiss Startup Factory (SSUF), Wenger & Vieli (W&V) and the Center for Entrepreneurship from the university of St. Gallen (CfE-HSG).
The significance of innovation management is more important than ever at the beginning of the 21st century, due to fundamental changes in technology, emergence of new business areas, penetration of ICT technologies in all industries and hyper competition through globalization. This increases the pressure on incumbents to constantly innovate, in order to stay ahead of competition. An effective response to this challenge is corporate venturing, which enables firms to leverage agility and innovation power from entrepreneurial mindsets.
The Center for Corporate Venturing Switzerland is legally structured as an association and connects Swiss innovation leaders, so they can expand their knowledge and foster the innovative landscape in Switzerland. Prof. Dr. Dietmar Grichnik, Dean of the School of Management at University of St.Gallen and founding member of the CCVS explains:
“The Center for Corporate Venturing Switzerland provides its members access to educational events, networking opportunities and a place to exchange ideas for best practices. The goal is to create an adaptive corporate venture strategy for each member, which fits exactly their unique needs and solves their innovation challenges”.
Mike Baur, co-founder of SSUF and chairman of the CCVS comments: “With the Center for Corporate Venturing Switzerland we want to create a powerful community platform for its members to combine best practice with evidence. Already joining forces with the three networks of SSUF, W&V as well as the Center for Entrepreneurship from the University of St. Gallen we provide a unique platform of knowledge as well as network”.
On the 28th of June the kickoff event will be held with selected guests at W&V in Zurich.
Beat Speck, Partner at Wenger & Vieli and vice chairman of the CCVS looks very much forward to the first event: “With our first CCVS event we will bring the different Swiss stakeholder and specialist in the field of corporate venturing together. At this occasion we will present the mission and vision of the CCVS and explain why venturing is such an important and upcoming topic for Swiss corporates”. (Swiss Startup Factor/mc/ps)
