6 Startups Chosen to Collaborate With IMD EMBA Class

IMD has announced the winners in the “special edition” of its 2018/2019 Startup Competition. The ventures will now begin collaborating with members of IMD’s Executive MBA class, culminating in a trip to Silicon Valley to pitch for funding.

IMD launched its Startup Competition in 1998 and has since seen 400 ventures pass through the program. Each year, up to ten Swiss startups are selected to work with EMBA students at IMD.

Ventures and EMBA students collaborate for several months before traveling to Silicon Valley, where they pitch venture capitalists. So the startups receive support from EMBA students at a top business school, and the students get hands-on experience working with real businesses.

The winners of this year’s competition include startups with a diverse range of products.

Some are solidly in the world of software, like ARCATrust and Veezo, which specialize in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence respectively. Sensoryx, meanwhile, is producing a motion-tracking glove for virtual reality.

Aeler Technologies has designed an intermodal container that is “embedded with state-of-the-art electronics and sensors.” And Touchless Automation has come up with a tool for performing tasks on objects without touching them.

Finally, IDUN Technologies has developed a new type of electrode. With applications such as ECG and EEG, it removes the need for electrolyte gel according to IDUN.

For these companies, the chance to work with EMBA students at IMD will likely provide a boost. IMD points out that of the businesses in the Swiss Top 100 Startups report, 31 received support from IMD, including six of the top ten.

So how does IMD consistently pick startups that go on to see success?

In a LinkedIn post, Jim Pulcrano, who is regularly involved in selecting winners of the IMD Startup Competition, reflected on how the choice is made.

He suggested that being able to pick promising startups is a complex mix of having the right experience, understanding entrepreneurship, knowing markets, asking insightful questions, and seeking out opinions from others.

Ultimately, though, he concluded that “We’re looking for entrepreneurs we can learn from, and who are open to learning themselves.”

This focus seems appropriate given that both the winning ventures and the EMBA students they go on to work with ideally learn from each other.

If you’re looking for an EMBA program where you can experience this type of mutual learning in a project with real-world implications, IMD is clearly an option to consider.

For a more in-depth overview of how IMD aligns with your profile as an applicant and what other schools fit with your priorities, contact us for a free assessment!