By Delta Yu Yan, Junior Project Manager – Innovation & Entrepreneurship
With the new swisstech China series opening the doors to the entire tech ecosystem, swisstech pavilion stood out with outstanding performance in a hybrid format at the Consumer Technology & Innovation Show (CTIS) at Shanghai New International Expo Centre. Starting from June 9, this three-day expo hosted more than 3,000 exhibiting booths with over 80,000 visitors, offering a groundbreaking platform that includes speeches from 130+ speakers, themed summits, industry forums and awards.
Primely located at the entrance to the Global Startup Launchpad, the 72 m² swisstech pavilion offered a premier hub to spotlight 18 leading Swiss startups both physically and virtually, in the fields of robotics, AI, software, autonomous navigation, biometry, AR, quality control system, lifestyle technology, EnergyTech, HealthTech, FoodTech, Edtech and TravelTech.
“Swiss innovation enjoys an excellent reputation abroad as Switzerland has been consistently ranked as the world's most innovative country for the past decade" said Dr. Felix Moesner, Science Consul and CEO of Swissnex in China.
Due to the restricted international traveling policy during the COVID-19 pandemic, five startups joined the pavilion physically at CTIS 2021: Flyability, Fixposition, holo|one, Scantrust, and STOR-H Technologies; while 13 startups participated virtually: Aitonomi, Animatico, collectID, farmer connect, FlavorWiki, GlobalID, IDUN Technologies, Kemiex, LocalBini, QUBS, Scientific Visual, SKEO and TravelerFirst by Smartorus. «gotthard», the driverless electric racing car from the family of world record-breaking EVs, built by the ETH Zurich AMZ Formula Student team was also showcased at the pavilion.
On June 9, 2021, a specially curated Global Startup Launchpad Demo Day spotlighted 10 startups from the swisstech pavilion at CTIS N5 Zone, which gathered startups, top tech committee members, incubators, investors, media and offered a game-changing platform to showcase Swiss excellence in innovation.
Another highlight of the day was the Best of CTIS Innovation Award Ceremony, which honored groundbreaking products, services, and technologies that define the future of the consumer technology industry. The Award was bestowed upon three out of the five on-site Swiss startups. Fixposition, holo|one and STOR-H were recognized for their breakthroughs in Innovation, AR/VR and Green Technology respectively.
On June 30, following the success of swisstech pavilion at CTIS and in continuation of swisstech China series, Swissnex in China hosted swisstech pitchinar 2021 to form potential partnerships and facilitate their market entry ambitions in China’s innovation ecosystem. Moderated by Tanya König, the pitchinar adopted a webinar format and featured 16 startups pitching their products and services. Along with a welcome speech by Dr. Felix Moesner, Science Consul and CEO of Swissnex in China, a video message delivered by Ambassador Nicolas Bideau, Head of Presence Switzerland, as well as an impressively active Q&A session between the startups and audiences, the event hosted more than 230+ registered experts and investors in an engaged and interactive setting.
The swisstech pitchinar is organized by Swissnex in China and swisstech in close partnership with ETH Zürich, EPFL, Greater Zurich Area, Innovaud, Switzerland Innovation and swisstech campaign partners Presence Switzerland, Switzerland Global Enterprise, Innosuisse, digitalswitzerland, Swissnex.
The swisstech pavilion at CTIS and the pitchinar have brought a considerable impact and established business connections for participating startups, more exciting events from swisstech China series 2021 are ready to be explored, including Tech-G Shanghai International Consumer Electronics Show from October 14 - 16, and at China Hi-Tech Fair from November 17 - 21 in Shenzhen.
About Consumer Technology & Innovation Show (CTIS)
CTIS integrates consumer technology, innovation and trade to drive industrial innovation and development. It is organized by Global Sources and co-organized by the China Electronics Chamber of Commerce and Zhongguancun Overseas Science Park, and supported by the China Audio Industry Association and Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association.
About swisstech China series
As the Science Consulate of Switzerland in China, Swissnex in China has been supporting and hosting Swiss startups at tech expos and trade shows in China since 2018. These country pavilions provide an excellent platform for these world-class startups to showcase their technologies to a broad Chinese audience, while establishing connections with a network of potential local partners, investors, mentors, experts, and potential business partners to facilitate market entry ambitions.
Starting in 2021, the new swisstech China series aims to raise Switzerland's profile as an innovative location and to promote the visibility of Swiss startups across China's hottest tech expos and highlight Switzerland as a world champion in innovation.