Boldbrain Startup Challenge: the 4th edition has kicked off

20 teams have been selected to participate in the 2021 edition of the Ticino acceleration programme from over 100 applications

The acceleration journey for the 20 entrepreneurs and their teams starts now. It will be a challenging and fun experience that will terminate with the Award Ceremony scheduled for December 2 at the Convention Centre in Lugano. Only 10 startups will make it to the final phase and will have an opportunity to compete for cash prizes totaling 120,000 Swiss francs and many other in-kind prizes and services worth over 80,000 Swiss francs.

The projects have been evaluated by the local experts in economics, education and entrepreneurship taking into account various criteria, among which the scalability of the idea, the potential economic impact on the region, the level of innovation, the business model and the quality of the team. At the kick-off event that took place on September 2 at the Auditorium of USI Università della Svizzera italiana, each team had 3 minutes to present their project in front of the coaches. Summarising weeks, months or even years of work spent on your project in such a short time is not an easy challenge. Yet these are the pitching rules, no exceptions.

The participants will now face weeks of intense work aimed at giving a boost to the development of their idea thanks to a well-structured programme, dedicated workshops and coaches’ guidance.

The selected projects

Boldbrain is a horizontal accelerator that does not focus on a single business sector but on innovation and project scalability. Therefore, the 20 innovation ideas range from consumer products and services to ICT to Medtech. The level of maturity of the projects is also different, some teams already have a prototype or their product is already on the market, while others are still in the initial phase. Among the selected projects, 4 are currently pre-incubated at the USI Startup Centre.

Here are the names of the selected startups (in alphabetical order):

• AMIS
• Arcadia
• Crion
• ƎDomusTech - Three-dimensional concrete printing
• Ethafa Steammians kit
• Eukinesia: The Energy Agility Company
• GaudioLabs
• InkVivo
• JobSeeker Switzerland
• Lealty
• talent4gig
• LevelApp - Smart money habits start early
• motuSML
• PepperZone -The place to level up
• QualityChain
• R-EVO800S
• Robota
• SafeDogBox
• Secondipity
• SuiSleePERF

What is Boldbrain Startup Challenge?

Boldbrain Startup Challenge is an acceleration programme for early-stage innovative startups in Ticino, organised by the Agire Foundation with the support of the USI Startup Centre. Boldbrain Startup Challenge is the evolution of the StartCup Ticino competition, offering 20 new startups a three-month coaching program that helps them shape the project identity and boost their entrepreneurial journey. Promoted and supported by the Department of Economy and Finances of the Canton of Ticino, with the important contribution of BancaStato, the programme kicks off in September and ends with the award ceremony in early December.

For more information: www.boldbrain.ch