Founders Day

Join us for a day of knowledge exchange and networking at the Google Campus Europaallee in the heart of Zurich on April 15, 2025! Get inspired by founders, visionary investors, and industry experts shaking up their fields.

This event is fully-booked

Supported by

Are you an early-stage startup founder looking for tips and tricks to scale your operations? Join us at the Founders Day with over 200 other startup founders. Interact with and learn from successful founders, investors, and industry thought leaders who will take the stage and answer your questions. Dive into a dynamic lineup of keynotes panel discussions, and deep dive workshop sessions.

Schedule: from 9 am – 6.30 pm, followed by food and drinks until approx. 9.30 pm

Speakers

Andreas Goeldi Partner at b2venture

Thomas Inhelder Co-Founder & CFO, Yokoy

Maren Schlieper Head of Strategy at HudsonGoodman AG | Scaleup Coach Innosuisse | Member of the Board, Medudoc AG

Thomas Dübendorfer President SICTIC

Enzo Wälchli Chief Commercial Officer, ANYbotics

Felicitas Gartmann Consultant for Starters at Switzerland Global Enterprises

Lukas Gysin Founder & Board Member at uniqFEED | Founder & Managing Partner at smartGAP | Startup Coach at Innosuisse

Theresa Engl Head of Sales at Holycode, Co-Founder at Lemony

Teddy Amberg Founding Partner at Spicehaus Partners

Alina Russ Head of Marketing bei Dagsmejan Ventures AG

Tim Ruffner Chairman, Founder & CEO, JOIN Solutions AG

Manuel Hartmann CEO & Founder of SalesPlaybook

Oliver Werneyer Ex-founder and CEO of IMburse AG (acquired by Duck Creek Technologies)

José Amado-Blanco Serial Entrepreneur

Virginie Verdon Managing Director Startup Board Academy

Samuel Müller CEO and Co-Founder Scandit

Nicole Celakovsky Steiner Corporate Health Consultant at Helsana

Patrick Griss CEO Zühlke Ventures

Alexander Schläpfer Partner Swisscom Ventures

Dr. Andy Schwarzenbach Owner BlackRiver, Founder Hitzberger & Startup-Exit.ch

Armon Bättig Co-Founder at Ledgy

Julian Liniger CEO & Co-Founder of Relai

Wendy Jordan CEO, Fyiar Ventures GmbH; Founder & ex-COO, Encuentra24.com

Pascal Stuerchler CEO & Co-Founder Bloomhaus Ventures

Joël Capt CEO & Founder. Peakora

Christian Nauer Senior Partner at FS Partners

David Grütter Partner at FS Partners

Lukas Reinhardt Head UBS Growth Advisory

Jan Lederhausen UBS Transaction Manager - Growth Advisory

Gian Sbetta AI GTM Lead Digital Natives DACH, Google Cloud

Simon Furer CFO, Voliro

Moderation

Olivia Kinghorst

Hans Tran

What to expect

Engaging keynotes and panel discussions
Interactive workshops and breakout Sessions
Insights from successful founders and investors
Plenty of networking opportunities
Stories of triumphs and failures
and much more!

The Program

Check out the complete event agenda here

Unpacking PMF for DeepTech – Patrick Griss (Zühlke Ventures) & Enzo Wälchli (ANYbotics)
The secret recipe for winning first investors for your startup – Thomas Dübendorfer (SICTIC) & Pascal Stürchler (Bloomhaus Ventures)
Beyond the Goal Line: Scaling a Sports Tech Startup – Key Lessons on Growth and Fundraising – Lukas Gysin (UniqFEED)
The importance of Revenue and Sales when approaching VCs – Teddy Amberg (Spicehaus Ventures)
AI-Powered GTM: Scaling Sales – Manuel Hartmann (Sales Playbook) & Theresa Engl (Holycode)
How to Build and Grow a Startup with No Capital Using the Power of Social Media – Alina Russ (Dagsmejan)
Keep Making (Good) Decisions – Reality check, Tools, and a Secret (How Do You Count?) – Christian Nauer & David Grütter (FS Partners)
Cash Discipline Habits Every Founder Should Build – Julian Liniger (Relai) & Simon Furer (Voliro) & Petar Angelov (Deloitte AG)
Navigating the Boardroom: Best Practices for Founders – Virginie Verdon (Startup Board Academy) & Andy Schwarzenbach (Blackriver)
CorpUp: Building with corporates and staying sane – Oliver Werneyer (Duck Creek Technologies)
Going international with a tech startup – Armon Bättig (Ledgy) & Samuel Müller (Scandit) & Felicitas Gartmann (S-GE)
Preparing for Exit: Navigating the Path to a Successful Transition – Thomas Inhelder (Yokoy) & Alexander Schläpfer (Swisscom Ventures)
Mastering Focus: How to keep the focus, block Interruptions and take back your time – Nicole Celakowsky Steiner (Helsana) & Julian Liniger (Relai)
Building the right GoToMarket Foundations to scale successfully – Joël Capt (Peakora)
From 0 to 10m in ARR together with UBS – Lukas Reinhardt (UBS) & Tim Ruffner (JOIN Solutions AG)
Finding Your Perfect Match: Do’s and Don’ts of Choosing the Right Co-Founder – José Amado-Blanco (Serial Entrepreneur
Strategic Shifts: Mastering Expansion, Decision-Making, and Operational Balance – Maren Schlieper (HudsonGoodman)
Businessmodels for startups in times of AI – Andreas Goeldi (b2venture)
Workshop: Plan, Pitch, Close – a guide to fundraising – Jan Lederhausen (UBS)
Google Founders Story – Panel – Thomas Inhelder (Yokoy) & Wendy Jordan (Scout24) & Gian Sbetta (Google)