On the way to internationalisation - Welcome to Bavaria, Swiss start-ups!

The train conductor signals the engineer and then the 20 Swiss start-ups embark on their journey from Zurich via St. Gallen to Munich. A train carriage provided especially for them by the Swiss Federal Railway (SBB) takes the young and motivated entrepreneurs to Germany as their export and expansion market. The train's engine is not the only thing driving this trip. Renowned partners such as Google Switzerland, PostFinance, the Consulate General of Switzerland in Munich and Swiss Life support the start-ups on their path to expansion.

The IFJ Institut für Jungunternehmen, which organised #GoGermany2016 together with Invest in Bavaria, selected the 20 most promising start-ups from over 100 applicants which received their first training seminars on the train and focused on “How to pitch to investors”.

After arriving in Munich, the delegation is welcomed in the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs. There, the theoretical and informative part of the day takes place: What are the legal conditions for expanding to Germany? What needs to be taken into consideration regarding trademark law and HR? Which players who support start-ups are present in Bavaria? What does the initiative Gründerland Bayern entail and how can one profit from collaborating with BayStartUp? 

But theory is not all there is. 

The pitch event is scheduled for the evening. Where? Of course in Werk1! Investors, multipliers, Bavarian start-ups and other big players from the Bavarian area are among those invited. A highlight, but also a challenge – the young entrepreneurs from Switzerland have 90 seconds to present their business models and spark interest for further discussions. Their ideas range from music streaming and download services to innovative treatment methods for cruciate ligament rupture. 

Helpful contacts are made throughout the evening accompanied by Obatzter (a cheese spread) and Brez`n (pretzel), as well as roast pork with dumplings; cultural differences and similarities are discussed over a cool Weißbier (wheat beer).

The two-day trip flew by – and the Swiss start-ups travel back to Zurich the following day in the special SSB train carriage. Some of them, however, are surely already thinking about their next train trip to Bavaria and with it a trip towards internationalisation.

Find images of the event in our media library.

Interested in the report by the Swiss participants? You can find it here.