LAUSANNE
SWITZERLAND
Based in the heart of Europe, we have unique connections to global Food Corporations, Investors and Top Experts – all actively working to find high potential startups to collaborate with.
Since 2016 FAN Switzerland has been a leader in helping startups across Europe grow their businesses. As of 2020, our accelerator program has helped 396 startups raise over CHF 196M in funding to accelerate their businesses.
Our Sustainable Food Systems program focuses on startups involved in the production,
distribution, packaging and disposal of food, and offers specific networking events, mentors and curriculum dedicated to Food and Packaging.
Location Contact
Oana Monica Vrabie
Marketing & Communications Manager
Why select Lausanne?
Unrivalled access to corporations
We facilitate startup connections to Nestlé, Bühler, Givaudan, Barry Callebaut, General Mills, Südzucker & more. We know what our partners are looking for and advise startups on how to work with corporations, so that engagement is simple and effective.
Connections to investors
More than 65% of our finalists raise funds during or immediately after the program.
On average each startup has three mentors, benefits from office hours with our Entrepreneurs-in-Residence and can access the expertise from 600+ global experts from the global MassChallenge network.
Our world class curriculum, described by our alumni as a “mini MBA”, is designed with the intent of teaching startup founders a wide range of skillsets needed to execute on their business model. It covers: Fundamentals of Product, Execution and Fundraising at a pace of 3 courses per week over 8 weeks, with specific deep dives given by experienced startup founders, operators and VCs. A hit of the curriculum is the weekly module "Pitch the VC", where selected startups pitch a VC investor and get constructive feedback. The curriculum is streamed online, so it’s accessible without friction.
On top, we run Sustainable Food Systems events, which gather top players from the Agri/Food tech space and are designed to help startups leverage sustainability to advance their business.
World class mentoring, curriculum & tailored events
"Participating in EIT FAN run by MassChallenge in Switzerland was an amazing experience and a HUGE value add. They have offered us workshops run by experts as well as introductions and visits to several global corporates. We would not be able to access such great mentors if not for them and we would not be able to expand to the Swiss market so swiftly. Overall, we are extremely thankful for giving us an opportunity and taking us onto the program."
— Monika Tomecka, Co-Founder and Director of uFraction8, WINNER EIT-FAN
“You will gain skill and networking that you didn't even know would be valuable for you!
— Pedro Babo, Co-founder & CEO of Acorn Warehouse
“It’s the most startup centric program to learn, actually drink by the hose! “
— Arko Chatterjee, Founder & CEO of NaturaYuva
“The Lausanne EIT HUB run by Mass Challenge is very well organised and provides great networking opportunities for your business and really interesting learning opportunities for you and your team. “
— Carrol Plummer, Co-founder & CEO of Vivent
SUCCESS STORIES
EIT FAN Lausanne Hub highlights and success stories
Agri Marketplace is a global digital platform that puts farmers and producer organisations directly into contact with their agro-industry customers, cutting out the middleman in the value chain and ensuring greater transparency, fair trade and easier access to the global market. Founded in September 2016, the company rolled out its online technology solution in 2017.
After having participated in the 2018 EIT-FAN program and being accelerated by MassChallenge Switzerland, Agri Marketplace closed a EUR 600K financing round, continued to win many other prizes and distinctions and has already hosted more than EUR 5.3 million in transactions involving agricultural products, published EUR 3+ million offers value, and has +650 B2B users in the various markets in which it operates.
Huge congratulations to Dr Brian Miller, Managing Director and Dr Monika Tomecka, Executive Director, uFraction8, winners of FAN 2019.