Switzerland-based telecoms group Swisscom’s corporate venturing unit has committed SFr10m ($10m) to its Early Stage Fund to invest in clean-tech, media and information and communication technology (ICT) start-ups in the country.
Until 15 July Swisscom Ventures, which runs an evergreen corporate venturing fund to invest in Europe and US, is looking for applicants through its StartUp Challenge to take five local entrepreneurs to Silicon Valley, California, for a week.
The programme is organised by the Swisscom branch office in Palo Alto in collaboration with Venturelab, the national training programme for start-ups in Switzerland.
Roger Wüthrich-Hasenböhler, head of Swisscom’s small and medium-sized enterprises division, said: “This fund allows us to increase our commitment to young Swiss entrepreneurs. We will help them by providing them with funding and our ICT expertise.”