Switzerland is more and more active with startup activities. You often hear that the startup scene is nothing compared to renowned European hubs like Berlin or London. Yes, it’s true, at least in term of startups funded, of startups growing quickly or in terms of successful exits. However, there are a lot things happening, and many new initiatives are popping up almost every week (making it harder and harder for everyone new on the scene not to get lost in the wide panel of activities). For instance, a first Digital Festival was organized in Zürich back in September. Geneva welcomed its first Startup Weekend dedicated to Fintech early October (@Fintech FUSION, of course!).
Hackathons are also more and more trendy, with the biggest European one happening in Zürich in September, but also with other ones taking place in the 2nd Swiss startup hub, at EPFL. Facebook organized one last year, a new one, LauzHack, will be held on Nov. 19th (but it is sold out). And there are the Make Open Data hackathons taking place in many other places.
Update: there will be a blockchain hackathon in Zürich, also on 18-19th of November, powered by the 3 biggest Swiss insurances.
On Nov 19th, a new hackathon dedicated to e-commerce will take place in Geneva: MobileHack. Co-organized by SeedSpace (a very cool co-working place with 2 locations in Geneva, the second was opened a few weeks ago and that’s where the hackathon will take place) and by ESHMédias (media group owning mainly Western Switzerland local newspapers). About 60 participants (hurry up to apply, seats are limited) will gather for a 36h hackathon to foster e-commerce solutions bridging mobile experience with local dealers. Hack the shops!