Techstars Startup Weekend Geneva - Fintech Impact

Friday, December 1 - 3, 2017

Overview
Schedule
Speakers
Judges
Coaches and Mentors
Sponsors
Organizing Team

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Techstars Startup Weekend Geneva - Fintech Impact

Friday, December 1 - 3, 2017

Geneva
Startup Weekend
Events
Techstars Startup Weekend Geneva - Fintech Impact

Friday, December 1 - 3, 2017
Event starts at 6:30 pm

Fusion
Av. de la Praille 50
Carouge, Geneva 1227

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No Talk, All Action... Launch an Impactful FinTech Start-up in 54h.

Innovator? Developer? Entrepreneur? Designer? Positive thinker? Doer? Maker?

You have an idea and are looking for talented team members?
You've got talent and want to contribute to implementing an idea?
You want to learn how an idea turns into a business model in the Lean Startup way?

Blockchain, Smart Contract, Cryptocurrency, Machine Learning, Big Data, all these hype words sound familiar! These technologies and innovations are tools which can empower entrepreneur to make and create a sustainable impact on our society. For this new batch, we will focus on Impactful projects. Make Finance responsible and better with Fintech.
Come join us and build your Idea into an Impactful & Disruptive Startup! We are delighted to announce a star-studded line-up of sponsors, judges, and coaches for the much awaited Startup Weekend FinTech at Fusion accelerator on the first weekend of December 2017!

We are proud to have Symbiotics, theScreener and Walder Wyss Attorneys at law as headline sponsors, followed by other big names or emerging startups in finance, the blockchain, tech, innovation, and design - including IBM, Fintech Fusion, Investir.ch, Swissborg, Satoshirt.co and Axium. Of course, as well our global sponsors which are Google for Entrepreneurs, Techstars and .co domains. These awesome sponsors will offer swag, mentoring, great prizes and assets that will help make the weekend a great success for all our participants.

What is Startup Weekend?
The startup movement has accelerated growth in many cities and global industries, and fintech is one the most exciting and rapidly developing industries in the world! The time for entrepreneurs and innovators to work together and invest in their ideas is now. The industry in Switzerland is more susceptible to ideas now than ever before. Our goal for this event is to connect people who are passionate and want to tackle the tough challenges in the financial and fintech industries, all while learning-by-doing, firsthand, what makes a business and an idea successful.

How does Startup Weekend work:
All Startup Weekend events follow the same basic model: anyone is welcome to pitch their startup idea and receive feedback from their peers. Teams organically form around the top ideas (as determined by popular vote) and then it’s a 54-hour frenzy of business model creation, coding, designing, and market validation. The weekends culminate with presentations in front of local entrepreneurial leaders with another opportunity for critical feedback.

Why will this Startup Weekend be awesome?
We are really happy to have super great sponsors which would provide to our participant's super cool and efficient tools/process/tips for any Fintech Startups.

Symbiotics' mission is to positively impact low- and middle-income households in emerging and frontier economies in areas such as job creation, food and agriculture, housing, and energy. As a leading investment company dedicated to inclusive and sustainable finance in emerging and frontier markets, Symbiotics has originated over USD 3,890 million of impact investments since 2005. Today, Symbiotics are joining us to find and develop new innovative solutions to keep on making the finance industry more sustainable and responsible. Symbiotics
theScreener will give us the chance to access to independent and objective analysis over financial markets and to create smart and accurate WealthTech or RoboAdvisor applications. With the evaluation of more than 6,000 equities and 15,000 funds, theScreener is the European leader in independent equity analysis with more than 7 million end-users. theScreener

Startup Weekend is a full weekend-long experience. Your ticket includes:

7 full (and delicious) meals over the course of the weekend + Drinks
Prizes for the winners
Benefits and discounts from our global partners
One-on-one time with amazing mentors
A new network of developers, designers, and entrepreneurs eager, like you, to change the world.
All the coffee, Beer, RedBull you can consume....

Our awesome organizing team will make sure you will get 5 stars service with tasty food, nice drinks, and awesome atmosphere.

Event language is English.

"Fintech rocks: Make Finance sustainable...

We can't wait to welcome you there"

See what it's all about

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EVENT SCHEDULE

Friday December 1st

6:30 pm

Registration

Arrive at Fusion; check-in; check-out the space where the magic will happen!

7:00 pm

Apero & Networking

Drinks, share ideas, practice pitches, get to know fellow participants & organizing team

7:15 pm

Welcome & Speakers

Review agenda for the weekend and introduce speakers, coaches, and community leaders

8:00 pm

Pitches Start

Optionally line up to give your pitch... the more the better!

8:45 pm

Voting

Participants vote for top pitches = the projects for the weekend!

9:00 pm

Form Teams

Teams start forming and discussing ideas

9:05 pm

Diner

Delicious Food to get ready to work!

10:00 pm

Begin Work

Formalize your team and take an inventory of skills. Be honest, and direct about what resources and skills are needed for the weekend. You may stay and work as late as the venue will allow

Saturday December 2nd

9:00 am

Breakfast

Arrive at Fusion, breakfast & coffee is served!

9:15 am

Begin Work

Teams formed, setup your space, aim for the final pitch!

1:00 pm

Lunch

2:00 pm

Mentors latest check-In

Dear Mentors, see you at Fusion!

2:20 pm

Mentors introduction

2:30 pm

Coaching Kick off!

Let's meet the Coaches. They are here to help you to be awesome!

7:30 pm

Dinner

8:00 pm

Check-In

After-dinner check-in, status reports, call for help

10:00 pm

Wrap-Up

Finished for the day. You may stay and work as late as the venue will allow

Sunday December 3rd

9:00 am

Breakfast

Arrive at Fusion, yummy breakfast & coffee is served

10:00 am

Latest check-In

Keep on sprinting; if any mentors around already, ask all your questions you missed sleep over ;)

12:00 pm

Lunch

12:30 pm

Coach Meetings

Coaches arrive at Fusion… ASK THEM QUESTIONS

3:00 pm

Presentation Prep & Tech Check

Final hours of worktime should be focused on perfecting your presentation, tech-check for final presentations also takes place

4:00 pm

Dinner

Yummy dinner, stress off a bit with some food before your last sprint and pitch practice for the pitching in front of the Jury!

5:00 pm

Final Presentations

SHOW TIME!

7:30 pm

Judging & Awards

8:30 pm

Wrap-Up

9:00 pm

Go Home!

Speakers

Cyril Lapinte
CTO @ SMEx

Cyril is genuinely the Blockchain Guy in Geneva! He holds a Master Degree in Artificial Intelligence since 2004.

After 13 years working for major companies in Telecoms, e-Government and Financial Institutions, he possesses a wide and solid experience of software development and operation of online services.

Today, Cyril is enthusiastic of the disruptive possibilities given Blockchain and Smart Contracts technologies.

He is also CTO of the startup SMEx, a community marketplace for currencies.
Cyril will share with you all his knowledge and experience about one of the most disruptive technology: The Blockchain.

Michael Ambass
CTO @ hello-izi.com

Michael is a a Digital Guru and a Full Stack Developer. He is currently the CTO of a Fintech Startup hello izi -Your Stock Investment Assistant

Moreover he is Partner within a renowm Digital Agency.
Coding since the age of 12, he's a full stack Tech guru, active from Developement to Design. He is the asset you need form User Experience to powerful Algorithms.

Event Judges

Fabio Sofia
Head of Portfolio Advisory @ Symbiotics

Fabio joined Symbiotics as its first employee and was successively investment analyst, regional manager and client relationship manager. Prior to joining Symbiotics, he worked for the Human Rights Policy section of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and for LODH & Cie, a Swiss private bank, as a project manager. Fabio holds a master’s degree in International Relations from the Graduate Institute (IHEID) in Geneva as well as a certificate of advanced studies in Portfolio Management from the University of Geneva.

Hubertus Hillerström
Attorney at law, MBA @ Walder Wyss

Hubertus Hillerström is a managing associate and partner-elect in the Banking & Finance Team of Walder Wyss, one of Switzerland's major law firms.
He is specialised in national and international financings and mergers & acquisitions, including structured finance as well as private equity and venture capital transactions. He has accompanied numerous private equity and venture capital firms investing in Switzerland and regularly advises star-ups on their financing rounds.

Hubertus Hillerström was educated at Fribourg University (lic. iur. 2003 including special mentions European Law Licentiate and Bilingual Licentiate) and he holds an MBA from IE Business School (Instituto de Empresa, MBA 2013) in Madrid focused on entrepreneurship. He has working experience as trainee in law firms and banks in Zurich, Geneva, London and Madrid and as a secondee in the legal departments of banks in Geneva and Zurich specialising in financing transactions.

Diane Freymond
Digital Marketing / E-commerce

Diane has more than 9 years of experience in leading digital transformation across small and large companies. She is also an entrepreneur, and has published her own cook book. She helps starts ups to manage growth and identify new opportunities. She is also a Venture Scout, connecting ides and funding. In 2017, she co-published a study on the impact of ICOs for VC funds (www.2017icoreport.com).

Omar Bawa
Co-founder and Head of Product @ Goodwall

Omar is the cofounder of Goodwall, the professional development network for the next generation. Their mission is to lead every person to become the best version of themselves. Their members build holistic profiles based on the experience graph to showcase their achievements to universities and employers. They are supported, advised and inspired by a community of likeminded members with shared ambitions. Omar's community has already grown to 1 million + members, 70% female, in 150+ countries and 100'000 schools.

Sam Johnson
CTO @ Smartlink SA

Sam is a payments specialist from a challenger banking and mobile security background. Coming from a Development background into Product Management and team leadership, he is currently CTO for www.smartlink.ch, focussing on HCE contactless payment, card program management and alternative payments and development outsourcing. A proponent for productivity, ongoing education and equal opportunities in the tech space, Sam is a MOOC-addict, recently awarded from Future Commerce at MIT Fintech and currently enrolled in rather too many other courses, as well as an Agile aficionado, certified for the Scaled Agile Framework.

Adela Villanueva
Executive Director @ Fusion

Trilingual Professional with 13 y. of experience working with F500-Corporations, Public sector, Academia and Start-ups around the Globe (EMEA, APAC & NALA markets) developing innovation capabilities & ecosystems, creating growth strategies, building new businesses, products & services and managing digital transformations.
Adela is Fusion’s Executive Director in charge of Corporate Innovation and the FinTech, PropTech & Smart City and LifeTech accelerators.

Coaches and Mentors

Pascal Allot
Regional Manager West Switzerland & Startup ecosystem Devt @ IBM

Using my 20+ years in the technology business and my current role at IBM, I am passionately promoting digital transformation using big data, cognitive computing and the Internet of Things, working with startup ecosystems as well as established companies and organisations that are seeking to rethink business models. I am especially interested in nurturing a Swiss Fintech and Biotech startup to world-wide recognition. I am keen to share my knowledge and expertise by lecturing at the HES SO and the “Institut Suisse de formation bancaire” in Geneva.

Alexandre Callea
CTO @ clearmatics

Entrepreneur, digital enabler Alex has successfully built companies and delivered innovative digital solutions for several years now. Currently active at Clearmatics and advising several tech companies. We are very happy to have Alex on board as he can share with us all his awesome experience!

David Douek
Digital Strategy Consultant

As a digital business strategist, David has been working at various internet companies for the last 14 years, helping them generate and grow revenues. He founded I Job You, a crowdsourced recruitment platform acquired by SN Talent, worked as Marketing Director at Fogg, a hotel search engine acquired by Skyscanner and was in charge of business development and strategy at Nuroa, a real estate search engine acquired by Mitula.

Eric Gregoire
Global Industry Head @ Google

Eric is an awesome Digital Marketer Guru. Eric joined Google in 2013 as Global Head of Brand Partnership, overseeing Google’s engagement with some of Google largest advertisers and their respective media/creative agencies. Prior to joining Google, Eric was a consultant at The Boston Consulting Group in Switzerland where he focused on growth & marketing strategies for Retail and Consumer Goods clients and help set up the Geneva office. He joined BCG from Procter & Gamble where he spent 7 years in marketing to become the Western Europe Business Leader for the Color Cosmetic category. Eric is the mentor you need when you are about to launch a new product on the web !!

Peter Horvath
UX - Digital Strategist

Peter is our Digital strategist. As the founder and Moderator of the Digital Strategy & UX Meetup, he is a cornerstone of the Digital and UX community in Geneva. In his own words, Peter "connects the dots" between product, branding, and communication, building on experience from agency, consulting, and "startup-in-an-enterprise" environments. As Manager of Digital Services and Passenger Experience, he is today working on putting internet on planes. Eventually, he has the super power to cut through complexity and to find simple and efficient solutions. Peter is genuinely the UX and Digital Asset of the weekend!

Cyril Lapinte
CTO @ SMEx

Cyril is genuinely the Blockchain Guy in Geneva! He holds a Master Degree in Artificial Intelligence since 2004.

After 13 years working for major companies in Telecoms, e-Government and Financial Institutions, he possesses a wide and solid experience of software development and operation of online services.

Today, Cyril is enthusiastic of the disruptive possibilities given Blockchain and Smart Contracts technologies.

He is also CTO of the startup SMEx, a community marketplace for currencies.
Cyril will share with you all his knowledge and experience about one of the most disruptive technology: The Blockchain.

Paul Loeffler
Startup Coach and VP @ NEEO

Paul supports startups & entrepreneurs as an investor, strategist and advisor in helping them differentiate their offering, find new markets, and grow their business.
His focus is on FinTech, IoT, eCommerce and Blockchain based applications.

Specialties: Entrepreneurship • Pitching/Presentation • Investment • Business Development • Sales & Marketing Strategy • Contract Negotiations • Team Building • Alliances • Relationship Management • Languages • Territory Development • International Partnerships • Contract Negotiations • Prospecting • Technology Licensing • Integration Design • Communications • Sales & Marketing Strategy • Fluent English, German and Italian languages

Christophe Pian
Design Strategist

Christophe holds a degree in management from the Lausanne Hospitality Management School. He acted as head of operations for a video-on-demand Startup in Geneva, managing projects and leading the business development effort. He recently co-founded design workshops bridging the business & design world, while launching a human-centred design agency, helping companies with innovation, creating new product lines and with design execution capacities: from branding, to ux / ui design. He is an adept of agile, design thinking and lean management methods.

Jérémie Wagner
Head of Sales & Marketing @Business&Decision

Digital native, Jeremie likes to consider the future as a sum of opportunities that improves our lives with more emotions, simplicity and equality. Graduated with a BSc in computer science, and a Master of marketing & business development, Jeremie helps SMEs, startups and global companies to drive their digital transformation and make use of their data as an asset. Involved in the innovation community, Jeremie co-organized the conference nipconf.com (2015-2016) and co-founded the entrepreneurship podcast airccelerate.com Interests : entrepreneurship, fintech, crypto, datascience, app development, marketing, customer experience

Ekaterina Sirotyuk
Portfolio Manager Investment Solutions and Products, Credit Suisse

Lead Author "Technology Enabled Investing", department piece on applications of AI / big data in investment management.
Prior to joining Credit Suisse in 2014, Ms. Sirotyuk was a manager at a German investment company responsible for sourcing and evaluating energy related investments as well as deal structuring. Prior to that, she was an associate at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in London in the Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities department doing cross asset class structuring for European pensions and insurers.
Ms. Sirotyuk started her career as an investment analyst at UBS Alternative and Quantitative Investments, based in New York and Zurich. Ms. Sirotyuk received her B.Sc. in Economics and Management (1st class honors) from the University of London (lead college - London School of Economics) and her MBA from INSEAD, where she also did her doctorate coursework in Finance.
In addition, Ms. Sirotyuk has been a leader at the Swiss Finance + Technology Association.

Event Sponsors, and Partners

The Techstars Startup Weekend Geneva - Fintech Impact team is grateful for the support of local community partners without whom this event would not be possible.
Learn how to become a sponsor here.