Decisive, the disruptive Next Generation wealth advisor, Sangha, the early-stage sustainable tech investment fund, and the University of Zurich, are partnering to bring Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC), the world’s largest global startup competition for purpose-driven companies, to Switzerland for the first time.

The competition aims to accelerate startups changing the world for the better through innovative technologies by providing the opportunity for global visibility and access to investment capital, corporate strategic partnerships and world-class mentorship.

In 2021 alone, the competition attracted over 3,700 startup applications from nearly 100 countries. 80 startup finalists were selected and 43% of those were female founded. The finalist cohort collectively raised over US $166 million in venture investment since being selected. XTC now boasts 21 regional competitions and 71 global partners comprised of corporations, venture capital firms, universities, policymakers, and tech conferences.

This new Switzerland regional competition pitch event will be held on March 17, 2022. Tech Startups founded or co-founded by Swiss entrepreneurs are invited to apply to this new regional competition by Feb 4, 2022.

The top three winners will automatically become global finalists of the Extreme Tech Challenge 2022 competition, where they will be invited to join a bootcamp training programme with top corporate executives and venture capital investors. The top three startups will then compete against other startups in their respective technology categories for an opportunity to showcase their startups at the Extreme Tech Challenge 2022 Global Finals to be held in partnership with TechCrunch on June 14, 2021 in San Francisco.

Decisive is sponsoring the competition as part of a global partnership with XTC as it continues to look for innovative, exciting opportunities for its clients and back the Swiss and global technology sectors.

“XTC is about the collective effort – industry leaders, entrepreneurs, investors and experts joining forces to make real progress in solving the world’s toughest challenges. That work cannot be done without the support of leading investors and academia such as Decisive, Sangha Capital and the University of Zurich. These partnerships will provide exceptional XTC startups with broader exposure, recognition and opportunities to scale their businesses and apply their solutions to real-world problems.” said Young Sohn, Co-Founder of Extreme Tech Challenge, Founding Managing Partner at Walden Catalyst Ventures, and former Corporate President and Chief Strategy Officer at Samsung Electronics. 

Commenting on the partnership, Elie Chamat, CEO and Co-Founder of Decisive said: “XTC is one of those events where you can see the future in front of your eyes. With so many technologies and businesses changing the way we live right now, seeing those companies at the start of their journey is so exciting. XTC is all about what Decisive stands for—pushing for positive change and spotting innovation at its early stages. It’s great to be able to bring this door-opening and forward-looking event to Switzerland.”

Commenting on the competition coming to Switzerland for the first time, Bill Tai, Co-Founder of Extreme Tech Challenge and Founding Limited Partner Sangha Capital said: “Switzerland is home to a lot of innovation in everything from Blockchain, consumer goods, high end retail and banking and finance, which are all hotbeds for disruptive change today. XTC is a truly global competition and we have seen it first hand here in Switzerland already with support from Sangha Capital in curating our community. Now we are stepping up our effort by partnering with Decisive and the University of Zurich as super nodes and fantastic catalysts to grow even more impact.”