Greater Zurich Area

Greater Zurich Area, Inc. is a foundation promoting the economic region of Zurich in Switzerland to companies looking to expand to or within Europe. It supports those companies with information and contacts, free of charge.

CTI Start-Up USA

swissnex San Francisco's Birgit Coleman heads the CTI Start-up USA program. CTI Start-up promotes the immediate benefits of science and technology brought to market by researchers and entrepreneurs. CTI Start-up rents two desks at swissnex for Swiss startups with a CTI label who wish to take advantage of swissnex's expertise and proximity to the SF Bay Area and Silicon Valley.

These workspaces are currently occupied by:

Spatial View

The company’s vision is to make 3D more accessible, affordable, versatile, and inspiring. With the SVI family of software and a variety of high quality auto-stereo displays, Spatial View offers a wealth of adaptable solutions enabling the presentation of 3D rich content of all types, in full dimensionality, for specialty as well as the consumer mass market. Auto-stereo displays are 3D monitors with no auxiliary gadgets: eyes-only for true 3D.

FUNDO

FUNDO is an institutional asset management company whose mission is to manage mandates (mixed OPP2 portfolios, Swiss equity portfolios and foreign equity portfolios) and to structure investment funds based on quantitative analysis. They are based in the French speaking part of Switzerland, in the town of Morges, and founded by a group of asset managers and financial analysts who specialized in management consultancy and quantitative analysis. From the offices of swissnex San Francisco, Damon Krytzer, managing director for Symbiotics USA, works on behalf of FUNDO to manage its mincrofinance fund, Finethic.

Canton de Vaud

 In previous years, the Swiss Canton of Vaud, under the leadership of Director General of Higher Education, successfully developed numerous activities between the University of Applied Science of Western Switzerland and several universities in the state of California. In July of 2009, Anne-Catherine Lyon, state councilor of education, youth, and culture for the Canton of Vaud, along with a delegation of top-level individuals from Switzerland’s cantonal and federal levels, returned to California to inaugurate several Summer University programs in academic disciplines from business to wine to nursing to computer science.
The programs bring students from Switzerland together with US students for one month each summer and alternate location between the two nations. The delegation also furthered preparation for an international joint master’s programs between California universities and schools in Vaud in sustainable management, computer security, wine business, and nursing. swissnex San Francisco provided valuable services to the delegation, including workspace, support, public events, and more, and we continue to act as an important, local expert and ally, nurturing the growing relationships between the Canton of Vaud and universities on the West Coast of North America.

EPFL

In 2009, the Ecole Polytechnique Federal de Lausanne (EPFL) continued its partnership with swissnex San Francisco to include a special mandate that broadens the university’s international press outreach. With the addition of two new US communications experts, swissnex San Francisco began a targeted media campaign on behalf of EPFL with the objectives of increasing the university’s visibility in major mainstream media in North America and establishing a network of journalists interested in news and research coming out of EPFL. Along with distributing the institution’s science magazine, Reflex, to interested parties in the US, swissnex San Francisco assists the university’s talented media team with their English press releases for the US media, press kit design, social media coordination, media trend scouting, cross promotion, and more.                                     

The University of Zurich

UZH enjoys international renown as a place of education and research. It ranked 54 in the 2009 Academic Ranking of World Universities. Almost 15 percent of the student body and 50 percent of the professors are of foreign nationality, so it’s no surprise that UZH began a project in 2009 to grow their existing alumni network globally, beginning in the US in collaboration with swissnex San Francisco. In October, Josias Planta joined the swissnex team for six months as US coordinator of the International Alumni program for UZH to search for graduates of the university living in North America, update their information, and establish a network including local alumni networking events.

 A³

A³ is the association that brings graduates of EPFL together from all departments and all degrees. The group allows alumni to stay in touch, both socially and professionally, and to stay connected to EPFL. It also publishes an online directory for its members, all of whom receive a lifetime e-mail address. In December, the association launched a joint program with swissnex San Francisco with the arrival of Simon Lepin, who began a six-month intensive effort to reconnect with EPFL graduates in North America, survey and update alumni information, and organize regional alumni events in the San Francisco Bay Area and elsewhere in the US.