A large number of angel investors and startups are inexperienced, which discourages the number of investments and also has an impact on the quality of the “smart money” the angel investors bring along.  Closing this knowledge gap is one of – if not THE – most relevant contribution to professionalizing the Swiss startup ecosystem and supporting young entrepreneurs.

SICTIC supports the startup investing scene by offering world-class education for experienced angel investors, those aspiring to start investing in technology startups, and startup founders. In the past four years, SICTIC provided educational training sessions and startup investing knowledge to more than 5000 event participants.

Education is provided by SICTIC’s partners in various sectors, as well as by experienced angel investors who share their experiences and best practices.

Upcoming SICTIC Academy Masterclasses

All events

Explore SICTIC Investor Academy videos

Impact Investing with Yunus Erduran

Dive into the world of impact investing in this SICTIC Academy video with Yunus Erduran. The video covers the key principles of impact investing, its scope, and showcases compelling examples of impact investing in action.

Who is a good Lead Investor and how to become one?

Ralph Mogicato, Vice President of SICTIC explains who is a good Lead Investor and how to become one

How to become a Happy Angel Investor?

Ralph Mogicato, Vice President of SICTIC explains How to become a Happy Angel Investor

Additional benefits investors can bring to the table once they invest in the company

Pascal Widmer, Founding Partner of Alpana Ventures, goes into details about the additional benefits investors can bring to the table once they invest in the company.

Top three terms - aside from the valuation

Cédric Waldburg, Founding Partner of Tomahawk.vc, talks about his top three terms (aside from the valuation) which investors must absolutely consider when putting together a term sheet.

5 Ways to Assess the Team of an Early-Stage Startup

Dr Cornelia Gut-Villa, Managing Director of Startfeld Foundation, discusses her approach to selecting early-stage startups.

Cornelia invested in over 12 startups as a business angel in the past six years and had one successful exit with Carbon Delta. She is currently sitting on the board of Swisspeers and Amnis Treasury, and was awarded the 2021 Business Angel of the Year by SECA, being the second woman to receive this award in the past 20 years.

Reinforcing company culture and relationship building between startups and investors

Bettina Hein, the serial software entrepreneur that has built technology companies in both Europe and the United States, and one of the “sharkes” from the Swiss version of Shark Tank tv show, shares valuable insights on company culture to both startups and angel investors.

 

How to Exit Investments?

Dr. Michael Sidler, Co-Founder of Redalpine Venture Partners AG, discusses how to exit investments.

Michael has co-founded Redalpine Venture Partners AG in Zürich in 2006 and acts as manager and partner for three funds, Redalpine Capital I, II and III. Redalpine is a venture capital investor in technology and life science cases in Europe.

During his Ph.D. in molecular biology he soon realized that his interests were much broader. This led him to joining The Boston Consulting Group. During that time, in the dotcom bubble, he made his first steps as a business angel. “I lost more money than I gained, but that only heightened my enthusiasm for startups”. Consequentially, in 2003 he joined Prionics, one of the early Swiss role-model startups. Following his passion, he eventually changed the sides of the table to focus entirely on venture capital – because it’s in the hot spot of his interests: “firstly, science, innovation, and technology; secondly, entrepreneurship; and thirdly, the financial world.”

 

Explore Podcast co-produced by Swisspreneur

Sami Arpa & Yunus Erduran: How AI Will Change the Movie Industry


About Sami Arpa & Yunus Erduran:
⁠Sami Arpa⁠ is the CEO and founder of ⁠Largo.AI⁠, a startup providing next-generation storytelling tools for the audiovisual industry using artificial intelligence. He holds a PhD in Computational Aesthetics from EPFL and was also the co-founder of Sofy.tv, a short film streaming service later acquired by Cosmoblue.

⁠Yunus Erduran⁠ is a founder and documentary filmmaker, and one of the first investors of Largo.AI. He holds a BA in Economics from Boğaziçi University (Turkey) and is currently active as Executive Partner at Eğlenceli Bilim, a company offering curriculum-compliant science programs to all educational institutions in Turkey. He’s also the podcast producer and host of ⁠arastirmaca⁠, together with his co-host Müge Bakioğlu.

Largo has developed data-assisted intelligence which can be introduced early in the life of a film project, right from script choice and development, through filming, post-production and theatrical release. Largo empowers production companies with data-enhanced ROI uplift and reduction of risk.

Their AI models were trained with 400K+ movies/TV shows, 250K+ commercials, 950K+ talents. Largo’s clients are usually producers and studios (on the film side) and agencies and brands (on the advertising side).

Listen to the podcast

Felix & Jianhe Mao: Investing in Startups as Father and Son

In this episode, we sit down with ⁠Mao⁠ and Felix, a dynamic father-son duo who share their incredible journey through entrepreneurship, venture investing, and the startup world. Mao, a seasoned entrepreneur with decades of experience, recounts his path from studying in Germany to building businesses across Europe and Asia. After starting his career in industrial engineering, he transitioned into consulting and later founded ventures in China, including an armored cash-transport business: one of the first of its kind. By 2010, he shifted focus to MedTech startups in Europe, turning around struggling companies like neoplas Med GmbH (pioneering plasma wound treatment) and Medmira Inc. (a rapid diagnostic testing innovator). His approach? Hands-on involvement, strategic risk-taking, and a sharp eye for undervalued potential.

Felix, Mao’s son, brings a fresh perspective as a next-gen investor immersed in Switzerland’s startup ecosystem. Initially drawn to history and behavioral economics, he found corporate life uninspiring and instead dove into startups through SICTIC. There, he learned the importance of team dynamics over just product-market fit, emphasizing traits like adaptability, vision, and resilience in founders. He advocates for a more structured approach to evaluating entrepreneurs, blending academic insights with real-world due diligence. Both highlight how SICTIC’s rigorous selection process sets Swiss startups apart, favoring steady, deep-tech innovations over the “go big or go home” mentality often seen in Asia.

As Mao eyes retirement, he plans to deepen his involvement with SICTIC, mentoring the next wave of entrepreneurs. Felix, meanwhile, is just getting started, aiming to build a methodical venture investment strategy while learning from seasoned angels. Their key takeaway? Venture investing is a humbling, long-game journey that rewards patience, passion, and a willingness to take calculated risks. Tune in for their candid stories, hard-earned lessons, and why the startup world’s energy keeps them hooked!

Listen to the podcast

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SICTIC Academy Content Formats

 

Partners

SICTIC offers various valuable trainings, talks and events with an educational purpose available for its investors and those interested in making startup investments. We also provide several resources and documents available to support the startup investing life cycle from scouting to exit.

SICTIC regularly organises startup investment trainings which can be found on our events calendar. The most advanced training is the SICTIC Academy, an ongoing business angel education program which is held throughout the year and structured on different levels of expertise.

Angel Investor Trainings

How to win in B2B Sales for Angel Investors

by Manuel Hartmann on “How to win in B2B Sales for Angel Investors”, founder of The Sales Playbook, Switzerland’s Sales Accelerator for B2B Startups

From Hype to Reality - What’s Next for Investors in Blockchain Startups

by Dr Ing Heinrich Zetlmayer, Blockchain Valley Ventures General Partner (26.06.2019 at Swiss Blockchain Investor Day 2019)

Fireside chat with Fabio Cannavale and Antonio Gambardella

Fabio Cannavale, CEO of lastminute.com Group, shares his experience as founder and investor in a fireside chat with Antonio Gambardella, Managing Director of Fongit.

The Entrepreneur : Investor Investor Interface

by Ian Charles Stewart, Partner & Co-Founder WiReD Magazine (24.09.2018 @ 56th SICTIC Investor Day)

What is good investor behaviour from a founder's perspective

by Gian Reto à Porta, Co-Founder & CEO at Contovista (07.06.2018 @ 52nd SICTIC Investor Day)

Learnings, Findings and Experiences gained from 17 Years of Angel Investing

by Philip Bodmer the 2017 Swiss Private Equity & Corporate Finance Association (SECA) Angel Investor Of the Year (28.05.2018 @ 51st SICTIC Investor Day).

How to become a happy angel in 10 easy steps

by Davide Gai, serial entrepreneur, President Healthcapital SA, President of Gai&Partner (15.05.2018 @ 50th SICTIC Investor Day).

The good, The bad and the ugly truth (Lessons from the trenches of angel investing)

by Tatjana de Kerros, Startup Builder @RicoLab, Entrepreneur & VC-Enabler (03.05.2018 @ 49th SICTIC Investor Day)

Crypto Investments – Finding Diamonds in the Rush

by Ralf Glabischnig, Partner / Founder Lakeside Partners AG (13.03.2018 @ 48th SICTIC Investor Day).

5 Key Drivers of Startup Success

by Sandro Cornella, CEO at makora. Startup co-founder/manager/advisor and investor, Silicon Valley/Europe. (30.01.2018 @ 47th SICTIC Investor Day).

The Investment Journey: Transition from a Serial Entrepreneur to an Investor

by Anat Bar-Gera, co-founder and the Chairperson of Cyverse, Board Member of Bank of Cyprus (7.12.2017 @ 46th SICTIC Investor Day)

Talks

The future of digitisation: how to make the best out of this opportunity

by Richard Olsen (Founder & CEO at Lykke, Visiting Professor at Center of Computational Finance and Economic Agents, University of Essex, UK)

The Joys & Challenges of Angel Investors

by Ralph Mogicato, board member of the Swiss ICT Investor Club (SICTIC) and angel investor, and Thomas Dübendorfer, president of SICTIC and angel investor (16.03.2018 @ START Summit 2018 in St. Gallen).

Innovation at TR

by Irish McIntyre, Vice President, Product Management at Thomson Reuters (13.03.2018 @ 48th SICTIC Investor Day)

Contovista - An Insider’s View on the Journey From Incorporation to Exit in four Years

by Thomas Dübendorfer, president of SICTIC and angel investor (15.11.2017 @ Swiss Fintech Investor Day 2017, Zurich).

SICTIC Partner Day 2017

The board of the Swiss ICT Investor Club (SICTIC) looks at what has happened during the last year at SICTIC and provides an outlook for the year to come (28.06.2017 @SICTIC Partnerday 2017).

May we live in interesting times: Fintech, fear and the future

by David L. Shrier, Managing Director, MIT Connection Science (28.10.2016 @ 30th SICTIC Investor Day Fintech Zurich)

A discussion of disruption and opportunity as the Financial industry is transformed by the fintech revolution. David Shrier of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and author of the new book Frontiers of financial technology, explores this dynamic landscape.  Covering everything from the fictions and fortunes to be made around block chain, to the potential for unlocking invisible banking, he presents visions of the future.

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