Switzerland's leading annual startup conference, held each May at Kursaal Bern, gathering 1,500 participants across 40+ sessions and 125+ speakers on deep tech, health, venture capital and sustainability, with a competitive pitch programme for Swiss pre-seed and seed startups.
Startup days is the annual national platform for Switzerland's startup ecosystem, held each May at Kursaal Bern. The one-day conference format concentrates the Swiss founder community with investors, corporates and researchers in a structured programme of keynotes, curated sessions and the Newcomers pitching competition. The event is organised by the startup days association and carries the backing of Swiss innovation institutions including Innosuisse and major universities.
The programme delivers 40+ sessions across themes of deep tech, health innovation, venture capital as an asset class, and sustainability. Sessions combine visionary keynote formats with practitioner-focused workshops. The 2026 programme includes sessions on IP strategy, geopolitical context for innovation and founder mental models. The Newcomers 2026 competition features 18 Swiss pre-seed and seed startups presenting to investors and corporates.
The startup days association is a Swiss nonprofit producing Switzerland's flagship startup conference. It works in partnership with Innosuisse, Venture Kick, the Swiss Patent and Trademark Institute and major Swiss universities to ensure the event reflects the national startup and innovation community.
The Newcomers programme selects 18 Swiss pre-seed and seed startups in deep tech to present at startup days in front of investors, corporates and media. Selection is competitive and requires a prior application. The 2026 cohort focuses on deep tech.
Registered attendees can use the b2match networking platform to pre-schedule meetings with other participants before and during the event. The tool has been used in previous editions to facilitate targeted investor-founder meetings.
The event is oriented around the Swiss startup community, with Swiss investors, Swiss corporate partners and Swiss institutional backing. International startups and investors attend but the event's primary value is within the Swiss ecosystem context.
Not suitable for: (1) founders outside Switzerland without a specific reason to connect with the Swiss ecosystem; (2) enterprise buyers looking for large vendor exhibitions; (3) professionals in sectors entirely outside technology and innovation; (4) attendees expecting a multi-day, multi-stage conference format; (5) investors with no Swiss portfolio or target interest.
Startup days' one-day format in Bern concentrates the Swiss innovation establishment: not the largest event but one where the investor-to-founder ratio and the institutional connections are more functional than most European equivalents of three times the size.
Tickets are paid; various categories for startups, professionals and partners. Registration is available at startupdays.ch. The Newcomers competition requires a separate application process.
The b2match platform enables advance meeting scheduling. The Newcomers pitch competition creates structured investor-facing moments for selected startups.
21 May 2026 at Kursaal Bern, Kornhausstrasse 3, 3013 Bern, Switzerland.
English is the primary working language. Some sessions may be in German or French for locally focused topics.
Yes. The pitch sessions are open to all registered attendees including international investors.
| Official website | https://startupdays.ch/ |
| Programme (SUD26) | https://sud26.startupdays.ch/ |
| BioAlps entry | https://bioalps.org/startup-days-bern/ |