Learn more about the incredible network of partners we work with to deliver mentorship, professional coaching, and insight sessions as part of the START Fellowship program.
The START Fellowship program is divided into four key stages:
The start of your entrepreneurial journey begins with an eight-weeks online program, launching in September. During these initial eight weeks, you’ll participate in a series of workshops, founder stories and community activities designed to get you thinking. By the end of the incubator, you'll have designed and created your MVP which you can use in your application for our accelerator program in Switzerland..
In the final stage, which takes place in Switzerland, we take things offline and deliver professional mentorship, coaching, and workshop sessions so you can see your startup really begin to take shape. By the end of your journey with us, you’ll return home with your business (all kinks ironed out), a host of knowledge, learnings and expert industry insights, and even some potential investments to get your startup off the ground. Not to mention we’ll also give away up to USD 30’000.
Embark on your start-up journey with START Fellowship and add key skills, experiences, and industry knowledge to your arsenal.
Workshops
Hosted by external partners from a range of industries, our interactive workshops dive deep into key topics from the startup space, including fundraising, finances, sales and customer acquisition, customer feedback, business models, and marketing and branding.
4-month founder scholarship
If you make it to the final stage, we’ll offer you a founder scholarship to come to Switzerland for 4 months — we’ll even cover your expenses, such as travel, living costs, insurance and more. We want you to be able to fully focus on your startup during your time in Switzerland while leveraging all of the formats we offer to you.
Deep dives
Get reliable, pragmatic advice and top tips on how to build a successful business during input sessions delivered by experienced entrepreneurs and industry experts. The deep dives are our individual program with small groups that offer the chance to ask startup specific questions.
Investment Committee & Office Hours
Pitch your ideas directly to professional VCs as part of your prep and receive valuable, actionable feedback on your startup and business model.
Courses at the University of St. Gallen
Attend classes at one of the leading business universities in Europe to expand your knowledge and broaden your understanding of the international business landscape.
Founder Q&As
Get to know some of the most inspiring founders in exclusive formats where they share their stories and answer all the questions you’re interested in.
BUILDING
PROFESSIONAL MENTORING & COACHING
A GLOBAL NETWORK
ALUMNI SUPPORT
START Fellowship is a student-run accelerator program designed to fill the entrepreneurial ecosystem gap that excludes young entrepreneurs from low- and middle-income backgrounds.
START Fellowship is an interdisciplinary program open to all, aiming to provide equal development opportunities and resources for entrepreneurs, regardless of where they come from.
Since it's launch in
START Fellowship has...
helped
young entrepreneurs make their ideas a reality...
resulting in
successful start-ups...
raising over
(one YC participation).
You can find out more about our incredible partners and supports on our partners page. Note that the list is constantly being updated due to new partners being onboarded, so it may not be fully up-to-date for the current iteration of the program.
The universities are listed exhaustively in this list:
While German is prominent in the city of St. Gallen, English is commonly spoken by locals. Students and program-related members all work and communicate in English.
While START Fellowship and its partners will cover all living costs, such as dining expenses, you’ll need to have some pocket money to cover any additional expenses you might have. Anything outside the program, for example if you want to go shopping, will be at your own expense. You can find more information about average prices in St. Gallen here.
If you're unable to find the information you need in our FAQ section, please feel free to reach out directly to Samuel Kehl from our Startup Scouting team at START Fellowship.
Samuel Kehl
Startup Scouting | START Fellowship
startup@startglobal.ch
+41 78 255 35 76
Strike up the conversations that will kick-start your success at START Summit — the annual student-run conference for entrepreneurship and technological innovation.
Uncover employment opportunities, meet founders, investors and industry experts, and attend exciting keynotes and workshops to grow your professional network and expand your knowledge.
Create, collaborate, code and compete at our annual hackathon.
Run by students, for students, START HACK bridges the gap between the worlds of business and technology to create exciting opportunities for talented young developers, including the chance to win life-changing and project-launching prize money.