Six Swiss founders, fifteen students, one week in Singapore

The motorway from Changi Airport cuts straight through a belt of tropical rainforest. Outside the van, it was 33 degrees, though the 70% humidity made it feel more like 38. A far cry from the wintery weather settling over Switzerland. As the city drew closer, the trees gave way to a futuristic skyline. It was easy to see why Singapore is one of the world’s biggest business and finance hubs.

Our co-founder, Yentl Spiteri, had just landed with a delegation of Swiss founders and students. Ahead of them was a week of learning from some of the region’s top business leaders: nearly 40 meetings in five days, with just enough room left over for the sights and street food.

The trip was organised by STARTUP CAMPUS Switzerland, a consortium of universities, associations and technoparks that supports Swiss founders and startups. Yentl was one of six founders, travelling alongside fifteen part-time master’s students. The aim was to learn how Swiss businesses can grow in Southeast Asia, straight from the people who’ve already done it.

The week opened with briefings at the Swiss Embassy and the Singapore Economic Development Board, followed by a tour of ETH Zurich’s Future Cities Laboratory. From there, the schedule moved between venture capital funds and investors, including Active Capital Asia, Farro Capital and 500 Global; global companies such as Bühler Group and Givaudan; fast-growing businesses like Ascenda and SGProtein; and the Swiss business community at SwissCham Singapore.

“The biggest learning was the cultural side: how people in this part of the world do business,” said Yentl. “Southeast Asia is a massive region with many different cultures and languages. To expand, you have to understand the local norms and learn new ways of communicating.”

Themes of persistence and resilience kept coming up in the meetings - not just on an individual level, but also for the country as a whole. “Singapore’s geographical and historical context means it needs both of those qualities to survive,” Yentl said. “That’s ultimately what has led it to become one of the best business countries and economies in the world.”

As valuable as the meetings were, some of the best conversations happened in between them. “Getting to know the other founders and students was a real highlight,” said Yentl. “Everyone brought a completely fresh perspective.”

The students came from sorts of backgrounds, studying part-time alongside jobs in banking, marketing and beyond. At least one already ran a wine business on the side. The founders’ worlds were just as varied - from Philip Baumann’s Z22 Technologies AG, a quantitative hedge fund investing across both traditional finance and digital assets, to Michael Geraets’ MyCargoGate, a logistics business whose most important deliveries include time-critical medical shipments, such as stem cells being rushed to labs.

The organisers encouraged the founders and students to mix, though they needn’t have worried. “At one point I was in the van with the students and they started bombarding me with questions,” she said. “I loved sharing what I’ve learnt from co-founding Von Peach, and hearing about everyone else’s journeys.”

Not everything from the week applied to Von Peach - as a creative communications hub, we don’t manufacture anything (unless you count stories), and we don’t need an office in every country. But Yentl spotted a clear need for what we do among Swiss companies expanding into Southeast Asia.

“Pharma companies are moving production to Singapore,” she said. “They have to let people go, recruit, and bring teams together. That’s change management. That’s storytelling. There’s so much we could help with.”

With follow-up conversations already underway, the trip may prove to be just the beginning.

Singapore was built on ambitious plans and careful design. But for Yentl, the lesson that will stay with her is a simpler one: wherever you do business, it starts with people. Sometimes that’s in a boardroom forty floors up. And sometimes it’s in the back of a van.