HSG students support startups from emerging markets with START Fellowship

30 startup founders from a total of 11 Latin American and African countries arrived in St.Gallen at the beginning of February. They will take part in START Fellowship – an intensive accelerator programme for young entrepreneurs – until mid-May. It was launched in 2020 by START Global, an organisation of HSG students. Since then, 125 startups and 155 founders have completed the programme. They have since created over 400 jobs and received around 8 million Swiss francs in investments in their home countries.

“With START Fellowship, we want to open up opportunities for young founders from lower-income countries and empower them to initiate change in their home countries,” says Benedict Wolters, managing director of START Fellowship. The programme is free of charge for the young entrepreneurs: Fondation Botnar, a philanthropic foundation based in Switzerland, covers the training and living costs.

Over 350 startups reviewed

In St.Gallen, the founders first complete an introductory course on entrepreneurship with HSG teacher and entrepreneur Torben Antretter. “All founders also receive two personal mentors for the entire duration of the fellowship,” says Wolters. These mentors are successful founders or investors. The fellows meet three to four times a week and receive expert input on a startup topic such as financing, business model development or legal aspects. “If a startup needs additional support, we have a large pool of coaches and mentors,” says Wolters. At the same time, the startups design their own programme and work on developing their business.

Students from a partner university of HSG can apply for the START Fellowship Accelerator. Their startup should already offer a specific product or service. START Global has done extensive research to make a selection of startups: Wolters and his team travelled through three African and eight Latin American countries in the summer of 2024. At universities, they organised so-called pitching competitions where startups could present their business ideas. “We looked at around 350 startups,” says Wolters.

190 startups can take part in a free, eight-week incubator programme, which START Global is organising digitally. “This enables us to reach startups that are in a very early business phase and some of which only have an idea. The programme validates this and supports the founders in implementing an initial prototype,” says Wolters.

Meeting with 400 investors 

Of the 30 founders selected for START Fellowship, around 80 per cent have a scientific background. The current fellows have companies in the fields of climate change mitigation, digitisation of healthcare, software development, agriculture and transport.

Highlights of the programme include trips to Berlin, Munich and Zurich, where various meetings with companies and investors are on the agenda. At the START Summit, Europe's largest startup conference on 21–22 March in St. Gallen, the fellows will also present themselves in a dedicated area.

One of the aims of the programme is to make the startups attractive to external investors: At the end, there is a so-called “Demo Day” where all the startups can present themselves. START Global has invited around 400 investors to this digital event, mainly from the startups' countries of origin. “In addition, the Fellows will meet with various investors during their time in St.Gallen for in-depth academic exchanges,” says Wolters.

HSG students learn a lot through volunteer work

START Global also makes monthly investments in selected startups without any strings attached. To receive the investment, the startups have to pitch and explain why they need the money. A total of CHF 300,000 is invested in this way during the fellowship. In addition, all fellows receive a kick-off grant of CHF 6,000 each.

These investments make the programme even more attractive. For the team behind START Fellowship – around 15 HSG students – they mean valuable experience. “In a conventional placement, you are hardly responsible for such sums. We students are learning a lot through our voluntary work for the fellowship,” says Wolters, who is 21 years old and is doing his bachelor's degree at HSG.