Summer School EAFIT Colombia – FHNW Switzerland 2022
The international Summer School organised by EAFIT (Colombia) and FHNW focused on the theme of entrepreneurship in a cross-cultural context.
A total of 26 students, 15 from EAFIT and 11 from FHNW, participated in this intensive two-week international summer school. At the beginning of the course, students with business ideas presented their projects in a short pitch. From a total of nine ideas, the students chose five to work on as group projects in order to turn ideas into viable business plans.
The first week was spent in Switzerland, where the students were inspired by inputs from academics as well as successful entrepreneurs like Andrew from Seshoai and Karina from Mochil. Both have founded start-ups that bring together different cultures and therefore fit perfectly with the theme of the Summer School. Moreover, the students gained valuable insights into pitching from Mirjam from MyCamper and learned how to test new products with customers from Rahel and René from Avenwood. On cultural excursions, the students were treated to scenic tours of the Rigi and Lake Lucerne.
The second week, which took place in Medellín, Colombia, saw the students take on topics like prototyping and financial planning. They were introduced to the dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystem of Colombia by visiting TorreAlta, an up-and-coming craft beer brewery, and Ruta N, the innovation and business center of Medellín which is establishing software valleys for the local communities to attend workshops and get access to modern technical facilities. The week in Colombia also provided many cultural highlights from dance lessons with 150 international students to visits to recently transformed neighborhoods La Sierra and Commune 13.
After last year’s hybrid online format, the Summer School EAFIT – FHNW 2022 again provided a unique opportunity for the participating students and staff to take a deep dive into multi- and cross-cultural entrepreneurship and to expand their network across oceans and continents.
At the end of two packed weeks, the students pitched the business models they had been working on to a jury of EAFIT professors of EAFIT who provided valuable feedback and inputs on how to further develop the business models. The winning two business ideas were even nominated for the finals of the Swiss Start-up Challenge of FHNW. Regardless of the final pitch, all groups want to continue working on their business ideas to get their start-ups off the ground.
