The development and use of digital technologies, particularly those in retail and financial services, are becoming ever more important. Last year, Valora established its new Valora Lab, whose task is to develop and evaluate new digital business ideas. The Lab uses sector-overarching digital platforms to interact with start-up firms, talented young IT specialists and other companies.
Valora joins DigitalZurich2025
Having gained extremely valuable experience as a retail-industry sponsor of the HackZurich15 event last year, Valora intends to use the digital-innovation platforms hosted by the ETH (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) and other universities. To complement these initiatives, Valora has also become a corporate member of the DigitalZurich2025 Association. The Association's objective is to position the Zurich area as Europe's leading digital-innovation hub, thus enabling Switzerland to benefit from the new applications and services developed there. A number of activities and initiatives have already commenced in support of that goal. One of these is the Kickstart Accelerator, which enables young start-up companies to develop their business ideas and plans with the help of experienced mentors and specialists. More information on this can be found on www.kickstart-accelerator.com.
Participation in Swiss Innovation Outpost events
Valora has taken a further digital-innovation initiative by joining the Swiss Innovation Outpost. This organisation hosts events attended by numerous Swiss companies, both established and new, enabling them to become acquainted with interesting start-ups from Germany, particularly Berlin. For start-ups wishing to expand their operations into the Swiss market, these events provide excellent access to established Swiss companies. The Swiss Innovation Outpost recently held its kick-off meeting at the Swiss Embassy in Berlin. Attendance at these industry events will not only provide Valora with privileged access to peer companies and start-ups, but will also enable it to identify emerging digital-innovation trends. More information on this organisation can be found on www.innovation-outpost.ch.
Valora to participate in Mondeléz International's Shopper Futures programme
Mondeléz has launched an innovative co-operation programme enabling hand-picked retail and programme partners in Germany, Austria and Switzerland to work with start-ups on new digital initiatives. The Shopper Futures programme, already successfully established in the United States, aims to attract start-up teams with new ideas and solutions designed to revolutionise the shopping experience, both at the physical and virtual point of sale. As the only Swiss partner in this programme, Valora aims to promote the development of new technologies and concepts which will shape the future of retail. Start-ups wishing to participate in the programme still have until April 10 to submit their applications to www.shopperfutures.de. In the words of Michael Mueller, Valora's CEO, “We are convinced that targeted dialogue with start-ups will enable us to work on the joint development of new products and services, to initiate new co-operations and to raise Valora's profile as an employer of talented young IT professionals.”