Every year IMD Lausanne searches for the most promising startups it can find to work with 90 full-time MBA participants.

Over the past 13 years, more than 180 ventures have profited from this collaboration. 20 startups were chosen in total for 2011 and will have a team of five to seven MBA students to challenge their business plans. VirtaMed is one of them.

IMD's MBA and Executive Education programs are ranked highly by the world's most influential business publications such as "Financial Times", "The Economist" or "Forbes". Thus, the IMD startup competition provides a unique opportunity for Swiss technology startups to benefit from the help and insights of a team of experienced MBA and Executive MBA students. These students are screened to participate in two of the most selective and toughest business programs in the world.

What VirtaMed expects from this collaboration
The objectives are two-fold: Provide a hands-on learning experience in entrepreneurship for the MBA students. And provide input and support to regional startup companies, to improve their chances of success. Expectations include solving the most pressing business challenges that lie ahead, validation of the existing business model, testing of new concepts and ideas, and defining the roadmap for the next 3-5 years.

We are looking forward to a fruitful cooperation!

To find out more about the IMD startup competition 2011, please visit their website.

And this is "our" MBA Team:

From left to right: Mario Pertusa, Francesco Saccani, Elisa Vimercati, Hannes Wakonig, Anders Lindholm, Michael Conry