A new foundation announced at the Swiss Economic Forum earlier this month has an unlikely backer: Rolex.
The Deep Tech Nation Switzerland Foundation, which is also backed by Swisscom, UBS and Sicpa, wants to injects 50 billion francs into Swiss tech start-ups, as a lack of venture capital in the country — and in Europe in general — hinders innovations from scaling up and succeeding on a global scale.
Switzerland's 2,500 start-ups, which employ 30,000 people, are currently financed at 80% by foreign investments. The new foundation backed by Rolex wants to double the capital available from 2.5 billion to 5 billion francs per year until 2030.
Except for a small Rolex logo on the foundation’s website, Rolex’s involvement is discreet, and no press releases were issued by the watchmaker — a sharp contrast from its sponsorships elsewhere, as recorded in these pages.
After the U.S. Open in golf ended last week, a championship sponsored by Rolex and won by a Rolex Testimonee, the brand is gearing up for one of its most conspicuous sponsorships of the year: Wimbledon.