Carol Ackermann, a founding member about the difference to other conferences: “From listening to exploring and making – a truly global initiative with the mutual understanding: 'the more you put in the more you get out.'” Only a few, but very igniting keynote speakers will inspire this forum.
Participating countries are organizing monthly “national startup competitions.” The winners from each country will be invited to Lucerne in 2018 and compete for the world’s best startup. The organization will help several hundred innovative entrepreneurs to gain global visibility at no cost to the startups.
“We don’t want to be an elite club, but make sure the most qualified people join the forum,” said Rene Zeier, co-founder and CEO of the WIForum. Attendance is either by invitation or confirmed application only.
For businesses from any country to equally represent themselves in the WIForum, sponsorship levels are based on gross domestic product per capita (GDP/C). A lead sponsor from Rwanda would pay €750 while the same sponsor level from a French business would be asked to pay €38,000.
Khem Lakai, WIForum ambassador from Nepal: “Challenges we face in Nepal may be different from Nigeria, France, or Japan and never in our history the world comes together to this scale to share, and solve entrepreneurial problems of today and tomorrow.”
World Innovations Forum was founded by a group of entrepreneurs and investors from multiple countries. More information http://wiforum.com
