IMD Annual Report 2019

149

ALUMNI COMMUNITY FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP

ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL ALUMNI EVENT

In September, IMD invited its alumni back on campus for the Annual International Alumni Event, which focused on how business can play a crucial role in providing and propagating solutions for the future. At the event, Annika Falkengren, Managing Partner, Lombard Odier Group and Member of the IMD Foundation Board, explained why Lombard Odier views the sustainability revolution as the most important investment opportunity in history. A mix of alumni practitioners and IMD faculty, complemented by an alumni panel, discussed concrete examples and practices for building a sustainable future that are implemented by both established corporations and innovative startups around the world. 49 alumni clubs worldwide 200+ alumni events around the world 50+ startups pitched ideas at ACE events 500+ alumni volunteers supporting the alumni network and IMD 100,000 alumni in 140 countries across more than 80 industries

IMD ACE’s mission is to promote the development of startups, proposed and launched by IMD participants, to make entrepreneurship accessible to alumni, and to foster an ecosystemthat facilitates mentoring and the funding of business projects as an engine for innovation and growth. IMD launches ACE in Shanghai In a joint effort with EMBA alumna Xu Lin Grace, the Alumni Club of Shanghai and IMD Professor Mark Greeven, IMD alumni in Shanghai now have an ACE chapter to help turn their ambitions of innovation and entrepreneurship into reality. At the launch event of ACE Shanghai, Mark Li, General Manager of Tencent Chuang Space and James Chou, President of Microsoft Accelerator, and others covered topics such as: What’s unique about China’s startup scene? How can big companies get better at innovating? How should companies of all sizes speed up their response to climate change? Bringing together alumni and entrepreneurship in 10 locations around the world IMD recognizes a year-over-year growing interest fromalumniforgettinginvolvedinentrepreneurship. IMD ACE continued facilitating discussion and bringing innovation and entrepreneurship to IMD alumni. IMD ACE has expanded collaborations with EPFL and University of St. Gallen alumni communities around several topics, such as Artificial Intelligence, cryptocurrencies, Biotech and Fintech.