AACSB International, the world’s largest business education association, has awarded an Innovations That Inspire award to the LeadiNNg to Scale-up program offered by IMD and Innovaud.
The program empowers startup founders to accelerate the transition of their enterprises from startups to scale-ups. Launched in 2022, the program was jointly developed by Innovaud, the innovation and investment promotion agency for the canton of Vaud, and IMD to support the next generation of fast-growing tech companies.
“At IMD, we’re committed to delivering real learning and real impact. We feel privileged that our partnership with Innovaud to accelerate startup growth has been acknowledged,” shared Dean of Executive Education Misiek Piskorski. “This recognition reflects our dedication to empowering entrepreneurs with the knowledge, cutting-edge tools, and network they need to scale their businesses successfully.”
Liftoff
CEO of Innovaud Patrick Barbey says the program emerged to address a gap in the support provided to promising and fast-growing startup companies.
“At that stage, founders could have the impression that the scaling phase would be easy, yet there are many challenges,” he said. “In co-creating this program, we saw a need for more tools, resources, and advance warnings for firms to survive and thrive.”
A collaborative planning effort resulted in the development of a six-month program in which a small cohort of founders convene twice monthly with faculty for sessions on strategy, innovation, artificial intelligence, sustainability, leadership, culture, and more. During most sessions, successful entrepreneurs join to share first-hand experiences and insights.
Adjunct Faculty and Program Director Jim Pulcrano, said, “The founders are hungry. So many things that we teach resonate. Engagement is high because the content and the learnings are immediately applicable.”
Entrepreneurs from startups with eight or more employees and CHF 1 million in raised capital are interviewed by Pulcrano before joining the program. To date, 49 founders and leaders have graduated with a fourth cohort of 14 enrolled for this year.
Scaling-up
Romain Blaser, the founder of the artificial intelligence-powered supply chain startup Haidi, was familiar with IMD after receiving support from a team of MBAs through the Startup Projects initiative.
Now enrolled in the program, Blaser shares, “There’s nothing like bringing startups, all at a similar stage of growth, into one room with entrepreneurs and top-tier professors. There are great learnings from being surrounded by others who are going through the same challenges.”
Recognized by AACSB
The annual Innovations That Inspire award recognized 26 institutions worldwide this year championing change in business education. According to AACSB, the business schools receiving the award in 2025 “are innovating through partnerships, forging collaborative solutions that elevate communities and businesses.”
This is the second Innovation That Inspires honor that IMD has received, with Professor of Strategy and Innovation Cyril Bouquet’s MBA Innovation Week recognized in 2021. IMD has been accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) since 2004.
The LeadiNNg to Scale-Up program is just one initiative that links IMD with the Swiss start-up and scale-up ecosystem. Others include the Startup Competition, the internships and transformative projects of the Enterprise for Society Center’s master’s program, and the Venture Capital Asset Management program, a four-day executive education learning program led by Pulcrano, which has a next session beginning in May.
Pulcrano describes the initiatives as a “confluence of programs,” demonstrating IMD’s deep links with the Vaud innovation ecosystem.
Learn more about the LeadiNNg to Scale-Up program.
