BIW CBD Industry / April 2025
What happens when you bring 45 students, five teams, and a rapidly evolving global industry together for one intense, high-stakes week of business innovation?
You get bold pitches, deep insights, late nights, real-world challenges—and a whole lot of ideas with real potential.
Welcome to Business Innovation Week (BIW) at Business School Lausanne, where this spring, the focus was on the cannabis industry, and more specifically, the fast-growing world of CBD wellness.
realize that promoting cannabis products presents a
significant challenge, as society remains largely unaware
of their medical benefits. Many people still associate
cannabis with recreational use rather than recognizing its
therapeutic potential. The objective of this activity was to
target a specific audience and find effective ways to
break the social stigma surrounding medical cannabis.
Jane K
About the BIW Experience“You won’t always get second chances in the real world. Every pitch, every meeting, every room you walk into is a chance to impress—and to build your future.”
Taymour O.
About the BIW ValueThe Brief: Build a Business That Could Launch Tomorrow
From day one, BSL students were thrown into a live challenge:
Create a startup in the CBD space that is innovative, legally compliant, and ready for the market.
This wasn’t theoretical. They had to think like founders—define a problem, understand regulations, innovate responsibly, build financials, brand like pros, and pitch to a jury of real-world experts.
All in five days.
Learning from the Experts: Law, Science, Startups & Real Stories
Throughout the week, students engaged with guest speakers across law, science, entrepreneurship, and consumer experience:
Hugues du Bois, a Swiss attorney, broke down international cannabis law and the regulatory minefield that founders need to navigate.
Cedric Rimella, Co-Founder of I.D. Swiss Botanicals, gave students a front-row seat to his journey building a premium neurocosmetic CBD brand.
Pierre Friedrich, BSL alumnus and founder of Elvetia SA, returned to offer hard-earned insights from the entrepreneurial trenches.
Florian Pitou, a commercial leader in the wellness sector, spoke about scaling with purpose and tapping into market momentum.
Dr. Pierre Bohnes, an oncologist, explored cannabis’ medical potential, especially in palliative care—while cautioning about the need for more research.
Team Work and Countdown to Friday
By midweek, ideas were taking shape. Student teams huddled around whiteboards, laptops, and coffee cups—testing brand names, debating target markets, stress-testing regulations.
Their mission? To present a fully developed business plan by Friday.
The format: a “Shark Tank”-style pitch judged by BSL faculty and industry professionals.
Each team had to deliver a professional investor presentation that included:
Problem & market analysis
Product/service innovation
Legal strategy
Financial modeling
Brand identity & go-to-market plans
Conclusion: A Comprehensive Learning Experience
The Spring 2025 Business Innovation Week served as an immersive simulation of the startup ecosystem, encompassing elements of risk, vision, collaboration, and resilience. Participants engaged in practical applications, from understanding Swiss cannabis regulations to developing financial models under time constraints. This experience underscored that impactful learning often transcends traditional classroom settings, manifesting when individuals present and defend their convictions in high-pressure scenarios.
Congratulations to all teams, particularly Group 1, TheraCBD, for exemplifying the future trajectory of business innovation.
This blog was created thanks to the contributions of Jane K., Taymour O. Andre V Miracle O. and Feras
Acknowledgments
BIW Contributions
This edition of Business Innovation Week was organized by BBA and JMIB students Antonina S. and Constanza, in collaboration with the Student Council. The accompanying blog post was co-authored with contributions from BIW participants and BSL students Jane K., Taymour O., Andre V., Miracle O., and Feras Z. We extend our sincere gratitude to all students for their active participation and invaluable contributions.
