Claudia Glass, co-founder and CEO of sports apparel company Swijin, has stood out from among more than 10,000 candidates that applied for the Entrepreneurship World Cup 2025 in Riyadh. She has been awarded USD 250,000 in the category ‘Early Stage’. The funding will be used to expand its product portfolio.
The Entrepreneurship World Cup (EWC) is a global competition designed to support and empower startups at different stages in their journey. The initiative offers the opportunity to compete for $1.5 million in prizes, powered by Mohammed bin Salman Foundation “Misk” and the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN). This year more than 10,000 applications from 169 countries were submitted and only 100 startups from a total of 47 countries were invited to the Global Finals. For a week, the finalists competed against each other in several pitch and elimination rounds.
Swiss startup Swijin was the only startup from Switzerland that made it to the finals. The company first made it into the top 64, then into the top 24 and eventually won in the category ‘Early Stage’, securing the competition’s highest cash prize of USD 250,000, in addition to obtaining access to a global network of investors, support programs, and industry partners, as well as media coverage.
Founded in 2021 by Claudia Glass, Swijin specializes in high-performance sports bras that address a key challenge many athletes face —many sports bras in the market cut into the skin, slip out of place, or feel stiff. Swijin developed a comfortable sports bra (without underwires and hard cups) that provides support without restriction. Inside, an innovative breast stabilization system ensures that the bust remains stable even during intense movement. The bras, as well as all products in its assortment, are made from high-tech materials developed in collaboration with Empa (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology).
The Swijin bra and other products are gaining traction in the sports world – some women football players wore the bra during the Women’s EURO last summer as well as female triathletes Alanis Siffert und Nina Derron during their competitions.
The prize money from EWC will allow Swijin to further develop its product technology. The company is already working on the next generation of products, the Schnuggi Ultrain, in collaboration with Empa. This new model is specially developed for women with larger bust sizes and offers even greater stabilization while allowing maximum freedom of movement.
(RAN)
