Les Roches launches a new forum to shape the future of hospitality with SPARK Start-Up Summit

• From 15-17 April, Les Roches Crans Montana hosted the first edition of the SPARK Start-Up Summit, a new event dedicated to transformations in hospitality, travel and customer experience.
• The event combined start-up pitches, keynotes, panel discussions, workshops and networking, with a strong focus on the intersection of hospitality, technology, applied research and Swiss innovation.
• Key themes emerging from the discussions included AI designed to better support teams, hospitality remaining fundamentally human, the growing importance of data, and a more demanding vision of sustainability.
• Four start‑ups were recognised: Agimus Technologies, Grill, Noah Journey and GuestPulse.
• A second edition has already been announced for February 2027 at Les Roches Crans‑Montana.

With this first edition of the SPARK Start-Up Summit, Les Roches Crans-Montana has laid the foundations for a new forum dedicated to the major transformations shaping the hospitality sector.

Over three days, the campus welcomed entrepreneurs, experts, researchers, students and partners around a shared observation: the industry is entering a phase of profound change, at the crossroads of artificial intelligence, data, evolving professions and new expectations regarding the customer experience.

AI, data and new use cases at the heart of discussions

The SPARK Start‑Up Summit approached AI not as a slogan, but as a set of tools to be questioned, structured and tested against real‑world conditions.

Several speakers emphasised that, in hospitality, AI only makes sense when built on reliable data, relevant use cases and a deep understanding of guest expectations. Lucilla Crosta, founder of Edulai, underlined that “the more powerful a tool is, the more critical thinking becomes essential.”

The start‑up projects presented helped bring this reflection to life. Hotelistat demonstrated how an AI‑enhanced revenue management system can aggregate over 1,000 variables, serving 400 clients in more than 20 countries, with an average reported revenue increase of 15%. GuestPulse illustrated how online reputation can become a tangible commercial lever, presenting a case study in Montreux where a hotel increased its reviews from 1,100 to 2,500 within 12 months.

Transformations that reinforce the value of the human factor

Far from replacing the relational dimension of hospitality, technological developments make its core competencies even more visible: empathy, listening skills, judgement and the ability to create memorable experiences.

Carlos Díez de la Lastra, CEO of Les Roches, explained: “With SPARK, we want to demonstrate that it is possible to remain faithful to the essence of hospitality, deeply human, while fostering innovation, creativity and transformation. Today more than ever, our role is to educate leaders capable of combining all these dimensions.”

Concrete debates on data, experience and sustainability

The event also addressed broader issues extending beyond technology alone. Pascal Buchner, President of the H-Community Foundation, advocated for more equitable and transparent data governance in hospitality, enabling establishments to better understand, use and retain the value of their data.

Pritpal Singh, COO of Left Lane Development, defended a more grounded, local and experiential vision of luxury hospitality, noting that the most impactful projects are often those rooted in the history and identity of a place.

The panel discussion on sustainability went beyond traditional conversations around labels and compliance. Speakers argued that hospitality stakeholders should aim not only to reduce negative impact, but also to generate positive effects for employees, partners and local ecosystems.

A strong signal for the Swiss innovation ecosystem

This first edition also reaffirmed a strong ambition: to more closely connect hospitality with Switzerland’s innovation ecosystem. The presence of Switzerland Innovation Park Network West EPFL, which supports innovative companies by connecting them with leading Swiss universities and research centres, and the IDIAP Research Institute gave concrete momentum to this objective.

Giovanni Porcellana, Deputy Director of Switzerland Innovation Park Network West EPFL, commented: “This partnership with Les Roches allows hospitality to enter a broader innovation ecosystem, while also enabling hospitality to enrich the way we think about innovation.”

Awards designed as genuine acceleration levers

The start‑up competition recognised four projects across three award categories:

Swiss Tech Discovery Program – awarded to Grill

Grill develops an internal AI agent designed for hotels, helping teams manage operations through a conversational interface connected to hospitality software systems. Its ambition is to streamline tasks, preserve guest knowledge despite staff turnover, and strengthen human presence rather than replace it. This award grants three months of free access to the Switzerland Innovation Park Network West EPFL ecosystem, infrastructure and networks.

Les Roches Incubation Program – awarded to Agimus Technologies

Agimus Technologies offers a platform that connects fragmented data systems within organisations, enabling AI models and agents to operate on structured, usable data. The solution is particularly suited to complex environments such as hospitality, supply chain and aviation, where data interoperability is a prerequisite for innovation. The award provides three to six months of incubation at the Les Roches Crans‑Montana campus, with professional support for market entry.

Go‑To‑Market Prize – awarded to Noah Journey

Noah Journey addresses a largely unstructured market: travelling with pets. The start‑up aims to manage the entire journey – documentation, booking, transport and arrival – making travel smoother and more reliable for pet owners. The prize, offered by ILUNION Hotels, opens opportunities for pilot projects, partnerships or market entry with partner companies.

Go‑To‑Market Prize – awarded to GuestPulse

GuestPulse develops an active online reputation management solution enabling hospitality and F&B teams to more effectively solicit guest reviews and track performance. By connecting digital reputation directly to on‑site operations, the platform aims to turn online visibility into a concrete driver of trust and revenue. The prize, presented by NH Hotel / Minor Group, also opens opportunities for pilot projects, partnerships or market collaboration.

A long‑term initiative

The Les Roches SPARK Start‑Up Summit is designed as a long‑term platform as a place for debate, experimentation and collaboration dedicated to the hospitality of tomorrow.

Giovanni Odaglia, Managing Director of Les Roches Crans‑Montana, said: “This first edition is only the beginning of a much broader ambition. With SPARK, we aim to position Les Roches Crans‑Montana sustainably on the map of innovation and technology applied to hospitality, while continuously evaluating the real impact of the projects and collaborations initiated here.”

Francesco Derchi, Associate Professor and SPARK Lead at Les Roches Crans‑Montana, added: “With SPARK, our ambition is to create far more than an event – a space where ideas are tested against reality, where students, entrepreneurs, researchers and professionals can challenge perspectives, experiment together and imagine new responses to the deep transformations of hospitality.”

The second edition of the SPARK Start‑Up Summit will take place in February 2027.