EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year finalist Christian Brönnimann: I still have time for beach volleyball

DECTRIS CEO Dr. Christian Brönnimann won the Swiss Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2018 title in October, and now it’s time for the big stage. This week business leaders from around the world gather in Monaco for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year event, and Brönnimann is one of them.

Christian Brönnimann founded the high-tech company DECTRIS in 2006 to commercialize novel high performance X-ray cameras for scientific, industrial and medical applications, and the company has maintained excellent financial health during rapid growth. Brönnimann has not needed external investors, and his eye is on the long term: instead of creating a shooting star and getting rich from selling the firm, Brönnimann wants to build something that he can hand over to the next generation.

DECTRIS products dominate scientific applications especially in life sciences: more than half of all new protein structures are determined using DECTRIS detectors around the world, and the vaccine for Zika virus was one example of a discovery made with the company’s products.

Brönnimann proudly represents Switzerland and is humbled to be among the 47 entrepreneurs joining the Monaco event this week: “I see a lot of talent, vision and drive”. However, Brönnimann’s vision has led the company this far, and the researcher-turned-entrepreneur also has a secret weapon: “I often leave the office and play beach volleyball with my friends at 6 p.m.” Family, friends, and generally a good work-life balance are one of Brönnimann’s long-term driving forces. After all, he’s not doing this alone: he has found excellent people to create, build and sell the DECTRIS detectors.

The Ernst & Young event culminates at the World Entrepreneur Of The Year gala on Saturday, June 8, 2019, when the winner is announced. “I’m excited to spend time with excellent entrepreneurs from different businesses around the world”.

Related story: Read about Christian Brönnimann’s EoY 2018 victory