A San Francisco startup founder says a small black gadget he left in a Davos hotel lobby bought him 13 hours in Swiss custody and a fast-track education in World Economic Forum security. Police treated the homemade device as suspicious, handcuffed him, took his fingerprints and put him in a local cell overnight before finally releasing him with a temporary ban from the conference security zone.
According to The SF Standard, the founder, 31-year-old Sebastian Heyneman, realized his black box had gone missing after leaving it on a table at the Grandhotel Belvédère. Hotel security escalated the find, a bomb squad was called in, and Swiss authorities detained Heyneman for about 13 hours while they examined the device. He later told reporters he was banned from the Davos area until the end of the week.
"I'm not malicious, but I'm very stupid," Heyneman told The SF Standard, describing the prototype as a black cube he had finished assembling in his hotel room from motherboards, loose wires and tools. He said the device was a nonfunctional anti-fraud prototype meant to demo a chip-verification concept for potential investors and bankers attending the Forum, not to trigger a full-blown security operation.
The Pitch And The Prototype
Semafor, which also interviewed Heyneman, reported that he has been funding ventures since selling Asana stock and is pitching his current project under the name Verdico. Semafor reviewed a police release stating that the device "seemed suspicious" inside the WEF security zone and reported that authorities pressed him on the code and construction of the gadget while it was under scrutiny.
Legal And Security Ramifications
Heyneman said officers scanned his fingerprints to see if he was an international spy, and that a technical expert walked him through the device's code before police let him go. Semafor reports that Swiss authorities have not issued public charges and that his release notice barred him from the Davos security zone through Friday.
For San Francisco founders and engineers, the episode lands as a sharp reminder that makeshift hardware and unattended prototypes can trigger serious security responses, especially inside heavily policed international events. Heyneman says he plans to try again at Davos in 2027; for now, his trip stands as a cautionary tale about pitching in public without proper context or clearance.
