SEF.Growth Event with Innosuisse

How Innosuisse Empowers Start-ups and SMEs' Innovation 

Start-ups and SMEs seeking innovation support definitely benefit from this best practice event with Innosuisse. Even companies and individuals without business ideas could gain valuable insights from this event. By obtaining an overview of the numerous Innosuisse support instruments, it becomes possible to quickly get started when the time comes to seek support for innovation. 

Innosuisse, the Swiss Innovation Agency, distributes 300 million Swiss francs annually to innovative start-ups and SMEs. However, how is this money allocated to the companies? This is a question that nobody from the audience could answer at the beginning of the Innosuisse event in Memox.world Basel. The answer holds significant value for founders actively seeking innovation support. Ursina Krähenmann, Research, Development & Food Innovation Director at Koa Switzerland AG, said, "Innosuisse offers diverse support programs, making it challenging to get a brief overview." Thus, all panel participants recommend learning about the options in advance. As an entrepreneur, you can then choose the right support offering for your project, saving valuable time when Innosuisse support becomes a pressing need. 

Innovative ideas can apply for Innosuisse support

For example, if you need to develop a product, conduct specific market research, or validate a thesis for your innovation, you can collaborate with research teams from Swiss universities at the cost of Innosuisse. Starting in the application process, you work with the chosen university department to write the proposal paper and submit it. "Mentors from Innosuisse, like me, provide help with that and eventually evaluate the application papers. We ensure the project is scientific, innovative, and connected to a business case," explains Beat Dobmann, an experienced Innovation Mentor at Innosuisse. "So-called 'me too' ideas are not accepted as they copy previous ideas or collide with existing patents." 

Innosuisse projects from start-ups accelerate their journeys

Successful and renowned start-ups like Climeworks and Koa Impact have conducted several Innosuisse projects. Climeworks transformed from a demonstrator version to the first ready-for-market version installed in Hinwil in the canton of Zurich, which was ten times bigger than the demo version. Nathalie Casas, former Head of Technology at Climeworks, and Ursina Krähenbühl openly share their experiences with Innosuisse, admitting that they needed to adapt their project applications to fulfill the criteria, even though it wasn't what they initially wanted. Also, the speed of the universities and the start-ups doesn't always match. Beat Dobmann, however, puts that into perspective: "Often, start-ups are slower in the application phase because, when writing their proposal, they realize what is missing and wasn't thought through yet. The idea ripens in the process. During that time, it happens that, for once, universities have to wait for the start-ups." 

The overall experience of Casas and Krähenbühl with Innosuisse is excellent, which is why both of them have applied for more than one support program. "We especially appreciated having a coach with an outside perspective on the company," says Nathalie Casas. And Ursina Krähenmann adds: "I would apply for Innosuisse coaching anytime again if I started a new start-up."