Innosuisse: Swiss Accelerator

Due to Switzerland’s current status as non-associated third country in the EU’s Horizon Europe framework, Swiss SMEs and start-ups are not eligible to apply to the EIC Accelerator programme. In response, Innosuisse launched the Swiss Accelerator programme in order to offer direct support for innovation projects with high potential.

Swiss Accelerator Summary

Deadline: Short application: 9 October 2023 (Please note: Innosuisse have announced there will be no call for projects in 2024. It is currently unclear whether and when there will be a new call for projects. )

Full Application: 4-5 weeks after receiving feedback from Innosuisse

Interview: TBD

Funding rate: Up to 70%

Project duration: Typically, 2 years

Consortium: Open to Individual Swiss start-ups and SMEs (<250 full-time employees) that also have the ambition to quickly and efficiently commercialise project results and scale accordingly.

Scope: Innosuisse supports mature and ambitious projects with significant innovation and disruption potential from start-ups as well as SMEs with the aim of quickly and efficiently commercialising the project results.

The funding is intended to make a substantial contribution to projects that require high-risk capital to take important development steps toward entering the market. Companies should not have ongoing funding from EIC Accelerator for the same project.

Eligible costs:

• Costs include wage costs and necessary material and equipment costs:
  • Eligible personnel costs are the effective salaries including employer contributions of the project staff according to their hourly workload in the project.
  • Eligible material costs include the procurement of infrastructure required for the project if it is not part of the company’s basic infrastructure, market research and resulting activities such as the development of pricing models or the management of intellectual property, the procurement of third-party services (including research services from research partners) required for the project (e.g., clinical trials, cross-border travel).
• Grant contributions may be used for wages and material costs that are actually incurred and necessary to develop the innovation to competitive market readiness in the target market (including: Miniaturisation, regulatory compliance activities, customer testing, clinical trials, customisation due to different market requirements, initial market validation, intellectual property management, etc.)
• Costs that have no influence on the design of the solution on the market, such as costs that are solely for customer acquisition and marketing, are not eligible. These also include costs for setting up distribution channels or establishing branches in other countries.

Read more about Swiss Accelerator on the Innosuisse website 

Find more Swiss grants and funding opportunities

About Catalyze

At Catalyze we commit ourselves to accelerating innovations that have a positive impact on the world. We are the driving force for your innovations through our offering of strategic consulting services, funding consultancy, project management and more, which deliver impactful expertise for all development stages. With the highest quality in the industry, we aim to be the consulting partner of choice to drive the success of meaningful innovation projects.