Project Switzerland seeks scale-ups for global growth

(CONNECT) "Project Switzerland is the place where you learn to grow globally." This is how series founder Bettina Hein sums up what this new national project aims to achieve. Because "Switzerland is strong in technical innovation, but we lack experienced managers who know how to scale a company properly," she is quoted as saying in a press release.

Hein is part of a 20-strong group of so-called Role Models who want to close this gap as the heart of Project Switzerland. They are all behind the biggest Swiss tech successes that have built companies with billion-dollar valuations or sales of over CHF 100 million.

The 46-year-old Hein is the founder of the US-based software company Pixability and the speech technology company SVOX, which was sold to Nuance Communications for 125 million dollars and is now part of Microsoft. Her latest project is the digital health start-up juli. The Lion's Den judge is a Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum and was named Immigrant Entrepreneur of the Year in Boston in 2018.

Younger start-ups are networked with personalities like Hein. The role models support younger companies directly. "It's important to give something back," says Samuel Müller from Scandit. "We want to help others avoid the stumbling blocks we experienced on the way to Scandit's global success."

Project Switzerland was initiated by the Deep Tech Nation Switzerland Foundation. The twelve-month program offers direct access to the 20 role models, targeted matchmaking for challenges such as international expansion and leadership, and lifelong access to an exclusive alumni community.

Investors, board members and other players from the start-up ecosystem can nominate scale-ups until February 15, 2026. Eligible ambitious companies must have annual recurring revenues of between CHF 2 million and CHF 10 million, a market potential of more than CHF 200 million, more than 15 employees and have received at least CHF 2 million from professional investors. ce/mm