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We are happy to inform you that the Swiss FinTech Awards 2023 just launched and startups can apply again for the most important award in the industry. Your start-up benefits of the awards’ power to boost your team and business to the next level with the help of our strong fintech, finance and innovation ecosystem. Startups will meet great people and potential clients, get valuable exposure and one of them will even win a sweet prize money on top! All of that completely for free. So what are you waiting for? Apply today.

Startups will experience a great awards program and they will grow in the process. We put ROI first:
Startup applications are reviewed by 20 potential investors, clients, business partners and thought leaders of our renowned jury.
Top 10 start-ups benefit from one-to-one workshops with experts in legal, marketing, scaling, business models and more.
The top 10 gets exclusive networking opportunities with fintech leaders, influencers, journalists and decision makers at closed-door-events.
The top 10 receives media exposure in publications like “Finanz und Wirtschaft”, “FinTech News”, “Startupticker” etc.
Finalists can pitch at the most influential fintech conference of Switzerland hosted by the newspaper “Finanz und Wirtschaft”.
Early stage start-ups can win a sweet five-figure prize money.

All fintech start-ups with a Swiss connection are eligible. This can include, for example Swiss founders (active in Switzerland and/or abroad) or start-ups with a Swiss head office. We group the applicants in early stage and growth stage start-ups so that young as well as more mature start-ups have a fair chance at winning the important award in their category. The awards are open to a broad range of fintech categories (all sorts of B2B offerings for banks and insurances, B2C finance / fintech products and also crypto, DeFi and other financial blockchain applications, etc.).

The Venture Leaders – the members of the Swiss National Startup Team – have a clear-cut goal. They envision themselves as global players and want to take the first step to their global expansion. The Venture Leaders’ startup development program is specifically structured to help them achieve these goals. This intense journey offers 10 selected entrepreneurs an accelerated learning curve and a solid network through their exchanges with their peers in the team, as well as market exposure, feedback from investors and experts, and hands-on business development.

Do you belong to the top software startups (AI, ML, computer vision, cloud and security solutions) in Switzerland and want to boost your future? Then apply to be one of the 10 members of the Swiss National Startup Team the Venture Leaders Technology 2023 for a rocking week in Silicon Valley. Silicon Valley refers to both a geographic region, but also on the most dynamic entrepreneurship ecosystems in the US. Don’t miss the opportunity!

Launch an initiative to boost radical innovation.

With your Innovation Booster, you will run a thematic open innovation initiative whose activities support knowledge transfer and collaboration to generate new, radical ideas. Instead of just trying to improve existing innovations incrementally, you will help your participants gain a deeper understanding of problems and find radical innovation ideas that try to solve a user problem in a novel way.

The goal of the Flagship Initiative is to promote systemic innovations that help address major economic and societal challenges. For the second call, Innosuisse has chosen a theme that promotes smart energy solutions and new materials as well as processes that help reduce the impact of climate change and pollution for the benefit of the economy and society.

The flagship theme of the 2023 call is therefore:
Disruptive solutions for the transition to a net-zero world

Proposals on this topic must focus on at least one of the following:

• New materials and processes
• Energy storage, generation and real-time management
• Ecodesign, circular economy and sustainable production
• Energy efficiency and reduction of emissions

Lead your independent project and your team in Switzerland.

Due to Switzerland’s status as a non-associated third country in the Horizon Europe programme, the federal government mandated the SNSF to launch the funding scheme “SNSF Starting Grants 2023”. This integrative call is a transitional measure covering the ERC Starting Grants 2023 as well as the former SNSF funding schemes Eccellenza and PRIMA.

International and Swiss-based applicants who intended to apply for an ERC Starting Grant or an Eccellenza or PRIMA grant to work in Switzerland are welcome to submit an SNSF Starting Grant proposal to the SNSF.

The scheme is open to all disciplines and topics; researchers of any nationality may apply. Applicants can request a budget of up to CHF 1.8 million for a period of five years.

With an SNSF Starting Grant, grantees will lead an independent research project and direct a team of researchers in Switzerland. An SNSF Starting Grant comes after several years of research after the PhD, or an equivalent qualification or medical degree, during which time the grantees have already achieved scientific independence and contributed to impactful research in their field.

More information on the website.

The AIT Singapore program, enabled by the Leading House Asia at ETH Zurich, aims to support scientists in transforming their applied research into market application and discovering their entrepreneurial potential. By connecting scientists from Switzerland and Singapore, the program promotes an international network and offers exposure to a vibrant and innovative ecosystem in the center of Southeast Asia.

Be part of the 10 Swiss “Sciencepreneurs” who will bring their project to the next level. Join a free one-week academic industry training program in Singapore and learn more on how to do business in the ASEAN Region.

The Driving Urban Transitions (DUT) call has opened on 21 September. Swiss organisations are eligible for funding and can coordinate projects. Have a look at the funding conditions.

Innosuisse has launched a matchmaking platform to find international partners to apply for the DUT call. More than 180 participants are already registered.

The DUT call supports transnational research and innovation projects addressing urban challenges to help cities in their transition towards a more sustainable economy and functioning. More information on the call topics here.

Call deadline for pre-proposals: 21 November 2022