Switzerland wants to attract startups with Accelerator programme

7 years ago - Published in Finance, Technical Analysis

Kickstart Accelerator, a swiss multi-corporate accelerator in Europe, has announced the opening of applications for its second programme, predominantly based out of ewz-Unterwerk Selnau, the old transformer station in centre of Zurich.

The accelerator, an initiative of digitalswitzerland, is inviting startups from around the world and will shortlist 30 companies, all of whom will participate in an eleven-week programme. The programme will start on 4 September, with an official opening ceremony due to take place on 7 September. The final demo day is set as 17 November, where each team will present their products to a group of potential investors. Kickstart will not be taking any equity from the participating startups. Instead, founders will have the chance to win up to 25`000 CHF, as well as receiving a monthly founder stipend and masterclass sessions with mentors from the corporate partners and the Swiss innovation ecosystem.

Kickstart Accelerator is looking for startups in the food, fintech, smart cities, and robotics and intelligent systems sectors, and is partnering with BaseLaunch to facilitate healthtech companies.

Applicants will need to have a business that has the potential to disrupt its given sector.

“Our inaugural year saw over 850 applications from across the globe and so we are looking forward to seeing the calibre of this year’s innovators,” said the programme manager at Kickstart Accelerator, Patricia Schlenter, in a press release to Ventureburn.

“The Swiss ecosystem offers startups the opportunity to work with like-minded entrepreneurs, experienced mentors and some of the biggest corporate players to deliver impactful innovations to key industries.”
Successful applicants will be international startups with promising business ideas that have the potential to disrupt the chosen verticals and benefit the wider society, the release said. The shortlisted startups will meet with over 15 corporate partners and mentors, including Switzerland’s largest ICT provider Swisscom, multinational insurance firms Swiss Life and AXA Winterthur, Swiss financial services companies Credit Suisse, UBS and Raiffeisen, global consultancy firms EY and PwC, as well as Switzerland`s largest food retailers Migros and Coop among others.