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Swiss innovation body supports 53 projects

Scientist with gloves
The aim of the projects is to develop novel products and services with significant innovation potential © Keystone / Christian Beutler

The Swiss Innovation Agency (Innosuisse) has approved 53 innovation projects of small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) and start-ups with grants totalling CHF112 million ($125 million).

As Switzerland is not currently associated with the EU’s Horizon Europe framework programme, Swiss companies do not have access to the European Innovation Council’s funding programme, EIC Accelerator. Swiss SMEs and start-ups could therefore apply for direct financial support for “innovation projects with significant innovation potential” within the scope of the Swiss Accelerator, launched last year as a transitional measure.

+ Why is Switzerland locked out of Horizon Europe?

As a result, 752 companies submitted a short application, After the initial assessment, 128 companies submitted a full application. Of these, 64 came to the final round to present their application. Fifty-three projects from all over Switzerland have now been approved, Innosuisse said in a statementExternal link on Friday.

Of these, 38% come from the life sciences sector, 21% from the energy and environment sector, another 21% from information and communication technology, 15% from engineering and 5% from social sciences and business management.

The aim of the projects is to develop novel products and services with significant innovation potential, accelerating the growth of highly innovative Swiss companies, Innosuisse said.

The funding from Innosuisse covers a maximum of 70% of project costs; a company must pay 30% of the costs itself. The support per project amounts to a maximum of CHF2.5 million. In total, the funding comes to CHF125 million.

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