Deadline: 31-Jul-20
As one of the worldwide leading innovation countries, Switzerland has an opportunity to make its unique technological expertise and innovation competences available to society by supporting entrepreneurial solutions that have the potential to achieve sustainable impact in a comprehensive sense, i.e. in economic, environmental and societal terms.
The objective of the “Switzerland Innovation Tech4Impact Initiative” (SI Tech4Impact) is to facilitate the realization of innovation projects that tackle society’s most pressing environmental and societal challenges, focusing on selected themes of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
To achieve this ambition, SI Tech4Impact provides a common platform to promote the development of ground-breaking projects that focus on real market applications in collaboration with Swiss universities as well as entrepreneurs and SMEs collaborating with research partners.
This initiative is led by Switzerland Innovation in collaboration with EPFL Tech4Impact. The companies supporting SI Tech4Impact as innovation partners are the following: ABB, Credit Suisse, Die Mobiliar, Economiesuisse, Interpharma, Schindler, Swiss Re Foundation, Swisscom, UBS, Zurich.
Focus Areas
For its first 2020 cohort, the program focuses specifically on projects that aim to tackle one of the following SDGs:
- SDG 3 – Good health and well-being
- SDG 7 – Affordable and clean energy
- SDG 9 – Industry, innovation and infrastructure
- SDG 11 – Sustainable cities and communities
- SDG 12 – Responsible consumption and production
- SDG 13 – Climate action
Funding Information
- The SI Tech4Impact initiative will award 5 to 7 selected projects with a one-year project grant ranging from CHF 70.000 – CHF 100.000 each.
- A company’s voiced interest in the particular technology is an asset. The funding must be used within the 12-month period.
Eligibility Criteria
- The program is open exclusively to:
- Research groups from Swiss universities
- Postdocs and PhD students (no masters or bachelor students)
- Spin-offs and early stage startups linked to a university research group
- SMEs with an innovation project to be carried out in cooperation with research partner
- To qualify for a grant, the proposed project must:
- Rely on an advanced technology that is ready to reach maturity within the next 2-3 years.
- According the TRL system, TRL 4 must be achieved before the application
- Have the potential to address a pressing social and/or environmental problem
- Be approved by an academic partner
- Be located or have a strong relationship with one of Switzerland Innovation Parks (SIP).
Evaluation Criteria
The committee will evaluate projects according to the following evaluation criteria:
- Severity of addressed societal or environmental project
- Relevance of the proposed project for tackling this societal or environmental problem
- Novelty of the project vis-à-vis current state of technology/research
- Stage of development of proposed technology or solution
- Potential to transfer scientific evidence into a marketable product
- Scalability potential (in terms of markets and impact)
- Planned next steps and aspired use of funds
- The qualification and experience of the project team
- The qualification and experience of the research partner
For more information, visit https://sitech4impact.ch/