Swiss Climate Foundation

Offers Swiss Climate Foundation as a climate technology financer for small enterprises in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

Swiss Climate Foundation is a private non-profit foundation in Switzerland, founded in 2008 and launched in 2009. It is a voluntary private-sector initiative, not a government agency, and it distributes about CHF 3 million a year to SMEs in Switzerland and Liechtenstein that are working on climate-focused technical innovation. Its funding pool comes from partner companies that redirect CO2 steering-levy refunds into the foundation.

Its active route, Innovation Funding, offers grants or interest-free risk loans of up to CHF 200,000 per project, capped at 50% of project costs. Applicants must be SMEs with 250 or fewer employees, based in Switzerland or Liechtenstein, not in the initial start-up phase, with less than half ownership by large corporations or the public sector, and with a project aimed at market entry and measurable greenhouse-gas reduction.

Decisions are made through a board-and-advisory process, with lower requests prioritized so the foundation can spread support across more firms. Applications run on annual March and September deadlines, and funding is paid out against milestones after the agreement is signed.