Venture Kick

Venture Kick — Stage 1

Funds Swiss university spinout founders in an early pre-seed stage with a jury reviewed non-dilutive grant path.

Venture Kick Stage 1 is the entry stage of Switzerland's leading university spin-off competition, awarding a non-repayable grant of CHF 10,000 to startups affiliated with a Swiss academic institution or research centre. The Venture Kick Foundation describes the award as a non-repayable grant accompanied by a moral pledge to return in case of success — it carries no legal repayment obligation. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis throughout the year, with no fixed annual deadlines. Approximately 62.5 percent of applicants who clear initial screening advance to a jury evaluation by a panel of specialists, at which Stage 1 awards are made.

Eligibility requires that at least one founder be currently affiliated — or have been affiliated within the last six months — with a Swiss academic institution or research centre. The company must be pre-commercial: no employees, no commercial revenues, and no prior funding from professional or institutional investors. Companies must be established in Switzerland and plan to create Swiss jobs. Any nationality may apply, provided the applicant holds the legal right to work in Switzerland. The CHF 10,000 grant may be used only for business-development expenses and cannot fund incorporation capital or founders' and permanent employees' salaries.

Stage 1 is the only purely equity-free instrument in the three-stage Venture Kick program. Successful Stage 1 teams are invited to continue to Stage 2, which awards a CHF 40,000 convertible loan, and ultimately Stage 3, which awards a CHF 100,000 convertible loan, for a maximum total of CHF 150,000 across all three stages. Stage 2 winners may separately apply for the InnoBooster grant of up to CHF 150,000, administered independently. The full program duration across three stages is approximately nine months. Venture Kick has produced two unicorns — Climeworks and Cyberhaven — and has a sector-agnostic mandate with a historical bias toward deep-tech and academic spin-offs.