Venture Kick

Venture Kick — Stage 2

Funds Venture Kick alumni to continue development with growth support before next-stage financing opportunities.

Venture Kick Stage 2 awards a CHF 40,000 convertible loan to startups that successfully advanced from Stage 1 of the Venture Kick competition. The loan carries a 5 percent annual interest rate and converts into equity at the startup's next significant equity funding round at the same valuation as that round — there is no conversion discount. Approximately 60 percent of Stage 1 winners advance to Stage 2, which means the effective funnel from initial application to Stage 2 is approximately 37 percent. Stage 2 includes participation in two-day Kickers Camps that provide structured business-development coaching alongside the financial award.

Access to Stage 2 is invite-only, contingent on winning Stage 1; there is no independent application path. The pre-commercial constraint continues: teams must still have no employees and no commercial revenues at the time of Stage 2 participation. No prior funding from professional or institutional investors is permitted. The company must remain Switzerland-based with a commitment to create Swiss jobs. The CHF 40,000 instrument is classified as a convertible loan, not a grant, which means it appears on the startup's balance sheet as debt until conversion. Stage 2 winners may separately apply for the InnoBooster grant of up to CHF 150,000, which is administered independently of Venture Kick by a third-party program.

Stage 2 is the middle stage of a three-stage program with a total Venture Kick funding ceiling of CHF 150,000 per startup (CHF 10,000 Stage 1 grant plus CHF 40,000 Stage 2 loan plus CHF 100,000 Stage 3 loan). Teams that complete Stage 2 and win Stage 3 also gain access to the Kickfund equity follow-on instrument of up to CHF 850,000, which is a separate equity vehicle. The full program duration across all three stages is approximately nine months. Venture Kick has a sector-agnostic mandate with historical strength in deep-tech and university spin-offs, having produced unicorns Climeworks and Cyberhaven.