Innosuisse - Swiss Innovation Agency
Innosuisse is the Swiss Confederation's promotional body for science-based innovation. Its mission is to build bridges between research and the market with the aim of supporting and accelerating innovation processes. It works as a catalyst for innovation by bringing companies into contact with research institutes via innovation projects. Its tasks also include supporting science-based entrepreneurship and founding and establishing science-based companies. Innosuisse also supports the utilisation of knowledge and the transfer of knowledge and technology between institutes of higher education, business and society.
Innovation projects
Promoting innovation projects is Innosuisse's most important instrument. It participates in the funding of projects that are submitted to it and sponsored by university research institutes or non-commercial, non-university research establishments and companies acting as implementation partners on the basis of the bottom-up principle. Implementing partners from the private sector and civil society benefit from the expertise of tertiary-education-level and non-commercial research institutes but no not receive direct subsidies from Innosuisse. Projects are selected on the basis of their potential for innovation in the market. The applications are assessed by the Commission members, who come from the research and business sectors and are active within Innosuisse in a supplementary capacity.
Promoting entrepreneurship
As part of its efforts to promote the foundation and establishment of science-based companies, Innosuisse helps prospective companies in the ‘CTI Entrepreneurship' programme through training modules tailored to meet their particular needs. These provide the candidates with the knowhow and methodology to successfully translate a bright business idea into a new company. Young entrepreneurs can also acquire professional coaching. Innosuisse promotes technology-based companies with high levels of knowledge and high market potential.
Knowledge and technology transfer
Innosuisse supports the targeted transfer of knowledge and technology on a performance basis between institutions of tertiary education, business and civil society. The promotion instruments, ‘innovation mentoring', ‘national thematic networks‘ and ‘theme-specific platforms', provide SMEs with services in the transfer of innovation expertise from institutions of tertiary education and suppliers of solutions for the specific needs of companies. In addition, innovative Swiss companies and researchers are offered development opportunities through access to international programmes and networks, such as EUREKA and ERA-Net.
