Innosuisse just launched a new programme called the “Impulse programme Innovation Strength Switzerland” to stimulate the innovation activities of Swiss companies, start-ups, NGO’s or any other private or public organisation that has 500 full-time equivalents (FTE) at most. The proposed eased financial terms for their well-known Innovation projects are intended to help small to medium-sized companies (SMEs) and organisations maintain their innovative strength during the current Covid-19 pandemic.

Only new collaborative innovation projects, that have not started or been submitted as project before, can be submitted from the beginning of January 2021. In your application, you can apply for either measure 1 or measure 2. Find out whether your project meets the criteria of the measures.

Measures of Impulse programme Innovation Strength Switzerland

Measure 1: Stimulating new innovation projects

With measure 1, Innosuisse aims to encourage research and implementation partners to launch innovation projects by reducing the contribution of the implementation partner from 50% to 30%. Are you the implementation partner (SME, start-up, NGO, large Swiss company or private/public organisation)? Then it is important that you must show that your business has been affected by the economic consequences of the pandemic (such as turnover, profit, cash flow) and that this measure is necessary to start a project.

Measure 2: Supporting structural change, disruptive or radical innovation

This measure aims to support innovation projects that address structural change, induced or accelerated by the pandemic, or which have the potential for disruptive or radical innovation. Additionally, your innovation project requires specific know-how that the research partner or you, as an implementation partner, do not have. This know-how will be provided by a third party, in this case a specialised consulting or engineering service provider. The third party’s services will be compensated by Innosuisse and paid through the research partner. The participation of a specialised consulting or engineering service provider is funded up to 30% of the total budget.

Normally, Innosuisse will ask the implementation partner to provide 50% contribution including 10% cash contribution. This is now lowered to 20% for this measure, without the requirement of the cash contribution.

Funding criteria and conditions of Impulse programme Innovation Strength Switzerland

The impulse programme is open to research and implementation partners that fulfil the funding requirements for innovation projects.

The same conditions as for standard innovation projects apply, except for the following ones that apply to both Measure 1 and 2:

• Eligible implementation partners have 500 employees (FTE) at most.
• The implementation partner’s own contribution can be limited to a minimum of 30% for Measure 1 and to a minimum of 20% for Measure 2 projects of the total budget (instead of 50%).
• The cash contribution of the implementation partner can be waived.
• The budget covers the wage costs and material costs of the research project.

The following measures only apply to Measure 2:

• Eligible projects are contributing to manage structural change, in particular by developing new business models or implementing radical or disruptive innovations.
• The participation in the project of a specialised consulting or engineering service provider is mandatory, its participation in the project can be of maximum 30% of the total budget.

Additional notes

Please note that this programme concerns collaborative research projects. The Swiss research partner (for example ETH Zürich, university, and so on) must be prepared to implement this innovation project with you, will have to submit the proposal and will receive the grant.

Hezelburcht offers advice and support

If the Impulse programme Innovation Strength Switzerland is of interest to you, please contact us via 088 495 20 00 or info@hezelburcht.com for further information. Already interested in applying? We would be happy to support you with your application. We offer various services, from assisting with writing proposals to reviewing applications.