Venture Kick raises budget to 6.1 million Swiss francs

Venture Kick is increasing the funding it is providing to Swiss startups in 2022 by 10 percent to 6.1 million francs. This funding will be allocated in 51 sessions of a jury comprising entrepreneurs and investors throughout the year. The jury will select 89 new projects to participate in the Venture Kick process in 2022. According to a press release, the startups will receive access to potential financing of more than 1 million francs, including start capital of 150,000 francs from Venture Kick, 150,000 via the InnoBooster program of the Gebert Rüf Stiftung for qualifying candidates of Venture Kick stage 1 and, for the winners of the third stage, up to 850,000 francs in equity funding from the Kick Fund.

The startup accelerator program is celebrating 15 years of existence. Since its launch in 2007, Venture Kick has supported 841 startup projects selected from almost 5,400 applications, with overall backing of 39.71 million francs provided.

The increase in funding is “recognition of the impressive achievements of entrepreneurs who have been supported so far: it shows how effective our backing has been and gives us confidence that we can add even more value in future,” said Pascale Vonmont, president of Venture Kick’s strategy committee. Jordi Montserrat, co-founder and managing partner of Venture Kick, added: “What started out as a small initiative 15 years ago has grown into a model for  seed-stage investment and, thanks to feedback from the supported startups, motivates us to never stop improving.” The aim of Venture Kick’s Mission 2027 is “to create 1,000 high-tech startups in Switzerland, generating 15,000 active jobs”.