Strengthening Switzerland as a business and innovation location by promoting young entrepreneurial talent at Swiss schools and universities.
12’000 CHF
to IdeaKick
805’773 CHF
to TalentKick
9'367’916 CHF
to Venture Kick
10’185’689 CHF
Kick Foundations total
Support 2024
12’000 CHF
to IdeaKick
805’773 CHF to TalentKick
9'367’916 CHF
to Venture Kick
10’185’689 CHF
Kick Foundations total
Key Figures Impact
51 Teams
supported at Talent Kick
28 Mio. CHF
raised by Talent Kick Teams
14'441 Jobs
by 897 Venture Kick Startups
9'000 Mio. CHF
raised by Venture Kick Startups
Vision
In 2021, the Ernst Göhner Stiftung (EGS) and the Gebert Rüf Stiftung (GRS) established the Kick Foundation to provide a framework for fostering the next generation of entrepreneurs at Swiss schools and universities, thereby strengthening Switzerland’s position as a global leader in innovation .The Kick Program offers Switzerland’s best talents a broad-based training and funding program for the business, technology, and innovation sector under a graded selection process from the initial idea in school, via tertiary education to growth financing.
The Kick Program offers Switzerland’s best talents a comprehensive training and funding pathway in entrepreneurship, technology, and innovation. Through a staged, competitive selection process, participants receive support from their first idea at school, through higher education, to launching a startup and securing growth financing.
The aim of this meta orchestration is to connect existing and new startup initiatives along the value chain, to accelerating both the innovation and funding processes.
The Gebert Rüf Stiftung InnoBooster and First Ventures initiatives are fully integrated into the Kick Foundation’s funding pipeline.
In a pioneering step, the founding partners EGS and GRS launched the Kickfund — a legally independent fund designed to strengthen our ecosystem. The fund not only supports this value chain through donations but also invests in the most promising ventures emerging from the Kick pipeline.
Idea Validation
Team Creation
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Business Case
implementation
Incorporation and Market Entry
Sustainably Supporting the Kick Pipeline
– Offer the value chain as a funnel for entrepreneurship, technology and innovation for the
best talents in Switzerland as an exemplary ecosystem.
– Bundle and cross-link existing initiatives, development and expansion of initiatives in
existing gaps.
– Generate vigor and visibility for the Swiss innovation ecosystem
Sustainable Kick Value Chain
Initiatives
At the Kick Foundation, we empower young ambitious talents across Switzerland to embark on their own journey in innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship. Our programs support you every step of the way — from your very first idea at school, through your studies, to launching and scaling your own company.
Each initiative stands on its own, yet together they form a well-coordinated ecosystem that creates countless opportunities for collaboration, inspiration, and exchange. Every Kick Foundation initiative fulfills the following key criteria:
· Program with national or international reach
· Program with an outstanding track record or strong potential
· Partners and management committed to collaboration and active exchange within the Kick Foundation network.
Sustainably supporting the Kick pipeline
Team creation
Business case
implementation
Business case
implementation
Sustainable Kick Value Chain
Offer the value chain as a funnel for entrepreneurship, technology and innovation for the best talents in Switzerland as an exemplary ecosystem.
Bundle and cross-link existing initiatives, development and expansion of initiatives in existing gaps.
Generate vigor and visibility for the Swiss innovation ecosystem
Idea Validation
Team creation
Business case
implementation
Business case
implementation
Idea Kick supports young entrepreneurs from school-level initiatives and links them to follow-up programs. It also includes Startup Spirit @ School, bringing real-world entrepreneurial experience into school classrooms.
Talent Kick promotes committed students and doctoral students interested in entrepreneurial implementation with a 1 to 2 year support programme based at the university.
Venture Kick is a 9-month funding programme for entrepreneurial scientists at universities to take their promising business idea from research to the market.
