Volkswirtschaftsstiftung merges with Venture Kick

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Stefan Kyora

06.11.2020
Venture Kick Strategy Board and Management

The Volkswirtschaftsstiftung has been supporting deep-tech start-ups with interest-free loans since 1996. It is now merging with Venture Kick. This will enable Venture Kick to increase the number of spin-offs receiving assistance.

The Swiss Federal Foundation for Promotion of the National Economy through Scientific Research is one of the most well-established start-up support organisations in Switzerland. For over 20 years it has been granting interest-free loans to deep-tech start-ups in the seed stage. Its results are impressive. A total of 90 loans have been issued. Recipients include well-known names like Amal Therapeutics, L.E.S.S., Optotune, Redbiotec and Esbatech. Considering the early stage at which the start-ups receive support, the default rate is astonishingly low. Fewer than ten loans have had to be written off completely.

Since it was founded, the foundation has worked according to the principles of Switzerland’s “militia system”, where citizens take on public duties on a part-time or voluntary basis. “We have now reached our limits with this approach,” says long-term President Philip Bodmer. In addition, the loan model is no longer completely up to date. Nowadays, start-ups are supported either with non-repayable contributions or with equity capital. For this reason, back in 2017 Bodmer began a process for the reorientation of the foundation.

The die has now been definitively cast: the foundation is merging with Venture Kick. Its assets are being transferred. “Venture Kick’s financial opportunities will be improved considerably as a result of this,” says Bodmer. To date, the foundation has supported four to six start-ups per year with around 100,000 Swiss francs each. Venture Kick can now help out additional young companies in the same magnitude, using its proven model. Interest-free loans are no longer provided. Instead, grants and equity-capital-based financing are offered.

“As a result of the merger, two strong Swiss support organisations are joining forces in order to offer start-ups even more targeted support together,” explains Pascale Vonmont, a member of Venture Kick’s Strategy Board. Philip Bodmer will also take up a seat on the Strategy Board. “Venture Kick is thereby gaining one of Switzerland’s most experienced start-up supporters,” says Vonmont.

Since its founding in 2007, Venture Kick has pursued the goal of promoting spin-offs from Swiss universities at an early stage of their development by providing seed capital, coaching, and a strong investor network. Since then, 734 startup projects have been supported with CHF 32.5 million seed capital. This has resulted in more than 500 high-tech companies with over 7,500 jobs.

For Bodmer too, there is no question that Venture Kick is the right partner. Around three quarters of the companies supported by the foundation have also received financial assistance from Venture Kick. Bodmer, who is aware of the significance of coaching for founders with an academic background, is also a fan of the Kickers Camps run by Venture Kick. However, he did not make such a far-reaching decision alone. The 20-strong Foundation Board voted on it. The decision to merge was taken unanimously in a meeting in March. The foundation will cease its operational activities at the end of 2020 and no longer have any presence.

Picture (from left to right): Beat Schillig, Co-Managing Director, Philip Bodmer, Chairman Volkswirtschaftstiftung and New Strategy Board Member, Pascale Vonmont, Strategy Board Delegate, Suzanne Schenk, Strategy Board Member, Jordi Montserrat, Co-Managing Director.

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