State guaranteed bridge loans for start-ups

Yesterday the Federal Council has informed about the regulations for the new state guaranteed bridge loans. We have published longer articles in German and French about the regulation. General information and the application forms are available on easygov.swiss in German, French and Italian. This chart summarizes the situation (click to enlarge):

At the moment it is not totally clear how requests from start-ups will be handled. Therefore it is important to share your experiences via the survey of Judith Bellaiche and Andri Silberschmidt.

The bridge loans are not intended to replace financing rounds. Start-ups being in trouble because they are (no longer) financed by investors need additional solutions. Two proposals are being put forward:

• A new fund (Pandemiefonds) inspired by the Technology Fund. More information can be found in two letters to the Federal Council by Judith Bellaiche and Andri Silberschmidt
• An adaption to the rules according to the special situation of start-ups by Venturelab (PDF). They propose that investments, grants and award money should be included in the calculation of the “revenue” that is decisive for the credit line. In addition it should be possible that owners and investors guarantee the 15% remaining credit risk of loans of more than CHF500k. Venturelab is conducting a survey among startups to get feedback. 

The events and political discussions show that it needs a strong startup association. A new association – the Swiss Entrepreneurs & Startup Association (SWESA) – was launched two weeks ago. Entrepreneurs and other members of the start-up scene can already register their interest in membership on the Swiss Entrepreneurs Foundation website.