Entry requirements
The first thing you need to know is that if you’re going to succeed in this competition, your idea needs to be innovative. If you have that, then it's definitely worth your while to participate.
1. Swiss residency
Each startup must have a minimum of one team member who is a Swiss resident. We accept all types of residency permits.
The startup can be active in Switzerland or abroad, but it must be headquartered in Switzerland or the team must intend to do so.
2. Age of the startup
The competition is open to both registered and unregistered startups.
If your startup is registered in Switzerland, then you may only participate if it was registered after January 1, 2023.
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Research-intensive startups registered as early as January 1, 2021 may be granted an exception, after careful review, provided at least 2 out of the 4 items below are documented in their submission​:
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Patents​
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Research grants​
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Being part of a university research group, research consortium, etc.​
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Peer reviewed publications​​​
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3. Startup plan document
Submit a systematically structured startup plan of 10-20 pages (including appendices) before the competition deadline. The document must be in English. Complete all sections with as much detail as is available.​
We encourage you to use what you have i.e. PowerPoint presentation, Word document, etc., as long as it contains the relevant information.
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Audience: make your document compelling and convincing for investors. This is not an academic paper.
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Don’t be concerned if your data is not a hundred percent complete, this is an opportunity to learn and develop your startup plan. Our experienced jurors will still be able to evaluate your startup plan even if some parts are incomplete or missing, and you will benefit from their feedback in order to develop your plan further.
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Use data, figures, diagrams to illustrate a point rather than narrative and long text if possible.
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The best indicator of the solidity of your startup is feedback of your customers/target group - try to get as much as possible through surveys, tests or interviews.
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Show your progress where possible with e.g. signed LOIs, implementation planning, paid pilots, sales, financing secured, key hires etc.
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Previous >>venture>> participants
If you are a previous >>venture>> participant, and did not win, you may re-enter the competition with the same startup plan.
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If you are a previous >>venture>> participant and you won a prize, you are not allowed to re-enter the competition with the same startup plan.
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If you participated before and want to enter the competition with a different startup plan, you are welcome to participate as many times as you like. You may also submit more than one startup plan per competition.
Evaluation criteria
Above you can download the models of the components of a startup plan which we encourage you to follow. Some sections have more weight than others for the evaluation of your startup plan in the first jury round. In addition, the suggested content of some sections varies per industry vertical. Please note that even if you do not have all the answers, give each section your best shot. At the >>venture>> Draft Feedback workshop, you will have the opportunity to speak to industry experts about the gaps and continue to build your startup plan.
Key dates & events
Please save the following important dates in your calendar so that you can make sure you are available to participate in person should you become a finalist and winner.