Federal Council wants to strengthen Switzerland as a start-up location
The start-up ecosystem in Switzerland is basically well positioned, as a report by the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER) shows. However, there is room for improvement in various areas, including technology transfer, internationalisation, access to skilled workers and financing. According to the Federal Council, measures in these areas will be examined in depth and the results will be available by June 2022.
Start-ups are playing an increasingly important role in a country's innovative strength. They make a significant contribution to exploiting the innovation potential resulting from research. They also play an important role in the development and application of new technological innovations. Against this backdrop, the Federal Council commissioned the EAER in December 2020 to investigate which factors are crucial for the performance of the start-up ecosystem and how knowledge and technology transfer can be accelerated.
Examine more active growth strategy
The result shows that the start-up ecosystem in Switzerland is well positioned overall. Nevertheless, according to the Federal Council, there is still room for improvement in various areas. For this reason, the EAER is proposing to the Federal Council optimisation options in technology transfer, promotion of internationalisation, access to skilled workers and regulation, which should be examined in greater detail. In view of the fact that numerous countries have launched extensive programmes to support start-ups in recent years, measures for a more active growth strategy should also be examined in order to strengthen Switzerland as a start-up location in the long term, the Federal Council writes. In particular, it has been decided to comprehensively examine the advantages and disadvantages of a Swiss innovation fund. The aim is to explore the extent to which such a fund could expand the venture capital market in Switzerland and thus improve the growth opportunities of innovative companies in Switzerland, according to the statement.
On 25 August 2021, the Federal Council instructed the EAER and the FDJP to examine the various measures in greater depth. The results should be available in June 2022.
Source: Confederation
