Project Switzerland
Turning Swiss scale-ups into global market leaders
Project Switzerland is a national initiative initiated by Deep Tech Nation Switzerland connecting Switzerland’s most promising scale-ups with the country’s most accomplished entrepreneurs: unicorn founders and serial entrepreneurs who have built and scaled global companies. It closes the gap that holds Swiss deep tech back: world-class technology, but a thin bench of operators who know how to scale it.
Why Swiss scale-ups stall
Switzerland is exceptional at producing innovation — it is less consistent at producing global champions like ABB or Logitech. Once companies move past the early stage, they hit the same wall: scaling expertise is rare in the local ecosystem, international networks are hard to access at the right moment, and the founders who have actually done it before are often invisible to the next generation.
The result is predictable: Swiss companies that could lead global categories either plateau, get acquired early, or relocate to ecosystems with deeper operator benches, taking jobs, tax base, and technological sovereignty with them.
Experience sharing at eye level
Project Switzerland is a curated community where entrepreneurs who have scaled successful companies share what they learned with founders scaling right now. It is deliberately not an accelerator or a coaching program; the value comes from peer-level exchange between operators who have built at scale and those building toward it.
- 12 months of curated matchmaking with Switzerland’s top role models (unicorn founders and serial entrepreneurs), followed by lifelong access to the Project Switzerland alumni community.
- A clear commitment from role models to support participating founders with at least two hours per month.
- Two closed community events per year and five peer sessions tailored to founders’ real scaling challenges.
- Recognition as one of Switzerland’s most promising scale-ups.
Eligibility and profile
Project Switzerland selects up to 10 scale-ups per year, headquartered in Switzerland, with the ambition to become global market leaders. The program is open to all industries except pharma and biotech (sectors that already scale well from Switzerland).
Company profile (at least 3 of 4 criteria):
- ARR between CHF 2 million and CHF 10 million
- Market potential above CHF 200 million in annual revenue
- Team size above 15 employees
- At least CHF 2 million raised from investors, business angels, or similar
Founder profile. Global ambition, willingness to learn from experienced peers, openness to share challenges within a trusted community, and commitment to the Swiss ecosystem.
Current cohort and timeline
The 2026 cohort of 10 scale-ups was selected from 160 nominations on 31 March 2026. Matchmaking with role models began in April. The next nomination window opens by the end of the year 2026. Learn about the cohort and the role models on project-switzerland.ch.
Related
Venture Hub Switzerland
Increase venture capital flow, with a focus on domestic institutional investors. Raise awareness and accessibility for VC and improve investment conditions.
Scale-up Booster
Create 20% more startups and scale-ups, support champions of tomorrow to global market leadership and improve startup framework conditions.
International Promotion
Position Switzerland as the leading Deep Tech Nation worldwide and provide clear points of entry.