The «Deep Tech Nation Switzerland Foundation,» founded by the Swiss banking giant UBS and the telecom company Swisscom, is dedicated to improving conditions for Swiss start-ups, scale-ups, and investors in the deep-tech sector. The objective is to significantly increase the flow of venture capital into Swiss deep-tech companies, according to a statement released Thursday evening.

Deep tech refers to research-intensive technological innovations that solve significant societal problems.

Up to 100,000 New Jobs

The goal is to mobilize 50 billion Swiss francs over the next ten years. This initiative aims to strengthen Switzerland's long-term innovation and competitiveness. Indirectly, it is also expected to create up to 100,000 new jobs in Switzerland over several years. «Promoting innovation and entrepreneurship in Switzerland is a tradition at UBS. We are committed to improving conditions with this foundation,» said Sabine Keller-Busse, President of UBS Switzerland.

Switzerland Trailing Behind

Currently, only about 3 billion francs per year are invested in the growth financing of start-ups and scale-ups in Switzerland. Comparable leading innovation nations invest much more: for example, Sweden invests at least 5 billion francs per year, and Israel regularly invests more than 10 billion francs annually.

«Innovative technologies and entrepreneurship strengthen Switzerland's competitiveness,» said Christoph Aeschlimann, CEO of Swisscom. «In order for more venture capital to be able to turn ingenious ideas into successful solutions, the Deep Tech Nation Switzerland Foundation is needed.»

Additional Partners On Board

The Deep Tech Nation Switzerland Foundation is an independent, non-profit foundation established by Swisscom and UBS in May 2024. Other partners such as Stadler Rail, SIX, Vaudoise Insurance, Rolex, Swiss Re, SICPA, and the University of Zurich have already joined the foundation.

The aim is to recruit more partners by the end of 2024. The Deep Tech Nation Switzerland Foundation will not create its own funds. The financial contributions from partners will flow into the foundation's assets, which will be invested in various programs to sustainably improve conditions in Switzerland.