Obtain financing

Various bodies can provide you with financial support, whether to set up, develop, or establish your company. Financial incentives from the Vaud Economic Promotion can take many forms and can be put to direct use for companies in the industry and advanced technology sectors.

Handbook for investors

Financial center and capital market

Financial incentives from the canton of Vaud

The Office for Economic Affairs and Innovation (SPEI) can grant direct financial support for specific business projects, with the aim of helping companies to set up and establish themselves, and to support small and medium-sized businesses and startups in the canton of Vaud that are looking to innovate, expand, or explore markets abroad.

Seed capital

The canton of Vaud works with several important sources to help raise equity capital:

Foundation for Technological Innovation

The Foundation for Technological Innovation (FIT) offers loans with (and without) interest to new technology companies which are working with an institute of higher education or a research center. Support can range from 100,000 to a maximum of 500,000 Swiss francs, based on the stage of development and the objectives of the support.

Venture Kick

Venture Kick is a national philanthropic pre-seed fund which supports entrepreneurs from the Swiss institutes of higher education as they strive for success in business. Start-ups can receive up to 130,000 francs of starting capital.

Guarantees of bank loans

In the canton of Vaud, SPECo and Le Cautionnement romand are the two organizations which can provide guarantees, or surety, to make it easier to obtain a bank loan.

Cautionnement romand / Cautionnement Vaud

Le Cautionnement romand enables easier access to bank loans by providing surety for a maximum of 1'000'000 francs and will cover up to 100% of the loan. This is available to any company, regardless of their sector of activity and stage of development.

SPEI

SPEI surety is purely for industrial or technology companies and for investment projects. The amount of the surety can be up to 50% of the loan that has been granted, but no more than a third of the total investment cost. In principle, the amount of the guarantee should be between CHF 1'000'000 and CHF 5'000'000 and can be granted for a maximum of 10 years.

Financing of R&D projects

Two national organizations help to raise funds to finance projects dedicated to research and development (R&D).

Innosuisse

Innosuisse is the Swiss agency for the promotion of innovation and encourages innovation projects based on science that (primarily small and medium-sized) businesses carry out in conjunction with research partners. It supports start-ups in their evolution, businesses in terms of international cooperation, and start-ups which are looking to establish themselves abroad. Innosuisse also promotes networks and events in important fields of innovation.

Euresearch

Financed by the State Secretariat for Education, Research, and Innovation (SEFRI), Euresearch is the Swiss network which connects research and European innovation programs. Horizon2020 in particular offers a number of scholarships to top-class researchers based in Switzerland (24.4 billion euros). The initiative also supports industrial leadership projects (17 billion euros) and ones which tackle societal challenges, for example in the fields of health, climatology, and security (29.7 billion euros).

Entrepreneurial and innovation awards

For entrepreneurs launching start-ups, there are various awards to support the business creation:

Business angels

Business angels are people willing to invest their own money into a company at the beginning of its development. There are many active business angel networks.

Crowdfunding

Various crowdfunding and crowd-investing platforms are emerging and providing alternative solutions for financing research. These include:

Risk capital

The canton of Vaud can count on the support of a vast network of risk capital companies to help in your search for financing. Institutions of this type invest in the share capital of companies that are active in high-risk sectors, with the aim of exploiting the potential for growth and rapid gains to make serious profits. The Swiss Private Equity and Corporate Finance Association (SECA) brings together the majority of risk capital companies in the canton. Here are some of the bigger names:

Our publications

Financial Incentives

Support Organizations

Annual Report 2020

(French)