Kickstart Innovation in Zurich
Kickstart Innovation is a Swiss open innovation program that matches startups and scaleups with corporates, cities and foundations so that they test a product together and, if the test works, sign a contract. Its own line is "Kickstart builds innovation ecosystems with purpose." Since 2015 it counts more than 530 startups supported and more than 400 commercial partnerships. One of its five focus areas is finance, insurance and cybersecurity, with PostFinance and La Mobilière among the partners.
From Kickstart Accelerator to Kickstart Innovation
Kickstart started in 2016 as an initiative of digitalswitzerland together with Impact Hub Zurich. In 2017 it became an Impact Hub program under the name Kickstart Accelerator, and in 2019 it turned into Kickstart Innovation, an independent program with a stronger focus on startups that already sell a product. That history is on Kickstart's about page. The company behind it is Kickstart Innovation AG in Zurich, and its program sites are Kraftwerk and Collab in Zurich and Impact Hub in Lausanne.
In 2021 Financial IT described the program as a zero-equity platform where each scaleup gets an advisor, free office space and three months of work with corporate partners. The output is a proof of concept or a paid pilot, and Kickstart reported a record 40 proofs of concept in 2020.
Finance, insurance and cybersecurity
In the finance area, Kickstart writes that it is "committed to promoting disruptive startup solutions that reshape the financial market". Its partners there are Coop, La Mobilière, PostFinance, Sanitas and Swisscom. The topics it lists run from banking, insurance and payments to SME finance, cybersecurity and data protection, crypto and financial literacy.
A case on the same page shows how a pilot runs: the data platform Unsupervised secured proofs of concept with AXA, Coop and PostFinance. Access to Swiss bank account data, which payment and SME finance startups often need, runs through the bLink platform of SIX and the multibanking standards described on open banking in Switzerland.
Other Kickstart programs
Next to the five focus areas (finance, insurance and cybersecurity; food and retail; health; new work and learning; smart cities), Kickstart runs an academy for corporate teams with an intrapreneurship program, hackathons, team sprints and expert sessions. It also runs a circular economy initiative and a mission it calls Mission 2050. Investors can meet the startups through its community program.
Upcoming fintech events in Switzerland
Does Kickstart Innovation take equity?
In 2021 Kickstart described itself as a zero-equity platform, so startups gave up no shares to take part. What they work toward is a paid pilot or a commercial contract with a partner such as PostFinance or La Mobilière. The current terms are on its application page.
Is Kickstart Innovation a fintech accelerator?
Partly. Finance, insurance and cybersecurity is one of its five focus areas, next to food and retail, health, new work and smart cities. Zurich programs that work only on finance are Tenity, which also invests, and the bank association Swiss Fintech Innovations, which writes API standards.
Kickstart Innovation and Finance Loop
Finance Loop brings banks, insurers and fintechs from Germany, Austria and Switzerland together at events in Frankfurt, Munich, Berlin and Hamburg. A startup that has run a pilot with a Swiss bank and wants German buyers next can meet them as a member, through a sponsored webinar or meetup, or by hosting an event. Fintech growth describes that route.
Finance Loop is a professional network and has the goal of driving the adoption of emerging technologies in finance, such as AI, digital payments, cloud and blockchain solutions. Finance Loop helps its members build skills and personal networks in these fields: Investment & Digital Assets, Payments & Digital Money, Digital Infrastructure & Sovereignty, and Risk & Compliance.