Evaluation and decision

Criteria for evaluating your application

Applications are assessed based on the initial application requirements.

Formal criteria:

• Has all required information been submitted and is it correct?
  
• Have the requirements of the Code of Conduct for Scientific Integrity been met?
• Has the start-up been incorporated in Switzerland within the last ten years?
• Does the start-up employ five or more full-time equivalents?

Assessment criteria:

• Is the business model innovative and science-based?
  The developed solution and/or business model has to be considered a novelty on the market and can be associated with a scientific discipline.
• Is the company at an appropriate stage of maturity?
• Do past growth performance, annual revenue, financing raised, size of the team, management competencies and other elements testify to the scale-up stage of the start-up?
• Has an ambitious yet realisable growth strategy been defined?
  
• Does the company have a high growth rate or growth potential of ≥30%?
• Does the scale-up company have the potential to achieve a significant market share in its segment?
• Is the product/service defendable?
  For a start-up to succeed, it is crucial that it has a competitive advantage. This can be a valuable IP (patent, trademark), specific expertise, or particular speed to market, etc.
• Does the start-up team have global ambitions and committed interests in the company’s growth?
  Building a start-up is very dynamic and requires a lot of time and effort. Therefore the start-up team must be committed, agile in terms of execution and receptive to input.  
• Is the business idea sustainable?
  The business idea must not have any negative impact on the sustainable development of society, the economy or the environment; ideally, it should actively contribute to sustainable development.

Decision

The Innosuisse Innovation Council decides on your application based on the information and assessments submitted:

• Your application to phase 1 of the Scale-up Coaching programme is approved
  Innosuisse informs you by email that your application has been approved. You will also receive an official letter by IncaMail within the following few weeks. Coaching will begin as soon as the coaching voucher has been activated in the system.
  
• Your application is rejected
  Innosuisse informs you by email that your application has been rejected. An official letter setting out the reasons for the rejection will be sent to you by IncaMail within the following few weeks.
  

A rejected application can be revised and submitted to Innosuisse as a new application in a subsequent Scale-up Coaching call, provided that the criteria that formed the basis of the objection have been changed and the remaining requirements are still met. The newly submitted application will be re-evaluated according to the usual evaluation process.

Frequently asked questions