Informal meeting of leading players in the Swiss innovation ecosystem to discuss EU and Swiss support programmes for startups and SMEs in 2025

Hosted by SERI with the support of Euresearch

Objective: Exchange of views on next steps regarding scale – up programmes in the context of Horizon Europe association

Scale-up Programs: A Swiss and European Perspective (15 min) 

Presenting the context of scale - up programmes in Switzerland and in Europe – taking stock of past experiences in particular the Swiss Accelerator and looking at the different scenarii for the future in terms of opportunities with/without association of Switzerland to Horizon Europe Speaker: Otto Bruun, Scientific Advisor for International Innovation Programmes, State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation SERI 

Deep Dive into the EIC Accelerator (20 min) 

The raison d’être, lessons learned and perspectives for the EIC in Europe, with a particular focus on the EIC Accelerator instrument Speaker: 

Cristina Riesen, EIC Ambassador 

Enabling Success (10 min) Euresearch Services for Start-ups and SMEs Introduction by Francesco Kienzle, Co-Director, Euresearch Speakers: Rita de Brito and Romain Muller, National Contact Points for the EIC Accelerator, Euresearch Collaborative Discussion (45 min) 

Stakeholder Roundtable