Climate Collider Startup Exchange Program – Switzerland

Launched in partnership with Swiss innovation agency Innosuisse, the program aims to build a transatlantic startup community and foster international collaboration in climate innovation.

What is Climatetech?

Climatetech encompasses a range of technologies that address the challenges of climate change, including both mitigation and resilience technologies.

• Mitigation technologies can be understood as a subset of cleantech – technologies that reduce CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions across all economic sectors, including electricity, buildings, transportation, food, agriculture, manufacturing, and more.
• Resilience technologies prepare people, communities, and infrastructure for the impacts of climate change, including cooling systems, solutions against fires, floods, other natural disasters, heat-resistant crops, and more.

Two Ecosystems: Boston and New York

The fall 2024 edition of Climate Collider will bring a cohort of Swiss startups to Boston and New York, two leading climatetech hubs in the US:

• Boston | Boston’s climatetech ecosystem is anchored by its renowned research universities, which have spun off numerous groundbreaking clean energy companies. Among these are Form Energy, developing low-cost, long-term battery storage solutions, and Commonwealth Fusion Systems, the leading commercial fusion startup, based in nearby Danvers, Massachusetts. The area also hosts the world’s largest climatetech incubator, Greentown Labs, and a wide range of organizations and initiatives pushing innovation in the field, such as Activate, the Northeast Clean Energy Council, and the MIT Climate and Energy Prize.
• New York | New York has its own climate momentum with various incubators and accelerators in the field, the world’s biggest climate event, Climate Week NYC, as well as new climate-friendly policies. Passed in 2019 as part of the Climate Mobilization Act, Local Law 97 is expected to reduce cumulative emissions from large buildings at least 40% citywide by 2030 through retrofits – a major boost in the drive to decarbonize the city’s building stock. Climate legislation passed in 2022 also accelerates the phase out of dirty fuel oils in buildings and mandates electrical vehicle chargers to be included in many parking lots in the city.

Who Can Apply?

• To be eligible to join the Climate Collider cohort, Swiss startups must fulfill the following criteria:
  • Climatetech solution from any sector with high market potential and scalability
  • Headquartered in Switzerland
  • Participating in Innosuisse Start-up Coaching (note that startups can apply in parallel to Climate Collider and Innosuisse’s Initial Coaching program)
• Startups joining the Climate Collider cohort must be available for all sessions in the program.
• Participating startups are eligible to receive a stipend for their travel to Boston and New York.

For more information, visit Swiss Innovation Agency.