swiss environment & energy Swiss
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About us

Vision


The Swiss Environment and Energy Innovation Monitor is developed to address the need for more visibility of Swiss environmental and energy startups, and improve accessibility for collaboration opportunities between startups and established companies and/or research.


Team


The team managing this project (including the website, database and analyses) are from the ZHAW School of Management and Law and eqlosion. The project is financed by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE), and additionally supported by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) and Innosuisse.

Christina Marchand and Devon Wemyss from the Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the ZHAW School of Management and Law are researchers on energy entrepreneurship in Switzerland within the Innosuisse funded SCCER CREST. The Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship also runs the yearly Energy Startup Day.

Yves Loerincik is an experienced startup founder and innovator in the field of environmental sustainability. eqlosion supports the growth and implementation of environment-focused ideas into impactful businesses.



For Startups


ZHAW Services
  • Sign up for our database and upload your Logo or log in here and complete your data!
  • Sign up to the newsletter for information on funding, sector meetings, events, awards and other support related specifically to Swiss environment and energy startups. Sent max. 5 times per year from the Innovation Monitor with content from our wider stakeholder network.
  • Startups interested in support, further training or coworking space can check the possibilites at Startup Campus or at the ZHAW RUNWAY Incubator
  • swiss female-founders map - a project of startup campus and impact hub


  • Further Links

  • For finding energy specific funding: Angebote der Innovationsförderung im Energiebereich (DE)
  • An overview of cleantech start-ups and their sources of funding (2017, EN/DE/FR)


  • FAQ - About the database


    Which organizations are included?
    The database includes high potential projects and companies based and working primarily in Switzerland, founded or active since 2000 and still operational. The organizations range from early ideas and concepts up to a founded company or established startup trying to capture a larger market space.
    The startups presented in the Innovation Monitor database are categorized based on several different parameters, but are similarly Swiss, active, and not founded before 2000. When a company is closed, sold, or develops to the point of a more established company, they are no longer part of this database. (If your startup or project is missing or if you would like more information, please get in touch and we would be happy to assist you.)

    What data is collected?
    For each project / company in the database, we update the following data on a yearly basis. Some of the information comes from our yearly survey.

  • Name, short description, founding year, legal form
  • Number of employees, genders, background of founders
  • Business area, technology, development phase, customer segments, impact area, target markets
  • Contact data of founders and /or CEO
  • Support received like awards, investments etc.

  • How to work with the database?
    Only active startups and companies are visible on the website. Startups can be selected by area, technology and canton. Find more information about search fields and filters in this article. In case you are interested in further data analysis or want to do projects together, please get in touch.

    History of the Innovation Monitor
    Public authorities, and in particular the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) and the Federal Office for Environment (FOEN), recognise that startups play an important role in the energy transition by innovating the ways energy will be produced, transformed, distributed and managed in the future. Cleantech and sustainability start-ups will also accelerate the market introduction and diffusion of advanced materials, more efficient solutions for water treatment, new material recycling options and so on.

    The report "An overview of Cleantech start-ups" was published in 2017 by eqlosion and CleantechAlps to give an overview of the Cleantech start-ups in Switzerland. Other actors, in particular the ZHAW within the SCCER CREST programme, had been collecting and analysing energy startup data since 2014. These different initiatives show very interesting results about the dynamic of cleantech start-ups in Switzerland and the challenges they face. However, until now these initiatives have not been coordinated. In order to get a better overview and support companies efficiently, it was thought necessary to follow the situation in a systematic way, over a period of years.

    In order to combine efforts and produce a more coherent picture of the trends, needs and success factors for startups across Switzerland, ZHAW and eqlosion decided to partner in 2018 to develop the Swiss Environment and Energy Innovation Monitor with the financial support and interest of the SFOE. ZHAW and eqlosion believe that this project can play a key role for the Swiss startups scene.



    The Innovation Monitor in the press

    2022
    SRF über Innovationen und Klima

    2021
    Startup Ticker about Innovation Monitor
    Energeia Plus

    2020
    Energeia Monitor Startup Map Startup Ticker Innovation Monitor 2020
    Energeia Innovation Monitor 2020

    2018
    Startup Ticker Energy Startup Map 2018
    Swisspower Energy Startup Map 2018
    Quio Energy Startup Map 2018
    Wirtschaftsraum Energy Startup Map 2018
    Startup Ticker Innovation Monitor 2018

    Technopark Winterthur News Innovation Monitor 2018
    Wirtschaftsraum Zürich Innovation Monitor 2018
    Innovation Monitor 2018

    2015
    Startup Ticker Energy Startup Day 2015

    Contact us

    Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship

    ZHAW School of Management and Law
    Theaterstrasse 17
    8400 Winterthur

    info (at) innovation-monitor.ch