Apply to the Tech4Regen startup acceleration program

The 2025 applications are closed.
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Eligibility Criteria

If your startup meets these criteria, we encourage you to apply and take advantage of this opportunity to propel your venture forward and make a lasting positive impact on Nature, Climate and Society.

Company & Team

We welcome startups that are close to or in industrialization and commercialization phases, with a multidisciplinary core team ready to lead the deployment at scale of their solution and develop sustainable business and impact.
Startups must be registered in Switzerland or have a connection with a Swiss university, partner or customer.

Innovation

Demonstrated technological innovation — Your product or solution should be based on a disruptive technology or scientific breakthrough, patent protected or difficult to copy IP, and responding to a well identified problem.

Technology readiness

Ready-to-market product or solution — Your startup should have a product or solution that is developed and validated in laboratory or in the field, ready to be launched or already on the market. This ensures that you can take full advantage of the programme's resources and support to accelerate your growth.

Traction

Customer acquisition and/or internationalization phase — You should be actively seeking to acquire customers and expand your user base. This indicates that you are ready to scale your operations and benefit from the program's exposure and networking opportunities.

Impact

Alignment with our mission — Your solution should demonstrate a potential net positive impact within at least one of the application fields outlined by our program.
We aim to accelerate startups contributing to the transition towards a regenerative economy, i.e. moving away from business models based on overconsumption, extraction and exploitation, to ones where social and ecological goals are integral to the company’s mission.

Commitment

Dedication and active engagement — We expect participating startups to attend all programme activities and foster open, collaborative exchanges with fellow participants to fully leverage the available resources, mentorship, training, and networking opportunities.
Be aware that most events require the physical presence of one of the startup founders or leaders at EPFL or other locations in Switzerland.
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FAQ

Why should we apply as soon as possible?

‍The sooner you apply the more chance you’ll get to have your file carefully analyzed by several experts and get more visibility.

The application files will be evaluated by financial, industrial and business experts from various organizations and companies.

Even if your application is not selected, the process will still provide valuable exposure to these experts and enhance the visibility of your startup.

Not being selected will not mean in any way that your startup is not as great and promising than the chosen ones; we’ll select the startups we believe we can help the most and which better fit the strategic challenges defined with our partners.

What are the application areas for 2025

Here are the main focus areas in which we are looking for innovation startups in 2025:

🔸 Regenerative Agriculture & Sourcing – Innovations in food, agrotech, fibersystems, bio-based materials, and more.

🔸 Biodiversity & Biological Carbon Capture – Solutions that protect ecosystems and tackle carbon challenges.

🔸 Circular Economy –Technologies for waste elimination, sustainable packaging, and reuse/recycling of product and materials.

🔸 Sustainable Electrical Systems & Electronic Components – Advances in decarbonizing energy, industrial, and IT systems.

🔸 We’re also open to other themes to be co-designed with new program partners, so stay tuned!

At what stage can we apply?

Participating startups must already have a technical product or service, with at least an operational prototype and ideally some initial customers or early adopters.

  • The programme is not designed to develop your technical solution but to build and implement effective business strategies for existing products or services.
  • Our experts, from various fields and industries, will help refine your solution for new systems, applications, regulations, or markets.
  • More importantly, they will focus on developing sound go-to-market strategies, managing impact, scaling your company structure and culture, preparing communication plans, and raising funds.

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Startups must have a core team and some seed funding to work on these next steps.

  • Our support centers on company and brand development, industrialization, commercialization, and internationalization.
  • While the programme helps attract investors, we expect teams to be already funded to prepare readiness for the next financing round or sales growth.

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What are the benefits of taking part in the programme?

Joining our 8-month equity-free program offers:

  • Thriving ecosystem: join a vibrant community of startups, scale-ups, experts, and financial institutions and industrial corporations to explore collaboration opportunities.
  • Tailored workshops: access 12 in-person thematic workshops and receive mentoring from top industry experts.
  • Global exposure: showcase your innovation at exclusive events and international roadshows to engage with potential partners, customers, and investors.
  • Hands-on support: receive guidance from highly experienced industry and business experts to help develop proofs of concept (POCs), pilot tests, industrialization, manufacturing, branding, and market validation.

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What are the main events of the programme?

The programme is still under construction and will be announced with the selected startups in March 2025.

The main events will be the Kick-off event on March 18, 2025, and the closing ceremony in November 2025.

In between, a few roadshows, a dozen of thematic workshops and seminars, as well as regular peer-to-peer meetings and coaching sessions will be organized.

Can we participate remotely or do we need to be based in Switzerland?

Although some events may be accessible virtually, most of them require physical attendance at EPFL Innovation Park or other locations in Switzerland.

  • In-person meetings and face-to-face exchanges are key to foster collaborations between startups, experts and companies.
  • Startups from all over Switzerland and even other countries can participate, but shall be able to attend in-person most events at EPFL or some Swiss or International Roadshows (typically 2 days a month). Travel and accommodation costs are at the expense of participating startups.

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In addition, startups not incorporated in Switzerland must have a formal connection with a Swiss university, partner or customer, or a strong plan to establish such a connection.

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Is there a fee to apply or participate in the programme?

Participation in the programme is completely free, including the application process.

The programme is fully sponsored, and we do not require any equity in return.

Selection will be solely based on the quality of the applicants' proposals with regard to the impact potential, the alignment with some needs of the society/economy/industry, and the capacity of our experts to help with specific challenges.

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