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Key people at Kickstart Innovation.
Kickstart Innovation, based in Zurich, Switzerland, operates Europe's largest zero-equity, multi-corporate open innovation platform, connecting approximately 100 later-stage deep tech startups annually with partners for proofs-of-concept and commercial partnerships across verticals like EdTech, FinTech, and HealthTech. It has supported over 500 startups, facilitating 400+ innovation deals; alumni have raised over CHF 3.1 billion. Key partners include AXA, City of Zurich, Coop, la Mobilière, and Swisscom. With 20-67 employees, Kickstart celebrated its 10th anniversary in November 2025, announcing 20+ new deals. It was founded in 2015 by Katka Letzing. The firm focuses on deep tech verticals including New Work & Learning, Finance & Insurance, Food & Retail, Health & Wellbeing, Smart Cities, partners include AXA, City of Zurich, Coop, la Mobilière, MSD, PostFinance, Sanitas, Swisscom, serves high-growth startups from 80+ countries.
Kickstart Innovation is one of Europe's largest zero-equity, multi-corporate ecosystem innovation platforms based in Zürich, Switzerland, focused on accelerating deep tech scale-ups through collaboration between startups, corporates, cities, foundations, and universities.[1][2][3] Its mission is to build innovation ecosystems with purpose by fast-forwarding deep tech innovation in verticals including New Work & Learning, Finance & Insurance, Food & Retail, Health & Wellbeing, Smart Cities, plus an Intrapreneurship Academy and Circular Economy Initiative, without taking equity stakes.[1][2][3] The platform engages around 100 startups annually for proofs-of-concept, pilots, and commercial partnerships, having facilitated over 343 such deals and supported 490 startups from 80+ countries, whose alumni raised over CHF 2.8 billion.[2][3] This zero-equity model provides exceptional access to executives and decision-makers from partners like AXA, City of Zurich, Coop, Swisscom, and PostFinance, significantly impacting the European startup ecosystem by bridging later-stage deep tech ventures with established organizations.[1][2][4]
Launched in 2015 as an initiative of Impact Hub Zürich and by digitalswitzerland, Kickstart Innovation emerged to foster unprecedented collaboration for science- and engineering-driven technologies addressing humanity's biggest challenges.[1][2][3] Co-founder and CEO Katka Letzing has led its growth, evolving from a startup accelerator into a comprehensive platform running scale-up programs across six verticals, an Intrapreneurship Academy for internal corporate innovation, and initiatives like hackathons and team sprints.[1][3][4] Key early milestones include attracting global partners and achieving record commercial collaborations even during remote programs, with the 2025 edition marking 10 years and 400 deals as a pinnacle of impact.[3][4] This evolution reflects a shift toward multi-stakeholder ecosystems, bringing 100 startups yearly to Switzerland for direct partnerships.[1][2]
Kickstart rides the deep tech wave, capitalizing on science- and engineering-driven innovations tackling global challenges like sustainability, health, and urban efficiency amid rising demand for collaborative ecosystems.[1][3] Timing is ideal in Europe's maturing startup scene, where corporates seek agile partners for next-gen products without equity dilution, amplified by post-pandemic remote collaboration successes and AI/vertical-specific trends like Swiss {ai} Weeks.[3][4] Market forces favoring it include Switzerland's innovation hub status, corporate innovation mandates, and zero-equity appeal for scale-ups avoiding dilution during funding crunches.[2][4] It influences the ecosystem by democratizing access—scaling 100 startups yearly into Europe, fostering 400+ deals, and enabling intrapreneurship, thus accelerating commercialization and impact at scale.[1][3]
Kickstart's 10-year milestone in 2025, with 400 deals and CHF 2.8B alumni funding, positions it for expansion into emerging deep tech frontiers like AI-integrated sustainability and circular economy plays.[3] Trends like corporate ESG pressures, AI acceleration (e.g., Swiss {ai} Weeks), and global scale-up demand will shape its trajectory, potentially growing verticals and partnerships beyond Switzerland.[3][4] Its influence may evolve toward global hubs, amplifying zero-equity models as benchmarks for ecosystem-building, ensuring deep tech solves humanity's challenges through sustained collaboration.[1][2] This cements Kickstart as a pivotal accelerator in Europe's innovation engine.
Key people at Kickstart Innovation.
