The European Innovation Council - SME instrument Phase 1 are in and once again this programme has proven extremely successful for Swiss applicants with 23 winners and one of the highest overall success rates of any country. 

Since the start of 2018 62 Swiss SMEs have won funding for their project amounting to over 10m Euros.

All SME instrument Phase 1 winners receive a €50k cheque to develop their business plan and 3 days of business coaching with top-class experts pre-selected by their local EEN advisors.

Since its start in 2014, the SME Instrument has invested €1.3 billion in a unique selection of over 3,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to get their breakthrough innovations faster on the market. Looking ahead, in 2018 the SME Instrument has become a central pillar of the European Innovation Council (EIC) pilot that focuses even more on market-creating innovation.

This report offers first-hand insights into growth trends and profiles of the companies funded under the SME Instrument. The report presents cumulative data from 2014 to end of 2017.

Since January 1st, Innosuisse, the newly formed Swiss Innovation promotion agency, took over the Swiss EEN team and the delivery of EEN services in Switzerland.

The EEN services perfectly fit into the Innosuisse international mission, which is to help companies work together across national borders and start-ups who want to gain a foothold in the international market.