Alumni Ventures

Venture Kick, based in Switzerland, has been a crucial player in the early-stage startup ecosystem since 2007. This philanthropic initiative provides pre-seed funding of up to CHF 150,000 to promising startups, helping them transition from innovative ideas to market-ready products. Venture Kick's portfolio includes over 1,000 startups, which collectively have attracted more than CHF 8 billion in investments and created over 13,300 jobs. Some notable successes from Venture Kick include Climeworks, a leader in direct air capture technology, which raised CHF 600 million to scale its operations, and YASAI, a vertical farming company that secured significant investment to accelerate its growth. In 2023 alone, Venture Kick supported 118 projects with CHF 6.23 million, focusing on high-tech sectors like ICT, life sciences, cleantech, and advanced manufacturing. Venture Kick aims to continue its impactful work, with goals to support 3,000 high-tech companies and create 100,000 jobs by 2033. The initiative's structured, three-stage funding process and focus on early-stage startups fill a critical gap in the funding landscape, supporting ventures that may not yet attract public or private investment​.