Switzerland-based drugs company Debiopharm Group said it would support the country’s national pre-seed fund, Venture Kick, to help business ideas at Switzerland’s institutes of higher learning and universities.
Debiopharm is the first private company to join the ranks of the five foundations – Gebert Rüf Stiftung, Ernst Gohner Stiftung, OPO-Stiftung, Avina Stiftung and Fondation 1796 des Associés de la Maison de banquiers privés Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch & Cie – in Venture Kick, which has awarded SFr8.5m ($m) since 2007 to 233 spin-offs in a programme managed by IFJ Institut für Jungunternehmen.
The objective is to double the amount of spin-offs, by speeding up the process of launching a company and by making start-ups more attractive for professional investors. In order to meet its objectives, venture kick offers up to SFr130,000 in pre-seed capital.
Pascale Vonmont, president of Venture Kick’s strategy committee and Deputy Director of Gebert Rüf Stiftung, said…
