The canton of Vaud is one of the main centers for research and innovation in Switzerland, with the largest academic and technology campus in the country and several research centers as well as internationally known industries, particularly in life sciences, micro-nanotechnologies, ICTs and cleantech. The Office for Economic Affairs and Innovation (SPEI) is the official public organization that supports companies located within the canton of Vaud, especially those involved in sectors of advanced technology and industry. Indeed, SPEI advises entrepreneurs and puts them in contact with organizations that are appropriate to their specific needs. SPEI can also provide direct financial support.

Innovaud is the entry door to innovation in the Canton of Vaud. It offers free of charge support to startups, scale-ups and SMEs focusing on technology-based innovations. Support includes financing, access to innovation parks, coaching, promotion and networking. Innovaud helps innovative companies in Life Science, Information and Communication Technology, Precision Industry and Cleantech. Innovaud is an initiative of the State of Vaud. It is carried by the Department of Economy, Innovation and Sport (DEIS) as well as the Department of Education, Youth and Culture (DFJC). In 2016, Innovaud created the Scale Up Vaud program and label, which aims to encourage and reinforce innovative companies in phase of high growth that are based in the Canton of Vaud. Today, 25 companies are part of the Scale Up Vaud program. Altogether, these companies generated 2360 jobs worldwide, out of which 1400 are based in Switzerland. www.innovaud.ch / www.scale-up-vaud.ch

CPV Partners is a Swiss law firm, active in the Lake of Geneva area and in the Western Switzerland, specializing in business and commercial law, as well as in sports law. CPV Partners offers the full spectrum of leal services in business law and sports law and assists the companies, entrepreneurs, management teams and stakeholders in efficiently anticipating, managing and resolving all legal issues that relate to a business.

CleantechAlps, Western Switzerland’s cleantech cluster CleantechAlps is the platform dedicated to the development of the clean technology sector in western Switzerland. The region’s gateway to the cleantech field, its purpose is to bring together all the research organisations, industries and services that contribute to the protection and conservation of natural resources and the production of renewable energy. CleantechAlps is the region’s driving force for the development of the sector, promoting interaction between businesses and players in the field, and increasing their visibility. www.cleantech-alps.com/en

BioAlps is a diversified Life Sciences cluster and represents 1185 Western Switzerland companies in the fields of biotech, medtech, pharma, nutrition and e-health. Supported by the 12 academic institutions, the 7 cantons of Western Switzerland and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), BioAlps offers a dynamic network and an innovative and supportive environment with immediate access to the world of Life Sciences. The Association’s aim is to promote the excellence and performance of the industry in the region. The community can network and share business opportunities during events organised and supported by BioAlps in Switzerland and internationally.

Based in Lausanne, Biopôle is one of the largest life sciences campuses in Europe. Its ecosystem supports emerging enterprises: widespread collaboration among its members means talent and expertise converge to cultivate cutting-edge developments. Pioneering spaces like ready-to-go laboratories StartLab and Superlab, as well as the Digital Health Hub encourage people to connect. Biopôle also provides financial help through its Start-up Fund and strategic support via its Vanguard Accelerator. Biopôle offers state-of-the-art facilities to over 150 companies, from start-ups to multinationals. It’s also home to more than 25 world-famous academic research groups. Its vibrant community includes over 2,500 people, who are developing innovations in pharma, medtech, biotech, digital health and more.

InnoRate is a H2020 project that aims to facilitate tech-driven SMEs showcase their potential and access more easily financial solutions necessary to scale and grow. Towards this aim, InnoRate introduces a novel service platform that evaluates and benchmarks tech-driven companies based on the well-established Korean Technology Rating System, that has a track record of assessing over 200,000 cases and helping SMEs acquire more than EUR 75 billion. The platform bears the signature of nine leading institutions from six European countries: Q-Plan International, TechTour Global, Ernst and Young, European Business and Innovation Centre Network (EBN), Jolt Capital, White Research and Ontotext. These institutions came together over a period of 36 months in the quest of making an unrivalled platform that uses cutting-edge technologies to evaluate and benchmark the potential your company.