Talent Kick

Talent Kick is a programme that helps master's and doctoral students at Swiss universities form founding teams. It is an initiative of the Kick Foundation in Basel, which the Ernst Göhner Stiftung and the Gebert Rüf Stiftung set up in 2021 and which also runs Venture Kick.

The programme lasts two to four semesters. In the first, participants from different disciplines meet in bootcamps, events and coaching sessions to find co-founders. Teams that come through receive the Team Kick Award of CHF 5,000. In the following semesters they keep building their startups, supported by mentors with startup leadership experience, individual leadership coaching and access to further funding.

Talent Kick was launched at six Swiss universities in 2021. A steering committee of universities, among them ETH Zurich, EPFL, the University of Zurich and the University of St. Gallen, accompanies it, and foundations such as the Hasler Stiftung and the ETH Foundation support it. Startups from the programme include EthonAI and Mimic Robotics.