End of mandate for five Innovation Boosters
Five thematic Innovation Booster initiatives supported by Innosuisse have come to an end. These initiatives have run for four years in essential areas such as circular building, human services, digital health, sustainable materials and robotics, and have brought together a diverse range of stakeholders to tackle current societal challenges in order to co-create solutions.
The following Innovation Booster initiatives operated from 2021 to 2025:
- Circular Building Industry
- Co-Designing Human Services
- Digital Health Nation
- Plastics for Zero Emission
- Robotics
Tangible results for Swiss innovation
Within the five Innovation Boosters, 80% of participants met new partners to explore their challenges from various perspectives. Through more than 70 facilitated workshops, teams were able to deepen their understanding of these challenges, paving the way for new solutions to be created. In addition, 70% of the teams were able to involve users in their testing, enabling them to get feedback and quickly tweak their concepts to meet the real needs on the ground. This dynamic has led to more than 500 innovation ideas emerging.
Supported by the Innovation Booster Circular Building Industry, the Swiss start-up Sol-Hair was able to work with the HEIG-VD and EMPA to develop insulation boards made from recycled hair waste, an innovation aimed at reducing the carbon footprint of the construction sector.
In order to bring their idea to life, the team has benefited greatly from the Booster network: “The Innovation Booster network proved to be extremely valuable. It facilitated connections with key players in the construction industry — relationships that are often challenging to establish at generic fairs or broader startup programmes.”, explain Maria Vaccaro and Yann Thomas. With an innovation cheque from Innosuisse and the 2023 Venture Kick Award, Sol-Hair is now continuing to bring its solution to market.
The VIRAS project, supported by the Innovation Booster Robotics, is looking to have a significant social impact. In close cooperation with the Swiss Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (sbv-fsa), the Institute for Lab Automation and Mechatronics at the University of Applied Sciences of Eastern Switzerland (OST) has developed an autonomous shopping trolley for blind and visually impaired people. “The Innovation Booster helped us refine the idea, connect with other partners and companies, and played a decisive role in the success of the project.”, says Dario Schafroth of the OST.
Following mentoring support and an innovation cheque from Innosuisse, the VIRAS shopping trolley prototype is currently being tested in the Migros branch in Hinwil and is intended to expand the user group to include the elderly.
Exploring challenges to drive innovation
One of the major contributions of Innovation Boosters is the unique focus of exploring challenges earlier in the innovation process. According to a survey conducted as part of the assessment of the impact of the instrument, 81% of participants said they have a better understanding of the challenges to solve thanks to this step. The analysis and solution-generation methods were widely praised.
In view of this result, Innosuisse plans to strengthen the exploration of challenges in the next version of the instrument, while consolidating collaboration and user-centric innovation.
Beyond the mandate
The conclusion of these five Innovation Boosters marks the end of a cycle but also paves the way for new dynamics. As Theo Sandu from the Innovation Booster Plastic for Zero Emission notes, “Our primary motivation for launching the Innovation Booster Plastics for Zero Emissions was to make a tangible contribution to Switzerland’s broader climate objectives. Beyond the mandate, we intend to keep the network alive, even if future activities may take a different form. The relationships built over four years are too valuable not to maintain.”
In fact, Circular Building Industry has built a circular-construction community, Digital Health Nation has developed a format to continue supporting its stakeholders and Co-Designing Human Services and Robotics have created associations to extend support to their communities.
Next call for applications
Innosuisse continues to support thematic Innovation Booster initiatives to encourage co-creation and help to create and develop new ideas for the benefit of Swiss society and the economy. The next call for applications for Innovation Booster will be launched in autumn 2026. Subscribe to the Innosuisse newsletter to stay in the loop.