Innosuisse chooses seven new members for its Innovation Council
The Board of Directors of Innosuisse has chosen seven new members for the Innovation Council. They will be bringing their strengths to bear at the Swiss Innovation Agency from January 2026. At the same time, six members of the Innovation Council will be leaving Innosuisse as at the end of 2025. Leila Schwery, Vice-Chairwoman for the past two years, will be taking over as Chairwoman of the Innovation Council for the next two years from 2026, while Elena Cortona will act as Vice-Chairwoman for the same period.
Members newly appointed to Innosuisse’s Innovation Council:
- Carlo Centonze – founder and CEO of HeiQ
- Matt Curran – CEO and co-founder of Nanoflex Robotics
- Luc Haldimann – Co-CEO & Founder at Unblu, Chairman at Magnolia, Board member at Karakun, Swiss Made Software and SwissICT
- Christophe Moser – Professor of Optics at Laboratory of Applied Photonic Devices, EPFL
- Simone Riedel Riley – partner at Emerald Technology Ventures and Head of the Technology Fund
- Philipp Ries – Head of EMEA Search and AI Partnerships at Google (Jobshare), Investment Committee member at Verve Ventures, and Chairman of the Board at Hapimag and Nuavo
- Bianca Scheffler – Head of AI at KPMG Switzerland, Board member NeuroVIZR and Co-Founder & Co-President of Institute of Neurodiversity (ION) Switzerland
The seven new members have a strong track record in many different fields of innovation. They have been appointed for a term of four years. As of 1 January 2026, Innosuisse’s Innovation Council is made up of 25 members.
Change in leadership
As of 2026, current Vice-Chairwoman Leila Schwery will become Chairwoman of the Innovation Council for the next two years, while Elena Cortona will become Vice-Chairwoman for the same period. Innosuisse would like to thank Christoph Rüttimann for his solid commitment and hard work during his two years as Chairman and is looking forward to benefiting from his expertise on the Innovation Council until his term ends in September 2026.
Departure of six Innovation Council members
Six members of the Innovation Council will be stepping down at the end of 2025. Innosuisse would like to thank Nicoletta Casanova, Renat Heuberger, Malick Kane, Thomas Puschmann, Philippe Renaud and Stelio Tzonis for their extraordinary commitment to Innosuisse as members of the Innovation Council.
The Innovation Council
The Innovation Council is the specialised body of Innosuisse. The main duty of the Innovation Council is to review, analyse and take decisions on funding applications and to support the execution of funding activities. The Innovation Council also plays a key role in drafting proposals for the funding strategy to be approved by the Board of Directors of Innosuisse.