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Fondation pour l'innovation et la technologie (FIT)
FIT was founded in 1994 by the Canton of Vaud, EPFL, and later joined by the University of Lausanne as founding institutional partners.
Fondation pour l'innovation et la technologie (FIT)
FIT was founded in 1994 by the Canton of Vaud, EPFL, and later joined by the University of Lausanne as founding institutional partners. The foundation operates as a non-profit economic-development vehicle rather than a return-seeking investor, funneling public and private patronage into the regional startup pipeline. Its board draws on both academia and corporate Switzerland, with Ferring Pharmaceuticals and KFC Pan Europe holding committee seats alongside the managing director, Julien Guex. The foundation segments its deployment across four thematic programs. FIT Tech backs deep-tech and high-tech spinouts from EPFL and HES-SO. FIT Digital targets asset-light, scalable digital startups. FIT Food & Hospitality Vertical supports nutrition and hospitality innovation, and FIT Impact commits 10,000-franc grants to low-tech projects with measurable social or environmental returns. A typical instrument is the Tech Seed loan — deployed in 100,000-franc tranches to startups like MoleSense, a wearable maternal-health sensor developer, and Performance MouthGuard, a concussion-prevention device maker (per the firm, March 2026). Geographically, the mandate is tightly bound to the canton of Vaud and French-speaking Switzerland; applicant startups must maintain a university affiliation in Vaud to qualify. FIT does not disclose an AUM figure, but its cumulative deployment has surpassed 100 million francs, backing more than 300 active startups that collectively raised several billion francs in follow-on capital and created thousands of jobs. On average over the last decade, one in five startups in the Swiss TOP100 ranking has been a FIT alumnus. The managing office in Lausanne reports to a foundation board that includes Edouard Bugnion, an EPFL professor. The foundation also maintains deep ties to the regional innovation cluster through memberships in BioAlps, the Deep Tech Nation Switzerland Foundation, and SECA, the Swiss private equity association. In April 2026, the FIT Impact program awarded 10,000 francs each to FineTouch Academy, Phonemia, SODA, and TYTOdb — projects spanning edtech, speech therapy, science communication, and biodiversity monitoring. What structurally distinguishes FIT from a pure university seed fund is its hybrid status as a government-anchored foundation wielding both grants and recoverable loan instruments. Innovaud, the canton's innovation agency, performs initial deal screening, while FIT's internal committee — composed of corporate partners and academics — makes the final allocation decision. This architecture embeds the foundation so deeply into Western Switzerland's economic fabric that its portfolio serves as a live census of the region's early-stage commercial research.
General information
Firm type
Endowment / Foundation
Year founded
1994
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
Europe
Country
Switzerland
City
Lausanne
Corporate office
Lausanne, Switzerland
Principals
Edouard Bugnion
President of the Foundation Board
Julien Guex
Managing Director and General Secretary
Joao-Antonio Brinca
Vice-President of the Foundation Board
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
How does FIT source its deals?
FIT relies on a structured pre-screening partnership with Innovaud, the innovation agency of the Canton of Vaud. Proposals must typically originate from, or be affiliated with, a university in the canton — principally EPFL, the University of Lausanne, or HES-SO. This embedded pipeline makes FIT's portfolio function as a direct index of academic research commercialization in Western Switzerland.
What type of capital does FIT provide, equity or non-dilutive?
FIT provides entirely non-dilutive capital. Its instruments are split between grants — such as the 10,000-franc FIT Impact awards — and recoverable seed loans, which can reach 100,000 francs under the Tech Seed program. The foundation does not take equity positions in the startups it supports.
Who sits on the FIT investment committee?
The decision-making body is the Foundation Board, chaired by EPFL professor Edouard Bugnion, with Vice-President Joao-Antonio Brinca and Managing Director Julien Guex. Corporate representation includes members from Ferring Pharmaceuticals and KFC Pan Europe, ensuring the committee blends academic, public-policy, and commercial perspectives.
What is the relationship between FIT and the Canton of Vaud?
The Canton of Vaud is a founding institutional partner of FIT and its primary public-sector sponsor. The canton's own innovation agency, Innovaud, formally handles the pre-selection of candidate startups before they reach FIT for funding evaluation, making the foundation an operational extension of the canton's economic development strategy.
What has been FIT's track record with follow-on funding?
FIT reports that its alumni startups have raised billions of francs in subsequent venture rounds and have generated thousands of jobs in the Lake Geneva region. Over the past decade, an average of 20 percent of the startups in the Swiss TOP100 ranking were FIT-supported companies, and the foundation has spawned at least three unicorns and numerous scale-ups.
Does FIT invest outside Switzerland?
No. FIT's mandate is entirely regional, restricted to startups based in the canton of Vaud and Western Switzerland. It does not make investments or provide funding to companies incorporated or primarily operating outside this area.
How is FIT different from an EPFL venture fund?
While EPFL is a founding partner and the primary source of deal flow, FIT is an independent foundation, not a university-controlled fund. Its governance includes external corporate board members, and its funding programs extend to projects from the University of Lausanne, HES-SO, HEIG-VD, and other Vaud institutions. The foundation uses a hybrid grant-and-loan model rather than operating as a traditional university proof-of-concept fund.
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