As part of its new funding programme for climate protection and the circular economy, the city of Zurich will support nine start-ups from across the canton and eight non-profit organisations. The start-ups include the two TPW tenant companies Borobotics and Unbound Potential. A total of at least CHF 1.2 million will be awarded in the first round of KlimUp.
The city of Zurich has completed the first round of funding for its new KlimUp support programme, the city’s Department of Health and the Environment announced in a press release. This funding programme supports young companies and non-profit organisations in their commitment to climate protection and the circular economy. In the first round, 167 applications were received. Among them, an expert committee selected nine early-stage start-ups and eight non-profit organisations for funding.
Each of the nine start-ups will receive a basic grant of CHF 35,000. This can be increased if the young company completes a successful first round of financing. In this case, KlimUp doubles the privately raised funds up to a maximum amount of 215,000 CHF.
The two TPW tenant companies and Runway Incubator start-ups Borobotics GmbH and Unbound Potential GmbH are among the companies receiving funding. Borobotics GmbH is revolutionising the drilling process for ground-coupled heat pumps with its self-developed drilling robot «Grabowski». Unbound Potential is developing a new type of membrane-free redox flow battery technology.
A total of at least CHF 1.2 million will be awarded in the first round. The funding programme, which is set to run until 2028 or until the funds are exhausted, has 14 million francs at its disposal. Applications for the second round of funding can still be submitted until 29 April. A decision on the next award will be made in June 2024.
