PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Talent Kick is a highly selective, cross-university program over 2 to 4 semesters until your graduation that will help you find an interdisciplinary co-founder team and combine your studies with an entrepreneurial journey.
The 1st semester is designed around Bootcamps, events, workshops, and coaching which will enable you to form a stable team and a strong bond with your co-founders, develop your leadership skills, get a first direction, and validate your technology/problem space more in-depth. This prepared you to be in the driving seat for your entrepreneurial journey. The most successful students will get initial funding and move to semesters 2 - 4.
The 2nd to 4th semesters are focused on building your network, getting valuable input from experienced entrepreneurs, executives, potential customers, investors, and experts to validate your first ideas hands-on, using synergies with your studies, and connecting to further programs and funding sources to prolong your runway.
At the completion of the program the best participants will have...
Ideas validated
Funding secured
Co-founder secured and/or company founded
Immersed in the Swiss and international entrepreneurial ecosystems
Runway extended through other support programs Swiss-wide & from global program partners
SEMESTER 1
During the first program semester, in our hands-on bootcamps and events, you will work on achieving the two Milestones of (1) forming a stable team and (2) convincing a successful entrepreneur as your mentor. Along the way, in 5 individual 1:1 coaching sessions that will continue in semester 2–4, you will learn to lead yourself, lead others and lead change. Furthermore, you’ll also have the opportunity to join regular community workshops organised with ecosystem partners, where you can build new skills, and expand your network beyond the core program.
Dates for the TK-S26 program:
19.02.2026
Introduction
Q&A Session
25.02.2026
Bootcamp 0
Kick-off
Event 1
27.02.2026
Coaching Introduction
Bootcamp 1
11.03.2026
What makes a good
entrepreneur?
Event 2
20-21.03.2026
Team building
Bootcamp 2
25.03.2026
What makes a
good team?
Bootcamp 3
15.04.2026
Problem deep dive
Milestone 1
29.04.2026
Team formed
2 hrs - Online
7 hrs - in person
2 hrs - online
7 hrs - in person
in person
7 hrs - in person
7 hrs - in person
Bootcamp 4
06.05.2026
Validation
7 hrs - in person
Bootcamp 5
20.05.2026
Convince others
7 hrs - in person
21.05.2026
Event 3
Milestone 2 Q&A
2 hrs - Online
17.06.2026
Event 4
Steering committee
& partners pitching
2 hrs - Online
Milestone 2
29.07.2026
Mentor convinced
12.08.2026
Event 5
Peer pitching
2 hrs - Online
02.09.2026
Event 6
Strategy board
pitching
2 hrs - Online
Event 7
Sep 2026
Over the first semester you will get the toolsets to...
Build a team
The program will help you find a co-founder with complementary skills. Thanks to the many universities participating in the program you will be able to find people with technical, business, medical, and in various other backgrounds.
This multidisciplinary and in-depth approach will allow you to build a solid team to start your entrepreneurial adventure.
Find a mentor
You will convince an entrepreneurial mentor to help and guide you through the founding journey with their experience. They are founders themselves who went through the journey successfully only a few years ago. An entrepreneurial mentor has...
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4+ years experience in a startup leadership position
-
Last hands-on experience less than 4 years ago
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Openness to potentially give seed investment
-
Regular touch-points with you, typically on a weekly basis for the mentor-mentee relationship to be intensified
Develop yourself
Coaches will help you individually on your personal development journey. You will start with a personality test and receive support in overcoming challenges and refining your strengths. You set your goals and schedule your 1:1 sessions individually with your personal coach to ensure the best possible outcome for you.
Get initial funding and validate your idea
After achieving the final milestone and achieving to convince a mentor and our jury, your team will receive the Team Kick award of CHF 5000. This will allow you to validate concrete ideas further, and continue exploring your identified problem space over the remaining semesters.
To benefit best from the 1st semester it is necessary to count approximately 2 to 6 hours of investment per week for program components and additional time invested proactively in growing your own development further.
In these eight months, we were able to adapt our product in a very dynamic way, based on the inputs gained from talks with potential customers and the knowledge provided in the Bootcamps. I think our biggest achievement this year was realizing how central the customer is to find the right solution
SEMESTER 2-4
Receiving the Team Kick you are ready to leave the structured part of the 1st semester and validate real opportunities with your team and mentor. Until you finish your studies we will support you on your individual journey of validating your ideas, gaining experience, using synergies, immersing in the startup ecosystem and getting ready to decide for the entrepreneurial career path at the end of your studies.
During this period, your team will grow more independently with your mentor and coach while the Talent Kick team will be there to help you navigate the many options the Swiss startup ecosystem offers.
Over the 2nd to 4th semester you will gain hands-on experience in...
Using master, internship & exchange synergies
Finding programs and funding to prolong your runway
Growing your network
Collaborating with potential customers, investors, and entrepreneurs
To benefit best from the 2nd to 4th semester you are mainly driving your own development with your mentor and coach. Plan approximately 6 hours per semester for close exchanges with the Talent Kick team to help you with your individual needs in growing your project.
GRADUATION
At the end of the program, you will have laid a stable foundation to confidently decide for an entrepreneurial career path after your studies and become an emerging entrepreneur in Switzerland and beyond.
Talent Kick graduation
Research grants
Accelerator programs
