SGDA established the following list of regional and national funding schemes. It includes classical funding schemes by private and public institutions, as well as prizes and matchmaking opportunities which are an alternative to get additional support for your project.
When you apply for funding, it is very important that your studio and/or your project fulfils the terms and conditions defined by the funding organisations.
Funding opportunities
Important: check the websites of the organisations listed below in order to know the deadlines applicable.
| Organisation | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| City of Bern | Projektbeiträge | The City of Bern can support projects and research that, for example, equally combine genres or disciplines, use new media and technologies, experiment with new forms of expression and mediation or deal with cultural heritage. Applications can be submitted by individuals, groups and organisations that have been helping to shape the cultural life of the City of Bern for some time or whose project has a strong connection to the City of Bern in terms of content. |
| Canton Schaffhausen | Förderbeiträge für Kulturschaffende | Each year, a total of 110,000 francs is available for allocation, provided jointly by the Canton of Schaffhausen and the City of Schaffhausen. The minimum grant that can be awarded is 15,000 francs. Professional cultural practitioners who have been residents of the Canton of Schaffhausen for at least three years or have their production base in the Canton of Schaffhausen are eligible to apply. Additionally, cultural practitioners who are native to the Canton of Schaffhausen or who have previously resided in the Canton of Schaffhausen for at least 15 years are also eligible to apply. Applications are open to all fields and are not subject to an age limit. |
| Canton Vaud | Appel Jeux Vidéo | The Canton of Vaud has been contributing to the development of digital creativity through specific support since 2019. This call is aiming at innovative projects in game development and linking artistic creativity, technology and commercial potential |
| Cinéforom Romandie | Call for projects | Support for digital experiences (XN) is intended for works that take into account the actions of viewers, whether to change the point of view (e.g. 360° immersive films), influence narratives (interactive films), or any other form of interaction. The media supported range from traditional screens to new extended reality devices (XR, i.e. VR, AR or MR), or multiple in the case of transmedia projects. |
| Culturalpromotion.ch | Directory | Kulturfoerderung.ch is an information service of the Federal Office of Culture FOC and the Migros Culture Percentage. The directory supports cultural practitioners in making targeted contact with funding agencies. The aim is to reduce the quantity of applications in favour of higher quality. Since its relaunch in July 2012, the directory has been limited to pure funding addresses. Specifically, these are public and private institutions that support cultural projects or institutions with financial resources. The address list contains around 400 addresses and can be filtered by sector and region. |
| Epic Games - Unreal Engine | Epic MegaGrants | Epic Games has committed to providing financial grants to creative, noteworthy, and innovative projects built in and around Unreal Engine or projects that enhance the open source 3D graphics ecosystem. The average grants range from $5,000 to $250,000, with some extraordinary projects receiving up to $500,000. Projects selected cover a variety of endeavors from game development, architecture projects, and film production, to educational uses and software tool development. No matter what size grant received, grantees will continue to own their IP and will be free to publish it however they wish. |
| Federal Office of Culture | Swiss Design Awards | A prize awarded by the Swiss Federal Office of Culture for exceptional projects of high quality. Category: Media & Interaction Design. |
| FIT - Fondation pour l'innovation technologique | FIT Digital | Le programme FIT Digital a pour but de soutenir les entrepreneurs établis sur le Canton de Vaud qui développent des projets avec un modèle d’affaire innovant, basés sur une technologie digitale, difficiles à imiter et avec un fort potentiel de croissance. |
| Fundraiso | Database | Fundraiso.ch brings together all charitable foundations in Switzerland and Liechtenstein in a search index that is updated daily. In particular, the platform enables an efficient way of working when researching funding in the foundation sector. You may search their database according to your project parameters. |
| Gamesweek Zurich | Matchmaking | Matchmaking between investors, publishers and game developers taking place during the annual Gamesweek Zurich - The Conference. Participants get access to the vast network of MeetToMatch. |
| Innosuisse | Project funding for start-ups | Innosuisse supports science-based projects of start-ups with significant innovation potential. These innovation projects must be based on application-oriented research and prepare start-ups for entering the market for the first time. In the case of projects, only the start-up is supported. No research partners are supported. Funding is available for projects in all subject areas. |
| Innosuisse | Accelerator | Competitive project funding for start-ups and SMEs as a transitional measure for Horizon Europe |
| Migros Culture Percentage | Story Lab | The Migros Culture Percentage Story Lab is a test bed for all audiovisual narrative formats from cinema films to series, and from virtual reality to games. The development focus is on how to realise an idea. Throughout story development, the Story Lab supports projects by running flexible modules that always respond to change in the film industry. These modules cover such aspects as: Financial support / Coaching / Networking. Through these activities, the Migros Culture Percentage supports topical and high-quality audiovisual, narrative projects in Switzerland. |
| Pro Helvetia | Call for Projects | Pro Helvetia promotes the professional contemporary Swiss creation of interactive content with a view to ensuring its diversity as well as its national and international reach. It supports the creation of new interactive works, the dissemination of Swiss interactive content outside Switzerland and cultural exchange in Switzerland and abroad. As a national foundation, Pro Helvetia only supports projects of cross-regional or international significance and supplements the promotional activities of Switzerland’s cantons and cities. |
| StiftungSchweiz | Database | StiftungSchweiz is an online platform which, in addition to a foundation directory, offers a matching system for sponsors, donours and project owners. You may search their database according your project parameters. |
| Venturekick | Funding schemes | Venture Kick is a philanthropic three stage funding model initiated to support Swiss startups with enough funding to kick-start their entrepreneurial success. Startups can qualify to receive up to CHF 150,000 in start capital, and an opportunity for an additional CH 850,000 in equity funding from the Kick Fund. After each stage, promising entrepreneurs are also offered professional guidance in developing their business through the 2-day kickers camps and connection to an incredible network. |
| Ville de Genève | Bourses | Research and development grants for a creative project aim to support professional artists to encourage and stimulate experimentation in the field of digital arts such as interactive media. The grants are for project development only, i.e: from writing to pre-production and proof of concept. |
If you know about other funding schemes open to Swiss residents and citizens, or studios based in Switzerland, we invite you to share the information with us by sending an email to info@sgda.ch.