The research project
behind the programme
IDEAS Women is a 36-month applied research and acceleration project, jointly funded by the Swiss Confederation and the Republic of Poland under the Swiss–Polish Cooperation Programme (SPPW). Its mandate: produce evidence on what actually works to close the funding and growth gap for female-led startups — and build the support infrastructure that proves it.
What is SPPW — and why it matters for IDEAS Women
The Swiss–Polish Cooperation Programme is the Swiss Confederation's bilateral contribution to reducing socio-economic disparities within the European Union, focused on Poland.
The programme originates from the international agreement signed in Warsaw on 5 December 2022 and was officially inaugurated in its second edition in December 2023. Its second edition (2023–2029) consists of two pillars:
Polish–Swiss Urban Development Programme
~328M CHF
Research and Innovation Programme
41M+ CHF — under which IDEAS Women is funded
The Research and Innovation Programme is operated jointly by Poland's National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR) and Switzerland's Innosuisse for applied research, and by the National Science Centre and the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) for basic research.
SPPW Call 2025 mandates the active support of women and early-career researchers in funded projects. IDEAS Women was selected under this call — not as a women's project added to a research programme, but as a women's project that is the research.
Application ID: SPPW/IdeasWomen/0116/2025
Call: SPPW/CALL2025
Application: SPPW/IdeasWomen/0116/2025
Duration: 36 months · Jan 2026 – Dec 2028
Why this gap exists — and why it matters
Globally, female-founded startups received about 2% of VC capital in 2024 — and the picture differs sharply between mature CH ecosystems and rapidly emerging PL ecosystems.
Source: Crunchbase Women in Venture Report 2024; First Round Capital 10-Year Study (2015, updated 2023)
Female-led startups generate more than twice the revenue per dollar invested compared to male-led startups, yet remain systematically underfunded.
Source: BCG / MassChallenge "Why Women-Owned Startups Are a Better Bet" (2018, updated 2022); Kauffman Foundation
IDEAS Women is the first project to systematically map this comparative gap across two structurally different European innovation ecosystems — mature, capital-rich Switzerland and rapidly developing Poland — and to test which interventions actually close it.
What we're investigating
IDEAS Women is structured around four research questions that the consortium has agreed to answer publicly by December 2028.
Mixed-methods: ≥50 in-depth interviews, 4 focus groups, ≥400 survey responses, longitudinal tracking of cohort outcomes.
Final wording pending PI sign-off.
What structural barriers explain the funding and growth gap for female founders in two structurally different European innovation ecosystems — mature, capital-rich Switzerland and rapidly developing Poland?
▶ Qualitative interviews + ecosystem mapping
Which combination of support interventions (peer mentoring, capital access, open educational resources, AI-supported matching) produces the highest measurable effect on funding probability, time-to-traction, and 12-month survival?
▶ Pre/post cohort assessment + control group comparison
To what extent are findings from one ecosystem transferable to the other — and what does this tell us about female founder support in similar bilateral or cross-border contexts?
▶ Comparative analysis + longitudinal survey
Can an open-source, AI-augmented matching platform produce measurably better mentor / investor / peer matches than conventional accelerator placement — and at what cost?
▶ Platform analytics + matching efficacy evaluation
Four partners. One mandate.
Each partner brings a distinct, non-substitutable contribution. Together they cover research design, academic rigour, investor access, and operational acceleration.
ZHAW School of Management and Law
Swiss programme leadership, research design, acceleration in CH. Leads research design (WP1), implements CH-Acceleration with Impact Hub Zürich, conducts Swiss data collection, co-authors all publications.
Principal Investigator: [Name, Position, ORCID — pending partner confirmation]
Impact Hub Zürich AG
Acceleration operations CH, community building, mentor pool CH. Operative execution of CH cohort, workshops, event series, CH mentor acquisition.
Lead: [Name, Position — pending partner confirmation]
SGH Warsaw School of Economics
Polish programme leadership, research design, academic curriculum development. Leads research design (WP2), OER development, Polish data collection, lead-author of comparative analysis papers.
Principal Investigator: [Name, Position, ORCID — pending partner confirmation]
Faktorama Capital 1 Sp. z o.o.
Investor access, market implementation, pilot capital pool for cohort. Bridge between research and investable market; term-sheet workshops, investor showcases, Demo Day PL.
Lead: [Name, Position — pending partner confirmation]
Programme operators: NCBR (Poland) and Innosuisse (Switzerland) for applied research under the SPPW Research and Innovation Programme.
Three pillars, one bilateral mission
Investment Readiness Accelerator
Structured 6-month track combining OER curriculum, 1:1 coaching, and pitch preparation to close the investment-readiness gap for female founders.
Investor–Founder Workshops
Binational workshops and Demo Days that create real investment conversations between female founders and investors across CH and PL.
Bilateral Matching Platform
AI-supported platform connecting founders, mentors, and investors across Switzerland and Poland — smart matching by industry, stage, and challenge.
Methodology & programme phases
36-month journey from research to sustainable ecosystem, January 2026 – December 2028.
Research & ecosystem mapping
Comprehensive needs analysis and ecosystem mapping to understand barriers and opportunities for female founders in Switz…
Open educational resources (OER)
Curriculum co-design with Phase 1 findings; modular OER architecture; CC-BY licensed. Development and delivery of multil…
Binational accelerator programme
Intensive acceleration programme providing structured support, mentoring, and investor access to selected startups acros…
AI-powered matchmaking platform
Open-source from day one; bias audit at every release; human-in-the-loop matching; GDPR/DSG-compliant; DPIA published.…
Programme details & methodology
From inputs to impact
- ·SPPW funding (CHF 41M+ programme)
- ·4-partner consortium
- ·Mentor / investor network
- ·Bilateral CH–PL setting
- ·NCBR + Innosuisse oversight
- ·Research & mapping (WP1)
- ·OER curriculum (WP2)
- ·Investment Readiness Accelerator
- ·Investor–Founder Workshops
- ·Bilateral Matching Platform
- ·Policy engagement
- ·Baseline report + dataset
- ·5–7 OER modules
- ·Trained cohort (40 startups)
- ·Open-source platform
- ·≥2 peer-reviewed papers
- ·≥2 policy briefs
- ·40 accelerated startups
- ·≥30% secured funding
- ·≥60% 12-mo survival
- ·500 platform users
- ·≥5 cross-border expansions
- ·Replicable model
- ·Closed funding gap for female founders in CH and PL
- ·Evidence base for policy change
- ·Scalable bilateral support model
How we measure success
Dissemination & open science
All findings, datasets, code, and educational materials produced by IDEAS Women will be made publicly available under open licences.
Peer-reviewed publications
≥2 publications in Q1/Q2 entrepreneurship and innovation journals. Target outlets: Journal of Business Venturing, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Research Policy, Small Business Economics.
Conference dissemination
Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference, ISBE, RENT, Academy of Management.
Policy briefs
≥2 briefs to SECO, Innosuisse, EBG (CH); PARP, NCBR, Ministry of Funds (PL); plus one EU-level brief.
Open data
Anonymised survey datasets on Zenodo under CC-BY-4.0.
Open code
Platform codebase on GitHub under open licence (MIT / CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0, TBD).
Open educational resources
All curriculum materials under CC-BY-4.0, hosted on open platform and mirrored on Zenodo / OER Commons.
Sustainability & legacy
The 36-month grant period ends in December 2028. The consortium has committed to four sustainability mechanisms.
Platform
The matchmaking platform will be transferred to a designated host institution — planned: Impact Hub Zürich / Foundation TBD — with a commitment to operate it for at least 5 years post-project.
Educational resources
All OER modules remain freely available under CC-BY-4.0, hosted on Zenodo / OER Commons / institutional repository. Maintenance commitment: 3 years minimum, with annual content review by SGH and ZHAW.
Alumnae network
A self-governing alumnae association will be formed in Month 24 with seed-funded administrative support for 2 years, after which it transitions to membership-based sustainability.
Policy continuation
Findings feed directly into the next SPPW programming cycle (post-2029) and EU-level work on female founder support, with named policy partners committed to using the evidence base.
UN Sustainable Development Goals
IDEAS Women directly contributes to six UN SDGs — with specific, measurable contributions, not symbolic alignment.
SDG 4 — Quality education
Open educational resources in EN, DE, PL, freely accessible to female founders worldwide beyond the immediate cohort.
SDG 5 — Gender equality
Direct support to 40 female founders, evidence base on systemic barriers, policy briefs to gender-equality bodies in CH and PL.
SDG 8 — Decent work & economic growth
Female-led startups create above-average employment, especially of female employees; project tracks job creation as KPI.
SDG 9 — Industry, innovation & infrastructure
Strengthens the innovation pipeline in two European ecosystems through underrepresented founder talent.
SDG 10 — Reduced inequalities
Reduces gender funding gap; measured via funding-secured-rate KPI across CH and PL cohorts.
SDG 17 — Partnerships for the goals
Bilateral CH–PL consortium with academic, industrial, and implementation partners; model is itself a partnership template.
Apply, mentor, or partner with us.
Apply as a founder, join as a mentor, or get in touch to explore partnership opportunities.