Prototype Fund Switzerland

Prototype Fund Switzerland is sponsored by Prototype Fund Switzerland. Supports interdisciplinary teams developing public-interest technology, including responsible and sustainable AI projects.

Prototype Fund Switzerland - We foster public interest tech Prototype Fund Switzerland Your prototype has been successfully added to our gallery. Thank you for your contribution! Responsible and Sustainable AI Projects - One Prototype at a Time.

Since 2020, the Prototype Fund Switzerland has been strengthening the common good in Switzerland with open-source projects. This funding round targets projects supporting responsible and sustainable AI : together, we seek to build the path towards a more responsible and sustainable AI, tech, and digitalization landscape – open source and beyond.

The Prototype Fund Switzerland supports interdisciplinary teams to develop and test public-interest technology. Since 2020, we have funded early-stage projects that show how open source, data, and digital technologies, such as AI, can create real societal value. Today, we go one step further.

We support projects that address real societal challenges, translate responsibility and sustainability into practice, and create solutions that are usable, transferable, and built for real-world context AI is no longer emerging – it is now embedded in society at scale, being adopted widely across industry and governments.

Switzerland itself is shaping this future, for example through its commitment to international AI governance frameworks. The question is no longer whether technology will shape society. The question is how it is built, as it does so.

For the past five years, the Prototype Fund Switzerland has supported early-stage “tech for good” projects, notably in the open source realm. In our upcoming programme edition, we want to ask the tough questions on how to enable AI that is responsible and sustainable by default, seeking answers one prototype at a time. Want to learn more?

You can find all the details about our selection criteria , our jury , the Prototype Fund team , and our FAQ online. For any additional questions, feel free to contact us via email: . We fund AI by and for society.

Public Interest AI refers to digital solutions that also address societal challenges and strengthen the common good. This includes projects in areas such as: sustainability and climate participation and civic AI What matters is not only the technology, but its broader contribution to a more equitable and just society. AI is capable of creating value for everyone.

And prototyping public-interest AI showcases our path to get there. At the same time, there is a tendency to rely on hype, assuming that it alone will solve complex societal challenges. We take a different approach.

The Prototype Fund Switzerland creates a structured space for experimentation for public interest AI that is: focused on real-world challenges We fund and support projects that turn ideas into working prototypes, while generating insights for product and policy governance and long-term implementation. Because responsibility and sustainability should not be afterthoughts. They should be built into technology from the start .

Each of our Prototype Fund funding rounds addresses a specific theme. In 2026-2027 edition, our focus is Responsible and Sustainable AI.

We are looking for projects that reduce resource use, energy consumption, or emissions strengthen accountability, transparency and governance contribute to resilient and trustworthy digital systems This includes, but is not limited to, sustainable digitalization and digital sufficiency, such as public-interest AI and data infrastructures tools for governance, oversight, or digital sovereignty.

We support individuals and small teams who are: open to open source, AI, and iterative experimentation with data & technology eager to leverage technical capability in the context of societal and political awareness willing to share learnings throughout the prototyping period motivated to work on pressing problems of our society through technology equipped with an early-stage but well-thought-out concept or idea eligible to work in Switzerland.

We provide the resources and environment to turn your idea into an active prototype: Up to CHF 50,000 in funding A 4-month prototyping phase Coaching, mentoring, and workshops Access to a strong network across tech, policy, and society The Prototype Fund is a space for experimentation. We are interdisciplinary, human-centered, and impact-driven yet process-led.

From experimentation to application, we are excited to encourage real solutions for real-world responsible use.

21 July – 7 September 2026 Selection phase: Jury evaluation and team selection August – September 2026 (rolling basis) Prototyping phase: 4 months to develop and test your prototype and share your learnings Mid-October – mid-February Outputs and outcomes: Functional prototypes + documented learnings and insights November 2026 – July 2027 : Interim learnings and final program learnings OPEN SOURCE & ACCESSIBILITY We believe that public-interest AI should be transparent, reusable, and accessible wherever possible.

While not all projects need to be fully open source, we strongly encourage teams to: publish code, data, or components under open-source licenses where feasible document their approach and learnings make results accessible, so others can build on them trust through transparency sustainability beyond the project itself Open source remains a key enabler of responsible AI at scale.