In June 2025, CleantechAlps will celebrate 15 years of commitment to promoting clean technologies (cleantech) and sustainability in Western Switzerland. Founded in June 2010 on the initiative of the French-speaking cantons, the platform has established itself as a key player in the Swiss and European cleantech landscape. A look back at the last 15 years and a vision for the future.
Building an ecosystem: a long-term vision
Founded in 2010 on the initiative of the cantons of Western Switzerland, CleantechAlps has established itself as a strategic lever for bringing together players in the cleantech and sustainability sectors. Its slogan – Connect – Promote – Support – sums up its clear mission: to profile Western Switzerland as a center of excellence in clean technologies, leveraging the expertise of the innovation ecosystem and a strong network of contacts. As an accelerator, CleantechAlps connects companies, institutions, and research centers, supports the promotion of cleantech know-how, and actively contributes to value creation in a transition economy by promoting the deployment of solutions in the field.
From the outset, the platform formulated a three-phase vision:
- An emergence phase (2010–2015), marked by the rise of numerous initiatives,
- A consolidation phase for the sector (2015–2020), in a generally favorable context,
- And since 2020, a large-scale deployment phase, towards 2030 and beyond.
While the figures today demonstrate the accuracy of this vision, with more than 600 start-ups created and nearly CHF 3 billion raised in 15 years, the challenge remains: to strengthen cooperation, accelerate scaling up, and make Switzerland a global catalyst for cleantech thanks to a credible testing ground on an international scale.
An anniversary marked by community
To mark this anniversary, CleantechAlps is launching the “15 years – 15 faces” initiative: a gallery of portraits of personalities who bring the ecosystem to life on a daily basis.
Fifteen personalities, fifteen careers, fifteen voices embody cleantech. From technology to politics, from research to industry, from the local to the international, these women and men are building the cleantech of today and tomorrow, each in their own way.
Through their stories, you will discover successes to which CleantechAlps has contributed, particularly as a facilitator of connections, dialogue, and collaboration.
Discover their passion. Their inspiration. And their vision for a sustainable future:
Connecting to take action: a measurable impact
To mark its 15th anniversary, CleantechAlps is highlighting its work and impact through a series of infographics available on its website. The cleantech ecosystem in Western Switzerland is now supported by a network of over 1,000 qualified players and facilitates over 100 qualified connections each year, helping to launch and implement concrete projects and collaborations.
These figures illustrate CleantechAlps’ commitment to collaborative innovation in the service of sustainable transition.
A structured vision for the next decade
Far from stopping there, CleantechAlps is affirming its vision for the years ahead.
In 15 years, Swiss cleantech has gone from an emerging phase to solid growth. By 2035, it will play a central role in the sustainable transformation of businesses and society through wider and more accessible adoption of ESG (environmental, social, and governance) approaches and a necessary acceleration of its internationalization. Switzerland can serve as a showcase, but development will take place on a global scale.
« The rocket has been launched. Our collective challenge now is to ensure sustainable propulsion. And we already have a plethora of solutions » explains Eric Plan, Secretary General of CleantechAlps.
A dedicated page
The public is invited to (re)discover these 15 years of commitment and look ahead to the future via a web page dedicated to this anniversary.
Thank yous
CleantechAlps would like to extend its warmest thanks to the partners and sponsors who have supported this anniversary initiative and who contribute every day to promoting the cleantech ecosystem in Western Switzerland. Their commitment to our cause strengthens our efforts to achieve a sustainable and innovative transition.
