Important Information – FAQ

In principle: anyone with an innovative idea for a digital tool that solves a societal problem and serves the public good. You also need to have a Swiss work permit and be above 18 years (legal adult). The Swiss citizenship is not required. We look forward to applications from everyone – independent of origin, age, religion, sexual identity, disabilities or skin color. 

Your project idea matters! We strive to find solutions for all questions related to personnel and legal form. Let’s exchange ideas!  Find us at events, on Twitter or write us an e-mail.

Public institutions and universities are not eligible for application. But you should check out  the CivicChallenge program. 

• Up to CHF 100,000 in funding (mainly) for salaries over six months.
• At least 5 hours of individual and need-based coaching (e.g. in coding or user-centered design) during the funding period.
• Media outreach through our network.
• During the project period, we support the project teams in getting in touch with potential partners and funding programs. Sustainability is very important to us and we support the project participants in developing perspectives for their projects.

For our purposes, a prototype is an early working version of a software-programmed tool or application (minimum viable product; MVP). Thus, the phase of prototyping follows after exploring the problem, testing the existing solutions and evaluating the needs of the target group. This synthesized knowledge will guide the process of prototyping. The existence of a prototype allows you to test whether your tool fulfills its aims (proof of concept) and is the basis from which further improvements are made.

As a minimum output we expect a working technical prototype of the digital tool and not (necessarily) design, communication, etc. But we also know: changes are part of the process and even an early termination of the project is possible if it turns out that there is no demand for your product. #failosophy 

We support innovative projects that solve societal problems and serve the public good with open source technologies. In addition to participation (civic tech), topics can include sustainability, diversity, open knowledge, data literacy or security. For inspiration feel free to check out our big brother from Germany or the Civic Tech Field Guide as well as the selection criteria used by the jury. Not sure if your project fits the Prototype Fund? Write us an email.

You can apply for up to CHF 100,000 in funding (mainly) for salaries over a period of six months. We require a general project plan with about four milestones and a budget plan. The budget needs to include information about your daily salary. It should also detail how many days are allocated to each team member and/or describe how many days you plan to spend on different types of activities. All material expenses must also be indicated in the budget plan to be submitted. The budget plan is integrated in the project application form. 

In principle, the funding finances your salary. More specifically, the funding supports 95% of the working hours that you put into the project. The remaining 5% are your own contribution – meaning you make a donation to your project by putting in these 5% of extra hours.

Yes, this is possible. However, it is important to us that the external providers are already involved in the project during the application period. We want to be able to count on the full commitment of all persons involved in the project to ensure the success of the prototype and its sustainability. 

We therefore ask you to list the external project members as team members in the form (incl. their GitHub account) and describe the division of labor with the external providers in the text. Please also describe the experience of external providers and mention any joint projects in the past. In addition to the budget, an offer should be attached to the application, showing how many external work hours will be charged, for which tasks and at what daily rate.

You can apply through our website. The application period starts on 5 April and ends on 15 May 2022. We recommend applying early so we have more time to resolve any remaining questions about your submissions (Timeline).

A jury of experts will evaluate and rate all submissions. You can learn more about our jury members here.

The jury decision will be based on these project selection criteria.

The application period starts on 5 April and ends on 15 May 2022. We recommend applying early so we have more time to resolve any remaining questions about your submissions (Timeline).

Yes, you can. But you can only get funding for one project.

Yes, you can. However, your proposal needs to be clearly defined and have its own degree of novelty, e.g. you plan to expand or enhance your existing project with a new module. In any case, you need to make clear what you will be working on during the 6-month funding period.

We will review applications in English, French, German, or Italian. (Please use the English application form for an application in Italian).

All team members that receive funding through the Prototype Fund need to have a Swiss work permit. You need to decide on a formal team lead i.e. the team member who submits the application to the Prototype Fund. In the application form we will ask you to state the different modules within the project, and to assign each of them to a team member with a time estimate. If your project is selected by the jury, we will support you in finding the appropriate legal entity.

The software must be published under one of the open source licenses which are recognised by the Free Software Foundation or the Open Source Initiative. The code must be made publicly available (e.g. via a Git repository such as the Gitlab, Github or Bitbucket). Publishing the source code will make your project more impactful, sustainable, and trustworthy, as other citizens can build on your prototype and develop it further. If relevant for the success of your project, a delayed publication of the code can be discussed.

In principle, the funding finances your salary. More specifically, the funding supports 95% of the working hours that you put into the project. The remaining 5% are your own contribution – meaning you make a donation to your project by putting in these 5% of extra hours. If you need to get funding for expenses other than salaries, please provide details in the budget plan you will submit. 

The grant will be paid in installments based on the achievement of the milestones that you defined at the beginning of the prototyping phase. If required, we can discuss during the prototyping phase whether the milestones need to be updated.

81% of your budget will be paid during the grant period:

• The first installment (27% of the project budget) will be paid out at the beginning of the grant period in September, 
• the second 27% at the beginning of November conditional on the achievement of the first milestone, and 
• the third 27% in the beginning of January of the following year conditional on the achievement of the second milestone. 

The remaining 19% of your budget will be paid out after the Demo Day at the end of February of the following year.

At the end of the 6-month project term, we invite all teams to take part in a Demo Day to present your prototypes and to discuss achievements, challenges, and problems. Aside from the teams, we also invite guests and stakeholders to take part. During the project term we will connect you with mentors, sponsors, and other participants. As a part of the network of the Prototype Fund, you will remain closely connected to the program even after your project term has ended. 

Apart from publishing your code in one of the repositories, you will need to write a short and clear project report, part of which will be published on our website.

During the project period, we support the project teams in getting in touch with potential partners and funding programs. Sustainability is very important to us, and we support the project participants in developing perspectives for their projects.

Your project submission will receive short comments from the jury or the Prototype Fund team upon request.

If possible and reasonable, only open source software should be used during prototype development (e.g. sound engine), especially if software is purchased with Prototype Fund grant money.

At the end of the prototyping phase, the software you develop must be released under one of the open source licenses which are recognised by the Free Software Foundation or the Open Source Initiative. The code must be made publicly available via a Git repository (e.g. Gitlab, Github or Bitbucket repository). Publishing the source code will make your project more impactful, sustainable, and trustworthy, as other citizens can build on your prototype and develop it further. If relevant for the success of your project, a delayed publication of the code can be discussed.

A minimum of 5 projects will be selected per round.

The application period starts on 5 April and ends on 15 May 2022. During this time you can submit your application via our website. On 29 June, we will invite the applicants who have convinced us the most to present their project to the jury. On 4 July, we will announce which projects have been selected by the jury and will be funded this round.

The prototyping phase will start with a kickoff workshop and last for 6 months. After the kickoff workshop, you will work on the milestones that you have set during the workshop. The Prototype Fund team will support you with weekly check-ins and bi-weekly moderated peer calls. 

During the prototyping phase, you get up to 5h of external coaching tailored to your needs (e.g. workshops on user testing, communication, data protection law, fundraising, cyber security, etc.). We will support you in finding mentors and supporters and give you access to our network. There will be two internal Mid-Demo Days, where you will present your intermediate results to the jury and receive feedback from them. At the end of the grant period, you will present your prototype at the Demo Day. Finally, there is a workshop where we reflect together on the findings from the prototyping phase and look ahead.

As we consider the Prototype Fund to be a prototype itself, we will be continuously engaged in improving and adapting the program to make our support as valuable as possible to you. Your feedback will be important.

During the project period we expect:

• Active participation in the kickoff workshop and the Demo Day.
• Documentation of the milestones of your project. We will define the milestones during the Kickoff workshop and refine them during the prototyping period.
• A description of your project for the website of the Prototype Fund.
• Blog posts that describe your challenges and first experiences with your prototype.
• Participation in internal surveys that will help to improve the management of the Prototype Fund.
• Participation in the weekly check-ins, the bi-weekly moderated peer calls and further elements of the coaching program that we develop together.
• Participation in some external communication (e.g. media, presentation at events). 

At the end of the project period, we expect:

• A functioning prototype that has been tested by the target group.
• The experience of the target group has been evaluated through a written questionnaire.
• An updated description of your prototype for the website of the Prototype Fund.
• Your project has been published under an Open Source license and your code is publicly accessible, for example via GitHub or Bitbucket. A delayed publication of the code can be discussed in exceptional cases. 
• A short and concise project report based on your blog posts for publication on the website.
• Interest and commitment to continue developing your prototype after the end of the grant period.

The Prototype Fund is implemented by a dedicated team, which works for the non-profit association Opendata.ch. The Prototype Fund Switzerland is enabled by the Mercator Foundation Switzerland.

We consider the Prototype Fund to be a prototype itself. The program is the first of its kind in Switzerland. We are continuously engaged in improving and adapting the program. We want to learn a lot, share our experiences with you, and help you achieve your plans and projects. Your feedback is important.

You will definitely have to pay regular income tax. We make the VAT provisions for your project funding.

We recommend having a look at the list of the ten most important security risks according to the OWASP. This is a good start for your reflection about security risks in your project.

Basically, the amount of time to be planned depends on the amount of funding, the number of team members and your daily rate. As a rule, however, it corresponds to an average of approx. 80 – 160 % of the staff during half a year. Also, a certain flexibility of the project team, especially the project leads, is expected to participate in the program (workshops, check-ins, etc.).

Never hesitate to contact us at or ask your question at our Q&A event!