What ETH Zurich Foundation does

ETH Zurich Foundation is an independent, non-profit foundation under Swiss private law, established in 2004 and headquartered at Weinbergstrasse 29, 8006 Zürich. Its function is to channel philanthropic capital from private individuals, alumni, companies, and other foundations into research and teaching at ETH Zurich, one of the world's leading technical universities. The foundation operates as the designated fundraising interface between donors and ETH Zurich, with legally guaranteed academic freedom ensuring that donors cannot influence staffing, procurement, or research direction.

The foundation's offerings are non-commercial and consist of donation management services, earmarked and un-earmarked (Poly Fund) giving instruments, named funds, legacies and bequests, in-memoriam donations, and a portfolio of high-profile programs including the annual Rössler Prize (CHF 200,000, funded by Dr. Max Rössler since 2009, the highest-endowed research prize at ETH Zurich) and multi-year corporate research partnerships. It runs wholly-owned regional fundraising entities, ETH Foundation Germany and ETH Foundation USA, to capture international donor flows, and supports spin-off ventures emerging from ETH research (e.g., Soverli in sovereign smartphone architecture, December 2025).

Its revenue model is donation-based: charitable contributions from individuals, corporations, and foundations are received with or without earmarking, then distributed to ETH projects prioritized by the Executive Board. Notable strategic commitments include up to CHF 40 million over 10 years from UBS (entrepreneurship/innovation programs plus a new Hönggerberg building), CHF 5 million over six years from Givaudan, Bühler, and Nestlé (Food Process Engineering professorship), and a Sika-funded Living Lab HIL sustainable construction initiative running from 2026 to 2035. Marketing and donor engagement run through a website, the Uplift magazine, Impact News newsletter, annual Thanks Giving events, and earned media. The foundation does not sell products or services.

Name

ETH Zurich Foundation

Legal name

ETH Zurich Foundation

Website

https://ethz-foundation.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ETH Zurich Foundation is an independent Swiss non-profit foundation that raises and channels philanthropic donations from individuals, companies, and other foundations to fund research and teaching at ETH Zurich, distributing capital to projects while guaranteeing academic freedom from donor influence.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Philanthropy and University Fundraising

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK), Research & Science Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAI), Scholarship & Fellowship Foundations and Trusts (EDADAHAC)

Keywords

• Academic philanthropy
• Research fundraising
• University foundation
• Charitable donations
• Research grants

Headquarters

HQ city

Zürich

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and philanthropy: The foundation receives charitable donations from private individuals, companies, and foundations to fund research and teaching at ETH Zurich. Donations can be made with specific purposes (earmarked) or without designation (un-earmarked) for the Poly Fund.

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

ETH Zurich Foundation raises and administers philanthropic donations from private individuals, companies, and other foundations to support research and teaching at ETH Zurich. It channels funds to prioritized projects including new professorships, research initiatives, scholarships, fellowships, and infrastructure, while administering flagship programs such as the Rössler Prize (CHF 200,000), the Poly Fund, and named funds.

Product overview

ETH Zurich Foundation is a non-profit foundation that promotes research and teaching at ETH Zurich by facilitating donations and partnerships. While not a technology product company itself, it supports various research initiatives including a cybersecurity spin-off (Soverli) developing sovereign smartphone technology. The foundation's offerings include donation management services, fellowship programs (such as the Rössler Prize worth CHF 200,000 for outstanding young professors), and various funding initiatives for talents, entrepreneurship, and technology transfer.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Poly Fund (Un-earmarked support) Pooled, un-earmarked donation fund that allows the ETH Zurich Foundation's Executive Board to direct resources toward the highest-priority research and teaching initiatives at ETH Zurich. For donors who wish to support ETH broadly without designating a specific project.
• Earmarked project funding and professorships Donation program that enables donors to direct contributions to specific ETH Zurich research projects, named professorships, or defined initiatives (e.g., the Givaudan/Bühler/Nestlé Food Process Engineering professorship, UBS-supported entrepreneurship initiatives).
• Named funds and support-in-your-name Program allowing individual donors and families to establish named funds under their own name, supporting ETH Zurich research and teaching priorities of their choosing.
• Legacies, bequests, and in-memoriam donations Estate and legacy giving programs enabling donors to support ETH Zurich through wills, property bequeathals, and in-memoriam donations, including donations in lieu of gifts for special events.
• Rössler Prize Annual CHF 200,000 research prize awarded by the ETH Zurich Foundation (funded by an endowment from Dr. Max Rössler) to outstanding young ETH Zurich professors, recognized as the highest-endowed research prize at ETH Zurich. Awarded consecutively since 2009.
• NOMIS-ETH Fellowship Program Fellowship program run in partnership with the NOMIS Foundation, supporting young researchers at ETH Zurich's Centre for Origin and Prevalence of Life (COPL) with freedom for visionary and interdisciplinary research.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• SikacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 March 2026Sika partnered with ETH Zurich as a funding contributor to the Living Lab HIL project, supporting development phases from 2026 to 2028 focused on planning the refurbishment and expansion of a key academic building. The initiative creates a real-world testing environment for sustainable construction practices including carbon reduction, digitalisation, and circular economy solutions, running through to 2035. Sika contributes both financial resources and technical expertise.
• Albert Lück-StiftungminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 November 2025The Albert Lück-Stiftung funded a research project led by ETH Zurich's Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering (D-BAUG) to study the Birchgletscher disaster in Blatten. The foundation supports disaster resilience research and has a long history of funding ETH projects including scholarships and professorship start-up funding.
• SoverliminorOthers · 21 June 2024Soverli is an ETH Zurich spin-off that developed sovereign smartphone architecture technology. The company raised CHF 2.3 million in pre-seed funding in December 2025, with technology developed at ETH Zurich. The spin-off represents successful technology transfer from ETH research.
• PfizerminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Pfizer supports entrepreneurship initiatives at ETH Zurich, contributing to programs that foster innovation and business development among ETH students and researchers.
• BKWminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023BKW supports the Centre for Students and Entrepreneurs at ETH Zurich, contributing to infrastructure and programs for entrepreneurial development.
• Givaudan, Bühler, and NestlécoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 September 2022Three Swiss companies (Givaudan, Bühler, and Nestlé) jointly provided CHF 5 million over six years to ETH Zurich via the ETH Foundation for food technology research and teaching. This funding established a new professorship in Food Process Engineering for Nutrition and supports doctoral and postdoctoral research projects.
• UBScoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 August 2022UBS invested up to CHF 40 million over 10 years in two strategic initiatives: CHF 20 million for entrepreneurship and innovation programs, and CHF 20 million for supporting a new building on ETH Campus Hönggerberg. The partnership aims to strengthen Switzerland as an innovation and economic hub.
• ABBminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022ABB and ETH Zurich extended their partnership for future robotics research, building on existing collaboration to advance robotics technology and innovation.
• NOMIS FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021NOMIS Foundation partners with ETH Zurich on the NOMIS-ETH Fellowship Program, supporting young researchers studying the origin of life at the Centre for Origin and Prevalence of Life (COPL). The fellowship provides freedom for visionary research and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Wellcome Trust: Large UK-based charitable foundation primarily funding health and biomedical research. Comparable as a private, endowment-driven research foundation with named-fellowship and major-grant programs at scale; serves as a benchmark for the kind of scaled, programmatic science philanthropy ETH Foundation aspires to.
• Volkswagen Foundation: Major German private science and education grantmaking foundation with substantial endowment. Comparable in operating a private, endowed grantmaking model supporting university research, professorships, and interdisciplinary initiatives — broader scope but similar mechanism.
• Swiss National Science Foundation: Switzerland's principal public research funding body. Comparable as a major funder of Swiss research and a donor counterpart for ETH researchers, but operates with public/government funding rather than private philanthropy; serves as the broader ecosystem for the same research projects ETH Foundation supports.
• Howard Hughes Medical Institute: US-based biomedical research and science-education philanthropy. Comparable as a large private science funder supporting investigator programs and research infrastructure; broader scope and US-centric, but analogous in deploying an endowment for frontier research at scale.

Direct peers

• Imperial College London Development: Fundraising entity for Imperial College London, a leading STEM-focused university. Comparable in targeting science/engineering research funding, corporate partnerships with industrial partners, and a lean development-team model supporting major capital campaigns.
• MIT Office of Development: Central fundraising and development function for MIT, a globally top-ranked technical university. Direct comparable in mission: raise philanthropic capital from alumni, corporates, and foundations to fund professorships, research, scholarships, and infrastructure at a leading research university.
• EPFL Foundation: Fundraising foundation for EPFL, Switzerland's other leading technical university. Direct comparable: peer Swiss public university foundation supporting research, teaching, and innovation through donations and corporate partnerships, with a similar donor base (Swiss corporates, alumni, foundations).
• Cambridge University Development Office: Philanthropy and fundraising office for the University of Cambridge, with substantial endowment and named-fund programs. Comparable as a UK-based university foundation raising major gifts for research and teaching, similar named-fund and professorship mechanisms, and international donor outreach.
• NOMIS Foundation: Independent research foundation funding visionary, interdisciplinary science. Direct partner of ETH Zurich (NOMIS-ETH Fellowship). Comparable as a private, science-focused grantmaking foundation with named fellowship programs and a high-engagement approach to fundamental research.
• Stanford University Development: Philanthropy and alumni giving arm for Stanford University, a global research powerhouse. Directly comparable in operating model — fundraising for professorships, research initiatives, scholarships, and capital projects at a top-tier research university with strong corporate engagement.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/eth-z-rich-foundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments21 records

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Frequently asked questions about ETH Zurich Foundation