This year's class includes 13 high-potential companies at different development stages, including scale ups as well as more established companies, and from diverse sectors such as life sciences, cleantech, finance, industrial and ICT.

The Sparks IPO Academy has a hybrid format, allowing business leaders to balance the educational programme with their busy work schedules. The next sessions will be held virtually every 2-3 weeks, followed by an investors’ roundtable event in February, where companies can exchange and connect with selected investors in speed dating sessions. The Sparks IPO Academy will wrap up for the year with a two-day closing event in Solothurn in May 2025.

While the Kick-Off Event gives participants the opportunity to get to know their peers and some of Switzerland’s leading capital markets experts it already delves deeply into the details of the IPO process. Participants gain valuable insights on how to prepare their financials and equity story for an IPO, as well as understanding the legal considerations involved in taking a company public.

A detailed program can be found here.

“Switzerland boasts a dynamic ecosystem of innovative SMEs and scale-ups that are key drivers of economic growth. Connecting these enterprises with the public capital market is essential, as it provides them with the resources to expand and compete on a global scale. We introduced Sparks, our SME market, to facilitate access to the benefits of the public capital market in Switzerland for SMEs, both those experiencing high growth and more established ones. The Sparks IPO Academy is instrumental in preparing these companies for successful access to the Swiss public equity market,” said Valeria Ceccarelli, Head Equity Primary Market, SIX Swiss Exchange.