MISE: Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management

Entrepreneurial thinking as a driver of technological transformation: technological excellence alone is no longer sufficient. Companies are under increasing pressure to innovate. The development, validation and scaling of new products, services and business models is required at an accelerated pace, often with a high degree of uncertainty.

Our focus areas

MISE’s Entrepreneurship & Innovation Management division combines engineering with entrepreneurial thinking. We provide support to students, start-ups, SMEs and industrial partners in implementing innovation projects in a structured, method-based and market-oriented manner.
We are dedicated to the development, validation and scaling of technology-based innovations, from the initial idea to market launch.

We assist companies in enhancing their innovative capacity through structural improvements:

  • Process analysis and optimisation of existing innovation processes
  • Introduction of agile innovation methods
  • Creation of innovation roadmaps
  • Development of Stage-Gate or lean startup approaches
  • Assessment of innovation portfolios

Technological innovation is only effective when it is embedded in a sustainable business model.

We offer support in the following areas:

  • Development of product and service-oriented business models
  • Business model innovation in industrial SMEs
  • Business model validation with customers (customer discovery, lean startup)
  • Monetisation strategies
  • Platform and ecosystem strategies

Entrepreneurship is a key component of engineering studies.

Our offer:

  • Support to students from the initial idea to the start-up stage
  • Collaboration with industry partners, from external start-ups to SMEs, including participation as research partners (e.g. innovation cheque and Innosuisse projects)
  • Pitch training and investor readiness
  • Development of cooperation models between start-ups and established businesses

Our work is based on tested, evidence-based methods:

  • Lean startup
  • Design thinking
  • Business model canvas
  • Jobs to Be Done
  • Rapid prototyping
  • Experiment design and hypothesis-driven development
  • Innovation controlling and KPIs

We integrate creativity methods with structured market analysis and strategic positioning.

Research and Knowledge Transfer

In our research projects, we explore in particular the following topics:

  • Innovative capacity in SMEs
  • Interfaces between engineering and entrepreneurship
  • Impact of agile methods in industrial contexts
  • Cooperation models between corporations and start-ups
  • Technology transfer in universities of applied sciences

In the context of Innosuisse and industry projects, we provide external innovation services and collaborate with partners to develop marketable solutions.

Cooperation with industry and public institutions

We offer support in the following areas:

  • Competitive analysis
  • Identification of fields of innovation
  • Development of new value propositions
  • Technology market validation
  • Creation of internal innovation structures

Our approach is practice-oriented, methodically robust and focused on achieving specific outcomes.

Training and talent development:

Not only do we teach entrepreneurship – we also put it in practice.

Our offer:

  • Support for project assignments and bachelor’s and master’s theses focused on innovation
  • Entrepreneurship modules in engineering studies
  • Practical projects with industry partners
  • Interdisciplinary innovation workshops

Our goal is to systematically embed entrepreneurial thinking in technical degree programmes.

Do you have a business idea and want to start your own business? Do you want to contribute your know-how to a start-up or use your entrepreneurial mindset to bring companies forward?Entrepreneurship is a multifaceted concept, requiring above all entrepreneurial thinking and action. With us, you learn to outline and assess business models and to consider the various factors that a business plan should take into account, from the initial idea to market launch. In addition, you acquire skills in the fields of financing, risk management and marketing.