The cost of developing a concept

When you want to develop a new service-related or technological concept, you need to set aside funds. Here is an overview of costs.

Service concepts

Financing phase	Activities	Financing total in CHF	Time required in months	Investors
Concept	Development of the business concept	1'000 to 5'000	1 to 6	Entrepreneurs, the 3 Fs ("Friends, Family, Fools")
Early stage
Seed stage	Developing the business plan, finding financing, putting a group of entrepreneurs together, feasibility study	10'000 to 50'000	3 to 24	Entrepreneurs, the 3 Fs
Start-up	Developing the product/service, preparing to enter the market	50'000 to 500'000	3 to 12	Business angels, cantonal banks
Phase 1	Entering the market	500'000 to 2'000'000	3 to 12	Business angels, venture capital*
Expansion
Phase 2	Scalability of products/services	1'000'000 to 5'000'000	12 to 48	Venture capital*
Phase 3	Expanding the market	1'000'000 to 5'000'000	12 to 48	Venture capital*
Intermediaries	Intermediary financing to prepare for an initial public offering (IPO)	500'000 to 1'000'000	6 to 12	Venture capital*

*Only for innovative and scalable service concepts.

Financing phase	Activities	Financing total in CHF	Time required in months	Investors
Concept	Development of the business concept	10'000 to 20'000	2 to 6 *	Entrepreneurs, the 3 Fs ("Friends, Family, Fools")
Early stage
Seed stage	Developing the business plan, finding financing, putting group of entrepreneurs together, feasibility study	50'000 to 500'000	3 to 24 *	Entrepreneurs, the 3 Fs, business angels, venture capital (in start-up phase), banks that finance start-ups
Start-up	Developing the product/service, preparing to enter the market	500'000 to 2'000'000	6 to 24	Business angels, co-investments, venture capital
Phase 1	Entering the market	1'000'000 to 5'000'000	6 to 12	Venture capital
Expansion
Phase 2	Scalability of products/services	2'000'000 to 20'000'000	12 to 48	Venture capital
Phase 3	Expanding the market	2'000'000 to 20'000'000	12 to 48	Venture capital
Intermediaries	Intermediary financing to prepare for an initial public offering (IPO)	2'000'000 to 20'000'000	6 to 36	Venture capital

*In the case of a technological development, it is also possible to invest for 3 years until a sufficient level of maturity is reached for marketing.

Source: START Unternehmenszentrum Zurich