The Swiss entrepreneurial hotspots revealed

Please login or
register

Barbara Burkhard

09.12.2015

Where are the start-up hotspots in Switzerland? To analyze this issue, the Swiss Start-up Monitor examined the sectoral and regional distribution of over 1900 Swiss start-ups.

The question where the Swiss start-up hotspot is, leads to a complex answer. “It depends on the sector you are looking at”, says Prof. Dr. Peter Vogel, managing director of the Start-up Monitor Foundation, “but as expected we see a strong presence of entrepreneurial activities in the metropolitan regions such as in and around Zurich, Lausanne, Basel, Bern, or St. Gallen”.

Greater Zurich Area and Greater Geneva Bern Area are hotspots for ICT start-ups
Aggregating the regions into four main areas, namely the Greater Zurich Area (GZA), the Greater Basel Area (GBA), the Greater Geneva Bern Area (GGBA) and the St.Gallen Bodensee Area (SBA), there are several patterns discernible with regards to the distribution of the most important sectors (see figure below). In the GZA and GGBA there is a particularly strong basis of ICT-bases companies (GZA: 33%, GGBA: 30%). This result is plausible, considering the fact that in these areas well-known companies from the IT sector have clustered within these regions. In these two areas engineering companies are highly represented as well, which can be traced back to the fact that the two leading Swiss technical institutes ETH Zurich and EPFL are located in these areas.

The greater Basel Area has strong prevalence of Biotech & Pharma (26%) and MedTech (14%) firms. This is not surprising, given that Northwest Switzerland is home to a unique life sciences cluster. In this area Consulting and Services (24%) also makes up a solid basis. The St.Gallen Bodensee Area displays a strong prevalence of ICT, Consulting & Services, and Consumer Products.

Startup Hotspots



Why do start-ups locate close to industry clusters?

“The choice of location is an important strategic decision for entrepreneurs. The proximity of start-ups to industry clusters ensures intensified communication and interactions, and facilitates information sharing between the institutions and start-ups located within the cluster
“, explains Peter Vogel. In addition, a well-functioning cluster fosters entrepreneurial activity by providing effective innovation mechanisms and by facilitating the commercialization of new products or services. Entrepreneurial activity in turn leads to cluster growth through the development of new businesses and new cluster members. Clusters and entrepreneurial activity reinforce one another, leading to a more rapid local economic development through cumulative causation (Feldman and Francis, 2004). Finally, a vibrant cluster creates an attractive hotspot for foreign players, eager to benefit from the interactions (Lundan, 2002).

The Swiss Start-up Monitor is a Swiss based foundation established jointly by ETH Zurich , University of St. Gallen and University of Basel , and is supported by the Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI). The Start-up Monitor Foundation maps, monitors and helps develop start-up ecosystems in Switzerland and beyond. Moreover, it supports start-ups during their growth phase and lets them track their own performance and benchmark themselves against their peers. Visit the Start-up Monitor Homepage to get more information: www.startupmonitor.ch.

0Comments

rss