Startfeld and Switzerland Innovation Park Ost are merging with immediate effect. The respective bodies approved the merger on June 15. With the merger, the innovation park will achieve a main goal for 2022: the establishment of functional structures on the Lerchenfeld campus.

After the Federal Council decided in spring 2021 to include the Switzerland Innovation Park Ost (SIP Ost) as the sixth site operator in the Switzerland Innovation network, SIP Ost was founded as a public limited company in September 2021. In January 2022, Managing Director Hans Ebinger started his operational work.

The Switzerland Innovation Park Ost was deliberately located in the west of the city of St. Gallen on the Lerchenfeld campus, where Startfeld has been at home since 2016 and now occupies over 6500 square meters of space. Among other things, around 30 start-ups that want to bring innovative products and services to the market have their offices, workshops and laboratories in this ecosystem. Since Startfeld was founded in 2010, more than 900 jobs have been created and investments of over CHF 100 million triggered.

Fusion due to many points of contact

Both organizations are not only housed in the same building, but also have significant overlaps in sponsorship with the canton and city of St. Gallen, Empa, the HSG and the Ost University of Applied Sciences, which is why the merger was already being considered in the application phase of the Innovationspark Ost. After the start of operations at the beginning of this year, the idea was fleshed out in the spring and a plan for the merger was drawn up. The extraordinary general meeting of SIP Ost AG and the general meetings of the Startfeld and Startfeld Innovationszentrum associations approved the merger on June 15th.

use synergies

Both organizations will benefit from the merger. For Startfeld, the possible sphere of action increases – with a view to the secondary location in Buchs and the catchment area of ​​the innovation park. In addition, services can be professionalized in the context of the innovation park. Peter Frischknecht, previously Managing Director of the Startfeld and Startfeld Innovationszentrum associations, will continue to hold a position of responsibility, in particular for campus development, which includes renting out the rooms and expanding the site. The SIP Ost, on the other hand, can take over functioning structures and established offers and build its innovation center on them, which is also useful for start-ups. There will be no changes for the employees of Startfeld, who will be taken on by the Innovation Park in the same function. Duplication and additional costs are avoided because the innovation park does not have to set up these roles again.

Roland Ledergerber, President of the Board of Directors of Switzerland Innovation Park Ost, says of the merger: “The people in charge at Startfeld have done a great job of development in recent years. They have impressively succeeded in building a vibrant young entrepreneur ecosystem. Many companies have sprung up, many jobs have been created and much entrepreneurial venture capital has been mobilised. We can build on that. It is very important to me to thank the exponents of Startfeld from the bottom of my heart.”

Further steps in the construction of the Switzerland Innovation Park Ost

With the merger, the SIP Ost fulfills a main goal for this year: the establishment of functional structures. The strategy of the innovation park also envisages establishing two specialist areas and creating a range of services. One of these focal points will deal with increasing “health and performance” and will be located in St. Gallen. The second focus is on “sensor technology”, a core topic of the strong regional MEM industry, and will later be located in Buchs. In the coming months, SIP Ost will be looking for interested parties for pilot projects to develop these focal points. The first services for SMEs are also to be offered in the second half of 2022. For this purpose, the innovation park will also be strengthened in terms of personnel.

About Swiss Innovation

Switzerland Innovation is a network of six innovation parks throughout Switzerland, based on a joint initiative by public institutions, science and the private sector and a statutory mandate from the Federal Council. Switzerland Innovation forms an ecosystem that enables universities and innovative companies to work together and use their knowledge and research results to develop new marketable products and services. www.switzerland-innovation.com

For media information

Hans Ebinger, Managing Director Switzerland Innovation Park East
hans.ebinger@switzerland-innovation.com
Tel G +41 71 277 20 51
Phone M +41 79 245 43 22