It is our mission to establish the Basel Area as Switzerland’s business and innovation centre of the future.
Interest in the Basel Area as a location has markedly increased
Digital health is growing in importance in the Basel Area. At the same time, many production plants are tapping into new markets with digitization. This is a strong signal for the innovative strength of the region, say Christof Klöpper and Domenico Scala. However, the CEO and the president of Basel Area Business & Innovation also see challenges for the region on the horizon.
What we achieved in 2021
We get companies interested in the Basel Area, support startups in the founding of their businesses and further bolster the outstanding network – with success.
39
Settlements & countries of origin
of these
28
life sciences sector
of these
7
digital health sector
Countries of origin
9 Switzerland
5 France
5 United States
3 United Kingdom
2 Bulgaria
2 China
2 Germany
2 Italy
2 Netherlands
2 Singapore
1 Australia
1 Denmark
1 Indonesia
1 Ireland
1 Russia
76
Supported companies
1671
Consultations
501
planned jobs over the next 3 to 5 years
30,592 people in the network
52
Events, online and offline
6441
participants
3 accelerators
Voices from the Basel Area
”"The Basel Area is the ideal gateway to European expansion for startups in the digital health sector. We find a lively ecosystem here with well qualified talents, a lot of startups and established companies which allow us access to Europe and the whole world."
Stefan SuterHead of Holmusk Europe
”“PMP was selected as the winner of i4Challenge in a professional, multistage evaluation. This confirmed our business case and markedly increased our visibility. We are based in the canton of Jura, which offers outstanding conditions for startups. We also benefit from a great environment, support and exchange of ideas in the Switzerland Innovation Park Basel Area, Jura.”
Fritz BircherFounder and CEO of Personalized Medical Products SA
”“We took over a fully functional laboratory and office facility in Basel and found optimum starting conditions here. Some biotech and pharma companies – potential new partners and customers – are headquartered in the Basel Area. The region is dynamic and international and therefore an ideal place in the heart of Europe for attracting well-qualified talents.”
Hanns-Christian MahlerCEO ten23 health
”“We carefully considered several locations in Europe and opted for the Basel Area for a number of reasons: A crucial factor was the concentration of large and small life sciences companies in the region, which form one of the best clusters in Europe, if not worldwide.”
Rainer HenningChief Scientific Officer Worg Pharmaceuticals AG
One of our core topics is digital health. With our initiative DayOne we are promoting the further development of this field in the region. By doing so, we are strengthening the ecosystem which plays a crucial role for the future of the location. Learn more about the benefits and applications of digital health and its development in the Basel Area.
The year 2021 in brief
Holmusk from Singapore founds a branch in Basel. The company develops digital therapies on the basis of data analysis.
Opterion Health settles in Muttenz. The life sciences company is in the preclinical phase of developing a novel form of peritoneal dialysis.
The French company Biosynex settles in Delémont. The company specializes in rapid tests.
US American company Axtria establishes a branch in Basel. The company offers services for the life sciences industry in the field of cloud software and data analysis.
We launch the new Basel Area Business & Innovation podcast. In the first series, we speak with entrepreneurs such as Hans-Florian Zeilhofer, Marija Plodinec and Gwenael Hannema and interview Patricia Gee from Deloitte on the future of health.
The Switzerland Innovation Park Basel Area Main Campus in Allschwil attracts a lot of interest from potential tenants.
Basel Area Business & Innovation widens the offer of the DayOne Accelerator. Now, companies from the fields of prevention, diagnostics and treatment can also apply.
Danish company Abzu settles in the Switzerland Innovation Park Basel Area on the Novartis Campus.
In 2021 the i4Challenge selects six companies, including Personalized Medical Products, in the category SMEs and startups. They are joined by three winners in the category “new ideas”.
The Basel-based pharma company Anaveon wins investment pledges to the tune of 110 million Swiss francs. The startup financing for the company, which was founded in 2017, came from BaseLaunch.
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Highlights from the management
”I am very glad that we had a positive impact on the Basel Area in what was again a difficult pandemic year. I wish all the companies and individuals we have supported that they continue to develop well and enjoy great success in the future. A big thank you goes to our team and all our partners - without them our work would not be possible.
Christof KlöpperCEO
”We were able to attract amazing startups and companies to all sites of the Switzerland Innovation Park Basel Area. Throughout the year, we offered a series of physical and online events where our tenants got to know each other and exchanged project ideas. We have also further strengthened our collaboration with our stakeholders at all sites and are looking forward to our move to the Main Campus in 2022.
Karin CrisantoHead of Innovation Space and Infrastructure
”Our innovation ecosystem is as vibrant as ever. I am thrilled by this energy as a great stepping-stone for sustainable growth in our region. This year again, we had the chance to support fantastic innovators with our accelerators, incubators, mentoring programmes or events. With the virtualization that the pandemic has brought, we have learned to seamlessly connect to global networks, which offers additional opportunities for innovation and growth.
Frank KumliHead of Innovation and Entrepreneurship
”Despite many ongoing pandemic related challenges, we were able to strengthen the organization, hiring fantastic people. We improved on collaboration and on processes within our organization and have strengthened our digital competencies, ensuring a smooth running of the business overall. I am proud looking back and extremely excited looking forward!
Saskia CecchiHead of Shared Services
”Our international efforts worldwide were very successful in 2021 with a record 39 companies settling in the Basel Area, a 30% increase over previous years. This was achieved despite the impact of the pandemic and a challenging business environment with reduced foreign investments worldwide. This year’s results speak to the strength of our region and important success factors including the vibrant ecosystem and the availability of talent.
Franz WaibelHead of International Markets and Business Affairs
”Not only did we continue to grow our network, but we also gained much more visibility: Our followers on social media alone grew by 56%. The newly published Startup Guide Basel Area was a game changer for showcasing regional innovation and the dense network of innovators, experts, talents, and accelerators present. We also scored points in the press with 173 articles about the services of Basel Area Business & Innovation and the region.
Julia MeyerHead of Marketing and Communications
