Copenhagen Business Hub (Erhvervshus Hovedstaden)
Denmark
Erhvervshus Hovedstaden is one of six regional business houses in Denmark. At Erhvervshus Hovedstaden, they help more than 5,000 companies …
Good practice
Imported
★ 95
★ 91
★ 91
★ 91
Basel Area Business & Innovation — dual FDI and startup support agency
Switzerland · Basel · See the Switzerland profile · See the Basel profile
Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 65% 62/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice
Basel Area Business & Innovation (2023): 34 foreign companies settled (17 countries; 76% life sciences) + 86 startups supported — projecting ~700 new jobs within 3–5 years across three Swiss cantons. Europe's most concentrated life-sciences cluster.
34 companies
Foreign companies settled (2023)
17 countries
Countries of origin (2023)
76 %
Companies in life sciences (2023)
86 startups
Startups supported (2023)
~700 jobs
Projected new jobs (2023 (3–5 year projection))
96 startups
Startup foundations supported (record year) (2022)
Details
- Maturity
- Established
- Promoter
- Basel Area Business & Innovation
- Period
- 2005–present
- Region (NUTS)
CH031- Keywords
- Investment promotion / Startup support
Context
The Basel Area — spanning the cantons of Basel-Stadt, Basel-Landschaft and Solothurn — is home to Europe's most concentrated life-sciences cluster, anchored by Novartis, Roche and thousands of life-science SMEs.
Objectives
To grow the regional economy through a dual mandate: attracting foreign companies to establish a presence in the Basel Area, and supporting the foundation of local startups.
Activities
Basel Area Business & Innovation (BABI) is the official tri-cantonal economic-development and investment-promotion agency, coordinating with Switzerland Global Enterprise (S-GE) to support both inbound foreign-company settlements and local startup foundations, with transparent annual public reporting.
Results
In 2023, 34 foreign companies from 17 countries established a presence in the Basel Area (76% in life sciences), alongside 86 locally-founded startups; the combined 120 entities are projected to create approximately 700 new jobs within 3–5 years. 2022 was a record year with 96 startup foundations supported.
Conclusions
BABI's dual FDI-and-startup mandate within a tri-cantonal public-private partnership offers a replicable model for regions with a dominant industry cluster, combining transparent reporting with cross-jurisdictional coordination.
Implementation
- Indicative cost
- Medium (€50k–€500k) — Tri-cantonal public-private partnership agency; costs not itemised in source material, funded via cantonal governments and coordination with Switzerland Global Enterprise.
- Time to results
- Long (> 3 years) — Agency operating since 2005; annual reporting cycle; 2022 record year for startup foundations (96), 2023 data (34 FDI settlements, 86 startups).
- Staffing & skills
- Tri-cantonal economic development agency (Basel-Stadt, Basel-Landschaft, Solothurn), Integration with Switzerland Global Enterprise (S-GE) national network
Conditions for success
- Existing dominant industry cluster (life sciences: Novartis, Roche, thousands of SMEs) to anchor investment attraction
- Cross-cantonal governance coordination across three cantons
- Transparent annual public reporting
Common failure modes
- Sector concentration (76% life sciences) creates dependency risk if that sector contracts
- Job projections (~700) are 3–5 year estimates, not verified outcomes
Where it fits
- Governance type
- regional (tri-cantonal PPP)
- Scale
- metropolitan region
- Income level
- high-income
Commonly funded by
National / regional programmes
Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.
Do you run this practice? Claim it — verified implementers get a public contact pathway and can propose corrections.
Data sources
Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.
- C-NAPSE web research — accessed 2026-06-21
- Basel Area Business & Innovation — accessed 2026-06-21
- Basel Area Business & Innovation – annual reports — accessed 2026-06-21
- Switzerland Global Enterprise – Basel Area attracts companies from 17 countries (2023) — accessed 2026-06-21
- S-GE – investing in the Basel Area — accessed 2026-06-21
Attachments
Similar practices you may find useful
Tehnopol Startup Incubator (Tallinn)
Estonia
Estonia's largest science park runs a startup incubator and themed accelerators (NATO DIANA, ESA BIC, AI, cyber) that have supported …
Station F — the world's largest startup campus
France
A 34,000 m² Paris campus hosting 1,000+ startups a year across 30+ acceleration programmes run with global corporates, anchoring the …
Amsterdam Impact
Netherlands
4-year social entrepreneurship programme now focused on impact entrepreneurship. Amsterdam Impact strengthens the ecosystem for all companies that simultaneously create …