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Good practice Imported

Technopark Zürich — ETH Spin-off & Deep-Tech Transfer Campus

Switzerland · Zürich · See the Switzerland profile · See the Zürich profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 42% 71/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Since 1993, Technopark Zürich has hosted ETH Zurich spin-offs and deep-tech firms — now around 300 companies and 2,800 jobs on one site — anchoring a spin-off pipeline of 43 new ETH companies in 2023, 93% of which survive past five years.

~300
Companies hosted on campus
~2,800
Jobs on campus
47,000 m²
Campus site area
~500
ETH spin-offs founded to date (as of 2020)
145
Sampled cohort firms
~4,500 FTE
Full-time jobs generated by sampled cohort
nearly 900 CHF million
Sampled cohort revenue (2017)
~93 %
ETH spin-off five-year survival rate
~10 %
ETH spin-off exit rate
43
New ETH spin-offs (2023)
70 CHF million
GetYourGuide follow-on investment
50 CHF million
ANYbotics follow-on investment
Technopark Zürich — ETH Spin-off & Deep-Tech Transfer Campus

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Technopark Zürich Foundation, in partnership with ETH Zurich and Zurich University of Applied Sciences
Period
1993–present
Region (NUTS)
CH04
Keywords
Deep-tech, medtech, ICT, university spin-offs

Context

Technopark Zürich opened in 1993 in Zurich's Industriequartier as Switzerland's first technology park, a privately funded foundation providing shared space and services to university research institutes, spin-offs and established companies on one 47,000 m² site.

Activities

The foundation operates two divisions, one managing real estate and facilities and the other focused on strengthening Swiss competitiveness and job creation, drawing on ETH Zurich's technology-transfer pipeline; the City of Zurich approved successive building expansions between 2011 and 2012 as the campus grew.

Results

The campus now hosts around 300 companies and organisations employing roughly 2,800 people. ETH Zurich's own spin-off study, published in October 2020 and its third since 2008, found around 500 spin-offs founded to date, with a sampled cohort of 145 firms generating about 4,500 full-time jobs and nearly CHF 900 million in 2017 revenue; roughly 93% of ETH spin-offs survive past five years and about 10% have completed an exit. ETH recorded 43 new spin-offs in 2023, including 12 AI-related and 8 biotech/pharma firms, with notable follow-on investment rounds for GetYourGuide (CHF 70 million) and ANYbotics (CHF 50 million).

Conclusions

By co-locating ETH's technology-transfer pipeline with commercial tenants on one purpose-built campus since 1993, Zurich created a durable, self-funded piece of urban infrastructure for turning university IP into companies rather than a time-limited grant programme.

Implementation
Indicative cost
High (€500k–€5M) — A privately funded foundation operating a 47,000 m² campus with successive City of Zurich-approved building expansions (2011-2012) implies substantial cumulative real-estate investment, consistent with a high cost band.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Continuously operating since 1993, more than three decades, consistent with a long timeline band.
Staffing & skills
Technopark Zürich Foundation, with a real-estate/facilities division and a competitiveness/job-creation division, ETH Zurich technology-transfer office, Zurich University of Applied Sciences (partner institution)

Conditions for success

  • Privately funded foundation structure rather than a time-limited grant programme.
  • Co-location of ETH Zurich's technology-transfer pipeline with commercial tenants on one purpose-built site.
  • City of Zurich planning approvals enabling successive building expansions (2011-2012).

Where it fits

Governance type
private foundation with university and municipal partners
Scale
city/metropolitan
Income level
high-income

Commonly funded by

Own resources / municipal budget

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

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