The Entrepreneurs Club (EC) is an informal and open community gathering organized by the University of Basel Innovation Office. It is aimed at start-ups from all fields as well as interested researchers, students, supporters, investors, business angels and friends.

 

The EC meets regularly for a relaxed, candid and personal exchange at the Innovation Office’s home ground in Allschwil or since COVID-19, mostly in the digital space. Experienced participants – for example,

representatives from private industry, venture capitalists and successful company founders – are invited to meet start-up founders in the EC. For start-ups, the EC provides an opportunity to extend their support networks and possibly find new team members.

 

Having lagged behind other entrepreneurial ecosystems in terms of vibrancy, the EC has helped to put Basel on the map of excellent start-up ecosystems. In its now already 20-something editions, the EC has made life for startups in Basel easier, having created a sense of community and helped to bring together start-ups and people passionate about supporting new ventures.

 

The key to the EC lies its focus on the start-ups themselves, and their needs and requests. The start-ups are in fact our friends, and we do everything to help them. Furthermore, the exceptionally large expat community in Basel is included and made to feel at home in the EC, with many (ex-)employees of Roche and Novartis sharing their professional expertise with start-ups.

 

Recently, with the special challenges for communities that rely heavily on networking, such as start-ups, the EC has had to transform itself. Our focus is now much strongly on relevant peer-to-peer networking and tackling personal challenges of start-ups. In many ways, we want to create a more committed and caring community. In EC sub-groups, we are discussing questions of personal leadership, innovative forms of organisation and team building for ventures, and pushing international boundaries in small, compassionate, and dynamic networks.