Co-Initiators of the Innovation Cluster Aarau
Why should the big cities have all the fun? Communities win when people ideate, invest, and grow initiatives locally, while the potential is lost when people must flock to big cities to find inspiration and the support they need to explore their ideas. Since amplilabs calls Aarau its home, it was clear that we wanted to help grow the innovation community locally. We’re glad to be on the team building an innovation and business ecosystem in Aarau.
It all began over five years ago. Aarau was among the first smaller cities in Switzerland to launch a Smart City initiative. We were asked, as amplilabs, to participate in the process and became part of the team that put together the concept for Aarau. Our focus was on building an open innovation system for the city. We watched closely (and somewhat patiently) as the initiative ground through the usual approval process. The first big celebration came in 2020 when the concept and budget were approved. However, words on paper are one thing… doing is a whole other can of worms.
Fast forward to 2023. The time to do has come. The focus in 2023 was to start building a network of interested parties, define a broad vision, and do some initial activities to get us started. 2024 is dedicated to following through with initiatives, learning from them, and building upon them. More to come on the Think-a-Thons we’re organising this year, the startup community we’re building, and our first brick-and-mortar location in the AKB Lab. For more information or to get involved, check out the links below.
At amplilabs, we’re delighted by what’s happening — and by what’s coming next. And grateful to be on the team making it happen. We thank the City of Aarau and Aarau Standortförderung for bringing us into the project and co-creation efforts. We can’t wait to see what we’ll build as a growing community over the next few years.