Google is supporting Impact Hub Zurich – and thus the local start-up community. Concretely speaking, around 800 members of Impact Hub in Zurich will now gain access to programmes and events hosted by Google for Entrepreneurs worldwide, as the Neue Zürcher Zeitung reports. Of even greater importance is the exchange of ideas, said David Grunwald, manager of Global Partnerships at Google. “We want to support the start-up culture in Zurich and the entire world.”
“This exchange is of course a great thing for us,” said Christoph Birkholz, director of Impact Hub. It represents a tremendous opportunity particularly for young talent from the technology sector. He also stressed that the partnership does not impose any obligations on the start-ups. For instance, Google does not have pre-emption rights to any of the promising start-ups.
Both the Zurich start-up scene and Google are set to benefit from the partnership. The internet giant operates its largest R&D centre outside of the US in Zurich, employing over 1,800 people. By supporting Impact Hub, Google is looking to create an ecosystem that attracts as much talent as possible.
The first joint events are already being planned. Google, for example, wants to organise regular Techtalks or round tables with start-ups where young entrepreneurs can exchange ideas with experts from Google.
