What Ernst Göhner Foundation does

Ernst Göhner Stiftung (Ernst Göhner Foundation, EGS) is a privately endowed Swiss charitable foundation headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, established through the lifetime and testamentary bequests of entrepreneur Ernst Göhner (1900-1971). The foundation pursues a dual mandate combining entrepreneurial asset management with philanthropic grant-making in five program areas: Culture, Environment, Social affairs, Education and Science, and Youth Entrepreneurship. It operates two wholly-owned subsidiaries: EGS Beteiligungen AG, an investment company applying a Buy & Hold strategy to listed Swiss Small & Mid Cap companies and profitable private enterprises (target stakes of 8-12%), and Seewarte Holding AG, a long-term real estate investor managing 40+ residential and commercial properties concentrated in the Zurich and Zug economic centers. The foundation also retains a minority stake of less than 10% in Danish-listed DSV A/S, inherited from its historical 40% holding in Panalpina Transports Mondiaux SA. Through the Kick Foundation, established in 2021 jointly with Gebert Rüf Stiftung, EGS funds the Venture Kick pre-seed program supporting Swiss university-based entrepreneurship. Distributing grants across more than 1,900 public utility projects annually, the foundation is governed by a Stiftungsrat (Foundation Council) led by President Dr. Beat Walti and Vice-President Dr. Roger Schmid, with operational management under CEO Samuel Bon and CFO Daniel Hübscher. The foundation is supervised under Swiss Central Switzerland LPP and foundation oversight, with annual reports published in German, French, and English.

Name

Ernst Göhner Foundation

Legal name

Ernst Göhner Stiftung

Website

https://ernst-goehner-stiftung.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

1971

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Ernst Göhner Stiftung is a privately endowed Swiss charitable foundation in Zug that combines Buy & Hold investment activities through subsidiaries EGS Beteiligungen AG and Seewarte Holding AG with annual grant-making across culture, environment, social, education, and youth entrepreneurship programs in Switzerland.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Charitable Foundation / Philanthropic Grant-making

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Community Foundations (BPAGAKAB), Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK), Environmental & Climate Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAM), Social Justice & Human Rights Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAN)

Keywords

• Charitable foundation
• Philanthropic grants
• Cultural funding
• Real estate investment
• Venture philanthropy

Headquarters

HQ city

Zug

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Investment Returns and Asset Management: The foundation generates revenue through long-term investments in companies and real estate. Its diversified entrepreneurial activities form the foundation that enables it to support charitable projects annually. Returns are reinvested to maintain above-average yields and stable income for continuous fulfillment of its philanthropic objectives.

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

The Ernst Göhner Foundation is a Swiss charitable foundation that supports over 1,900 public benefit projects annually across five program areas: culture, environment, social affairs, education & science, and youth entrepreneurship. The foundation funds these philanthropic activities through returns generated by its diversified entrepreneurial activities, including two wholly-owned subsidiaries: EGS Beteiligungen AG (investment in Swiss listed and private companies) and Seewarte Holding AG (real estate investment), plus a minority stake in DSV A/S.

Product overview

Ernst Göhner Foundation operates as a diversified foundation with both entrepreneurial and philanthropic dimensions. The foundation's core structure includes two wholly-owned subsidiaries: EGS Beteiligungen AG (investment management in Swiss companies) and Seewarte Holding AG (real estate investments). The foundation distributes annual grant funding across five program areas: Culture, Environment, Social, Education & Science, and Youth Entrepreneurship. The Kick Foundation (established 2021) and its Venture Kick program represent the foundation's flagship initiative for startup ecosystem support. The foundation manages diverse property holdings across Switzerland and holds stakes in DSV A/S, enabling it to fund over 1,900 public utility projects annually.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• EGS Beteiligungen AG: Investment company that invests in listed and private companies with Swiss connection, pursuing a buy & hold approach as a long-term oriented investor.
• Seewarte Holding AG
• Kick Foundation

Products and services

• Cultural Funding

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 1,900 projects supported annually across Switzerland

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Kick FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021The Kick Foundation was established by the Ernst Göhner Stiftung in 2021 together with the Gebert Rüf Stiftung to strengthen the Swiss startup ecosystem through various philanthropic initiatives under the Kick program. The flagship Venture Kick initiative, launched in 2007, provides pre-seed capital to promote innovation transfer and youth entrepreneurship at Swiss universities.
• SwissFoundationsminorOthersErnst Göhner Stiftung is a founding member of SwissFoundations, the umbrella association of Swiss grant-making foundations.
• Seewarte Holding AGcoreOthersSeewarte Holding AG is a 100% subsidiary of the Ernst Göhner Stiftung, managing the foundation's real estate activities. It is a long-term oriented real estate investment company with a portfolio of residential and commercial properties in prime locations in Zurich and Zug economic centers.
• EGS Beteiligungen AGcoreOthersEGS Beteiligungen AG is a 100% subsidiary of the Ernst Göhner Stiftung that invests in listed and private Swiss companies. It takes an active ownership role with board representation, pursuing a Buy & Hold approach in profitable companies with minimum CHF 50 million annual revenue.
• Fondation PestalozziminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization for scholarship allocation in education and science programs.
• Fondation Suisse d'ÉtudesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization for scholarship allocation in education and science programs.
• Swiss Sport Aid (Aide Sportive Suisse)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization for scholarship allocation in education and science programs.
• Fondation Kiefer HablitzelminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner foundation for art scholarships in visual arts and music, organizing evaluations for professional jury selection.
• Gebert Rüf StiftungcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-founder of the Kick Foundation in 2021 to strengthen Swiss startup ecosystem.
• Fondation Sophie et Karl BindingminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCooperation partner for First Dance initiative, supporting young dancers' transition from professional training to the stage.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves11 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Gebert Rüf Stiftung: Swiss grantmaking foundation headquartered in Zurich with comparable focus areas (culture, education, social, environment) and explicit partnership history as co-founder of the Kick Foundation with Ernst Göhner Stiftung.
• Fondation Sophie et Karl Binding: Swiss private foundation partnering with EGS on the First Dance initiative and active in culture, environment, and social funding across Switzerland — directly comparable grantmaking mandate and Swiss-focused scope.
• Fondation Kiefer Hablitzel: Swiss grantmaking foundation that co-runs art scholarship juries with EGS; same Swiss footprint, similar culture/young-talent focus, and overlapping grantee pool.
• Fondation Pestalozzi: Swiss foundation active in education and youth support, partnering with EGS on scholarship allocation; comparable domestic Swiss grantmaking scope and education focus.
• Werner Siemens-Stiftung: Swiss private foundation funding education, science, and selected cultural projects from a Zug-based industrial endowment — similar family-foundation heritage and Swiss-only focus.

Broad incumbents

• Novartis Foundation: Larger, globally operating Swiss corporate-affiliated foundation with broader health-and-development remit; comparable in scale and Swiss institutional sophistication but different sectoral focus.
• Robert Bosch Stiftung: Large German industrial family foundation with a multi-domain grantmaking strategy (education, health, international relations); comparable in being an industrialist's family foundation with operating subsidiaries, but materially larger and international.
• VolkswagenStiftung: Major German science-and-education grantmaking foundation tracing back to industrial heritage; comparable as a long-duration industrialist endowment but with a research-heavy mandate.
• Fondation de France: Large French umbrella philanthropy supporting culture, environment, social, and education causes via sub-foundations; comparable multi-domain grantmaking model at much larger scale.

Others

• SwissFoundations: Umbrella association of Swiss grantmaking foundations of which EGS is a founding member; ecosystem participant rather than a peer foundation, but a key comparator for governance and reporting standards.

Market position

Strengths3 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ernst-göhner-stiftung

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Ernst Göhner Foundation