Swiss Economic Forum

What Swiss Economic Forum does

Swiss Economic Forum (SEF) is Switzerland's leading business conference, founded in 1998 and operated by NZZ Connect, a branch of Neue Zürcher Zeitung AG. Headquartered at Viktoriastrasse 72 in Bern, it runs an annual flagship event that convenes senior Swiss and international corporate executives, high-growth entrepreneurs, family business owners, and policymakers, alongside year-round programs — SEF.Award, SEF.WomenAward, SEF.Growth High Potential Label, SEF.Powerpreneur, SEF.FamilyEntrepreneur, KMU-Parlament, and the Vision Schweiz 2035 initiative.

The core offering is a physical convening platform with no proprietary technology layer; value is delivered through curated programming, award processes, and live networking among Swiss decision-makers. Media partnerships with SRF, RTS, and NZZ provide amplified reach; premium corporate partners include ABB, Allianz, AMAG, IBM, PwC, Swisscom, UBS, and Swiss Re.

SEF is a private, for-profit subsidiary within the NZZ AG group. Revenue is event-driven, combining ticket and registration fees from delegates with multi-year corporate sponsorship packages from a roster of premium and media partners. No headcount, revenue, or unit economics are publicly disclosed.

Name

Swiss Economic Forum

Legal name

NZZ Connect (Zweigniederlassung der Neue Zürcher Zeitung AG)

Website

https://swisseconomic.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Swiss Economic Forum is Switzerland's leading annual business conference, operated by NZZ Connect (NZZ AG), convening executives, entrepreneurs, family business owners, and policymakers through a flagship event and year-round award and community programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Gwatt

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Marketing or Sales, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Conference Participation Fees: Revenue generated from attendee registration fees for the annual Swiss Economic Forum conference and related breakout sessions.
2. Partner and Sponsorship Programs: Tiered partnership arrangements with premium partners, location partners, SEF partners, and network partners including corporate sponsors and media partners.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Swiss Economic Forum (SEF) is Switzerland's leading annual business conference that brings together high-profile government officials, CEOs, academics, and entrepreneurs for networking and economic discussion. It also operates related programs including the SEF.Award, SEF.WomenAward, SEF.Growth High Potential Label, SEF.FamilyEntrepreneur and SEF.Powerpreneur communities, and the KMU-Parlament initiative.

Product overview

The Swiss Economic Forum operates as Switzerland's leading business conference organization managed by NZZ Connect. The portfolio consists of the core SEF annual conference as the flagship event, supplemented by award programs (SEF.Award, SEF.WomenAward), startup certification (SEF.Growth High Potential Label), entrepreneur communities (SEF.FamilyEntrepreneur, SEF.Powerpreneur), SME policy engagement (KMU-Parlament), and forward-looking initiatives (VISION Schweiz 2035). The various programs serve different segments from startups to family businesses to established corporations, all unified under the SEF brand for Switzerland's business leadership.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SEF.WomenAward: Award honoring outstanding female entrepreneurs presented annually by the Swiss Economic Forum
• SEF.Growth High Potential Label
• SEF.Powerpreneur
• SEF.FamilyEntrepreneur
• KMU-Parlament
• Vision Schweiz 2035

Quantifiable outcome

• SEF.WomenAward presented for 6 consecutive years (2026)
• +1 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

23 partnerships are on record, tiered premium partner, official timing partner, media partner, academic partner, sef partner, network partner and location partner.

• ABBpremium partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerPremium partner of the Swiss Economic Forum, hosting breakout sessions at the annual conference.
• Allianzpremium partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerPremium partner of the Swiss Economic Forum, hosting breakout sessions at the annual conference.
• AMAGpremium partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerPremium partner of the Swiss Economic Forum, hosting breakout sessions. Also partner of SEF.FamilyEntrepreneur community.
• IBMpremium partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerPremium partner of the Swiss Economic Forum, hosting breakout sessions at the annual conference.
• PwCpremium partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerPremium partner of the Swiss Economic Forum, hosting breakout sessions at the annual conference.
• Swisscompremium partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerPremium partner of the Swiss Economic Forum, hosting breakout sessions at the annual conference.
• UBSpremium partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerPremium partner of the Swiss Economic Forum, hosting breakout sessions at the annual conference.
• Swiss Repremium partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerPremium partner of the Swiss Economic Forum, hosting breakout sessions at the annual conference.
• Breitlingofficial timing partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerOfficial Timing Partner providing timekeeping for the conference.
• SRFmedia partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerMedia partner providing coverage of the Swiss Economic Forum.
• RTSmedia partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerMedia partner (French-speaking Swiss radio and television) providing coverage.
• NZZmedia partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerMedia partner (Neue Zürcher Zeitung) providing coverage and operating the forum through NZZ Connect.
• Kalaidos Fachhochschule Schweizacademic partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerAcademic partner of the Swiss Economic Forum.
• Innosuissesef partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerSwiss innovation agency partnering with the Swiss Economic Forum.
• Google Cloudnetwork partnerTechnology or IntegrationTechnology partner providing cloud infrastructure support.
• Salesforcenetwork partnerTechnology or IntegrationTechnology partner providing CRM and cloud services.
• Swiss Indoors Baselnetwork partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerSports and lifestyle event partner collaborating with the Swiss Economic Forum (Oct 24-Nov 1, 2026).
• SBB CFF FFSlocation partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerSwiss Federal Railways serving as location partner for the conference.
• Swiss Federal Office for Economic Affairs (SECO)location partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerGovernment partner providing official support to the conference.
• Zühlkesef partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerEngineering and innovation consulting firm as SEF partner.
• Hotel Mooseggnetwork partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerHospitality partner providing event venue.
• Congress Kursaal Interlakenlocation partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerConference venue partner for SEF events.
• Jungfraubahn-Gruppenetwork partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerMountain railway company as network partner.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Chatham House (Royal Institute of International Affairs): Chatham House is a UK-based international affairs think tank that runs high-level conferences and closed-door policy events for executives, government officials, and academics. Adjacent to SEF in format (premium speaker sessions, member-driven community) rather than direct competition.

Broad incumbents

• World Economic Forum (WEF): The World Economic Forum organizes the Davos annual meeting and regional events (including Open Forum activities) drawing the same class of CEOs, government leaders, and academics as SEF. While far larger and globally oriented, WEF's "Annual Meeting of the New Champions" and regional offshoots compete with SEF's positioning as a high-level Swiss business gathering.

Regional players

• European Forum Alpbach: The European Forum Alpbach is an Austrian annual interdisciplinary conference combining business, science, and policy leaders \u2014 very similar in format to SEF but serving a German-speaking European audience. Comparable in its mix of sponsors, paid attendance, and dialogue events.
• BILANZ (Handelszeitung events): BILANZ is Switzerland's major German-language business magazine (Handelszeitung/Ringier Axel Springer) running Swiss executive events and awards that overlap with SEF's attendee base and Swiss corporate partner market. Comparable in being a Swiss-focused business event brand for executives.
• Handelsblatt Annual Conference (e.g. Handelsblatt Jahrestagung): Handelsblatt hosts several annual business conferences in Germany targeting senior executives and economists. Operates in the same DACH German-speaking business conference market with similar sponsorship and ticketing model, serving Swiss/German/Austrian executives and corporates.

Direct peers

• St. Gallen Symposium: The St. Gallen Symposium is a Swiss annual leadership conference focused on intergenerational dialogue and cross-generational business/policy issues. It directly competes with SEF for the same Swiss and international executive audience with premium speakers and a similar annual event format.
• The European House - Ambrosetti: Ambrosetti runs the annual "Villa d'Este" business forum in Italy bringing together C-suite executives and policy leaders for closed-door discussions. Its business model \u2014 premium sponsors + invitation-based attendance \u2014 closely mirrors SEF's conference and partner revenue streams.

Emerging players

• NOAH Conference: NOAH is a European business conference focused on digital ecosystems and growth-stage companies, partnering with corporates and investors. While more focused on startups/tech, it overlaps with SEF's SEF.Growth and Powerpreneur communities and competes for corporate partner spend in the same DACH market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@SwissEconomicForum
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/swisseconomicforum
• Xx.com/swisseconomic
• Facebookfacebook.com/swisseconomic

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Swiss Economic Forum