Staatslabor

What Staatslabor does

Staatslabor is a Swiss non-profit association (nicht-gewinnorientierter, politisch und konfessionell neutraler Verein) founded in 2016 and officially operating since 2017, headquartered at Bundesgasse 16 in Bern. The organization supports the Swiss public sector at federal, cantonal, and communal levels in building innovation capacity through consulting, training, and methodology development. Its core activities include Projektbegleitung (project advisory for innovation and transformation projects), Weiterbildungen (continuing education courses on OKR, Service Design, Wardley Maps, Design Thinking, and AI/Prompting), and the staatsBox, a Design Thinking toolkit developed in collaboration with Swiss public administrations and made available free digitally since 2023. It also runs the staatskantine event series, the biweekly staatsbulletin newsletter, the "Rules of the Game" podcast, and the staatsUmfrage survey research product launched in 2025 with sotomo.

The organization is financed through professional-services fees from government consulting engagements and philanthropic foundation grants, notably the Jacobs Foundation partnership for the Chance Digitalität program. Its customer base spans federal agencies (SERI, FOPH, Swiss National Library, OFCOM, Federal Personnel Office, Parliamentary Services), cantonal governments (Zurich, Bern, Lucerne, Zug, Aargau), and municipal governments (Zurich, Bern, Winterthur, St. Gallen, Biel/Bienne), with over 100 projects completed across 70+ administrations since 2017. Governance is provided by co-founders Nicola Forster (President) and Maximilian Stern (Vice President), with day-to-day leadership held by co-CEOs Alenka Bonnard and Dario Meloni following the January 2025 leadership transition in which co-founder Danny Bürkli stepped down from operational co-CEO duties but remained on the board. The team is a heterogeneous 15-20 person multidisciplinary group combining legal, political science, design, data science, and behavioral science expertise.

Name

Staatslabor

Legal name

staatslabor

Website

https://staatslabor.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Staatslabor is a Bern-based non-profit association founded in 2016 that supports the Swiss public administration at federal, cantonal, and municipal levels through innovation consulting, training, and the proprietary staatsBox Design Thinking toolkit.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Administration Innovation Consulting

NAICS

Educational Services (611), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Higher Education Course Design & Online Program Development (EDAGAKAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK)

Keywords

• Public sector innovation consulting
• Government training programs
• Design thinking toolkit
• Public administration advisory
• Organizational transformation consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Berne

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Consulting & Project Advisory: Fee-for-service consulting engagements with public administrations for innovation and transformation projects. Revenue generated through project-based consulting contracts with federal, cantonal, and communal government clients.
2. Training & Education Programs: Continuing education courses offered to public administration employees. Topics include OKR, Strategic Orientation, Social Media, Service Design, Prompting/AI, KI-Management, KI-Agenten, Collaboration methods, Wardley Maps, and Design Thinking. Available both publicly and as in-house team training.
3. Philanthropic Foundation Grants: Funding from philanthropic foundations supporting specific programs. Notably, the 'Chance Digitalität' program is funded by Jacobs Foundation and runs the program as an incubator.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Staatslabor provides innovation and transformation consulting, executive retreats and keynotes, and continuing education programs to Swiss public administrations at federal, cantonal, and municipal levels. Its proprietary staatsBox Design Thinking toolkit is offered both as a paid physical toolbox and as a free digital download, and it runs the staatskantine event series, staatsbulletin newsletter, and staatsUmfrage survey research. Services are delivered directly to government clients and financed through consulting fees and philanthropic foundation grants.

Product overview

Staatslabor is a non-profit, politically and financially neutral association founded in 2016/2017 that supports the Swiss public administration in becoming more collaborative, courageous, and open. The organization operates as a platform combining advisory services, training, events, and innovative tools. Core offerings include: Projektbegleitung (Project Advisory) for direct consulting on innovation projects; Weiterbildungen (Training Courses) covering topics from OKR and Service Design to AI Management and AI Agents; staatsBox as a purpose-built Design Thinking toolkit for public administration; and event series like staatskantine and staatsUmfrage survey research. The portfolio centers on practical innovation methodology delivery to government employees across Switzerland.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Projektbegleitung (Project Advisory) Advisory services supporting public administrations with innovation and transformation projects, working with over 100 projects and more than 70 administrations at municipal, cantonal, and national levels since 2017.
• Vorträge & Retraiten (Inputs & Executive Retreats) Presentations, customized inputs, and executive retreat facilitation focusing on innovative perspectives for current and future public administration challenges.
• Weiterbildungen (Training Courses) Continuing education offerings for public administration staff covering OKR, Strategic Orientation, Social Media, Service Design, Prompting/AI, AI Management, AI Agents, Collaboration methods, Wardley Maps, and Design Thinking. Delivered both as public open-enrollment courses (in Bern, Zurich, Luzern, Basel, Lausanne, Fribourg) and as customized in-house team training.
• staatsBox A Design Thinking toolkit developed for public administration that enables government employees to learn innovation techniques and develop creative solutions through a 7-step structured innovation process. Available in physical and digital formats; the digital version is offered free since 2023.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 100 projects completed with more than 70 administrations since 2017
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• sotomominorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Research partnership for the staatsUmfrage (public administration survey). Jointly surveyed over 1500 public administration employees on how they experience change and understand their own role, producing insights on trust, skepticism, stability, and transformation.
• Jacobs FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Strategic partnership for the 'Chance Digitalität' program, which addresses effective and equitable education in Switzerland's digital culture. The staatslabor acts as an incubator for this program, developing offerings for educational administrations together with education policy makers, school administrations, and school authorities.
• Swiss Federal Government (Various Agencies)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerLong-term consulting relationships with multiple federal agencies including SERI, FOPH, Federal Personnel Office, Parliamentary Services, and others for innovation and transformation projects.
• Swiss Cantonal GovernmentscoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerOngoing partnerships with cantonal governments (Zurich, Bern, Lucerne, Zug, Aargau, etc.) for various innovation projects, digital strategies, and organizational development.
• Swiss Municipal GovernmentscoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerPartnerships with municipal governments including cities of Zurich, Bern, Winterthur, St. Gallen, Biel for service design, innovation programs, and organizational improvement.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Bundesakademie für öffentliche Verwaltung (BAköV): Germany's federal academy for public administration, providing continuing education and training to civil servants. Comparable training and capacity-building mission to Staatslabor, but operates in the German federal public sector rather than Switzerland.

Direct peers

• Nesta: UK innovation foundation running programs in government innovation, public services, and education. Comparable in mission and structure to Staatslabor, including foundation funding, applied research, and partnerships with public administrations.
• Apolitical: Global learning network and community for government officials, offering courses, research, and editorial content on public sector innovation. Comparable to Staatslabor's continuing education courses, biweekly newsletter (staatsbulletin), and thought-leadership content aimed at Swiss public administrators.
• Centre for Public Impact: Global non-profit focused on improving public services through innovative practices and citizen-centered government. Directly comparable: Staatslabor co-founder Danny Bürkli was on the founding team of CPI, and both organizations deliver public sector innovation advisory and capacity-building programs.
• foraus – Forum Aussenpolitik: Swiss think tank producing policy analysis on foreign and digital policy, co-founded and led for ten years by Staatslabor President Nicola Forster. Overlapping network, mission of evidence-based public policy innovation, and Swiss policy community.
• Public Digital: UK-based consultancy advising governments on digital transformation, service design, and technology delivery. Closely mirrors Staatslabor's project advisory, training, and design-thinking-for-government methodology.
• OECD Observatory of Public Sector Innovation (OPSI): OECD initiative that researches, benchmarks, and supports innovation in the public sector across member countries. Directly comparable to Staatslabor's staatsUmfrage survey, training, and innovation methodology work for public administrations.
• Smartfeld: Swiss innovation intermediary developing workshops and programs for organizations on innovation and collaboration. A direct domestic peer to Staatslabor's training and Design Thinking workshops (Alex Zgraggen previously led Smartfeld workshops).

Broad incumbents

• McKinsey Public Sector Practice: Global management consulting firm with a dedicated public sector practice advising federal and sub-national governments on transformation, digital, and operations. Overlaps with Staatslabor's project advisory work but at much larger scale and broader scope.
• BCG Public Sector Practice: Global strategy consulting with public sector capabilities spanning digital government, citizen services, and organizational transformation. Competes for large-scale Swiss public administration transformation mandates that Staatslabor also pursues.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/staatslabor
• Facebookfacebook.com/staatslabor/?fref=ts
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/staatslabor
• Instagraminstagram.com/staatslabor

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Staatslabor