Hagerbach Test Gallery

What Hagerbach Test Gallery does

Hagerbach Test Gallery (VersuchsStollen Hagerbach AG, 'VSH'), founded in 1970 in Flums, Switzerland, operates a unique underground research infrastructure spanning 5 km of tunnels and 25,000 m² of laboratories, caverns and test fields at the foot of the Alvier mountain. The company provides four integrated service lines: Research, Development & Innovation (joint academic and industry projects from early-stage research to full-scale validation, supported by an in-house research team, Scientific Council and Foundation Board); Training & Testing (sewerage systems training, EFNARC nozzleman certification, safety courses and the Fire Testing & Fire Resistance Laboratory covering BEV fire safety); an accredited Building Material Testing Laboratory for concrete, rock, asphalt and structural components; and Gastronomy & Event Location (event cavern, weddings, seminars, team building, catering). Customers include ETH Zürich, Amberg Engineering, and Mars Habitat Challenge sponsors ACO, Implenia, SIKA and Belloli, with growing activity in CO2 subsurface storage, underground green farming, hydrogen storage, underground edge data centres and Mars habitat concepts.

The business is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Amberg Group, a 100% family-owned Swiss conglomerate of 7 companies and 600+ employees operating around 60 years in engineering, surveying and infrastructure services. Michael Kompatscher serves as Managing Director of VSH and Felix Amberg as President of the Amberg Group. Revenue is generated through project-based professional services contracts; pricing is not publicly disclosed and customers contact VSH directly for project quotes. Go-to-market is enterprise field sales, complemented by academic outreach (ETH Zürich, OST), the Innovation Day event, the Mars Habitat Challenge startup competition, the Mission Earth First ecosystem and the World Systemic Forum. Distribution is amplified through Amberg Group sister companies (Amberg Engineering, Amberg Technologies, Amberg Infra 7D, Amberg Loglay, Amberg Infocon, QAECY).

In August 2025, VSH AG acquired Gusatest GmbH, expanding the laboratory footprint to four locations and adding materials science, geology and engineering expertise. VSH has been recognised by the Swiss federal government as a 'research infrastructure of national importance,' a designation that opens access to federal research funding and reinforces its position as a national asset for underground R&D. Active strategic partnerships include the International SubSpace Energy Hub (initiating partner), ITACUS, SCAUT, Topcon Positioning Systems, OST and the Mission Earth First network.

Name

Hagerbach Test Gallery

Legal name

VERSUCHSSTOLLEN HAGERBACH AG (HAGERBACH TEST GALLERY LTD)

Website

https://hagerbach.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

1970

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Hagerbach Test Gallery (VersuchsStollen Hagerbach AG) is a Swiss underground research facility operating 5 km of tunnels and 25,000 m² of laboratories for full-scale R&D, accredited material testing, and training. It serves academia, construction firms, and startups as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the family-owned Amberg Group.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Underground Research Infrastructure & Testing Services

NAICS

Testing Laboratories and Services (541380), Testing Laboratories and Services (54138)

SIC

Laboratory Apparatus & Furniture (3821), Services-Testing Laboratories (8734), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Lab Furniture, Facilities & Utilities (Benches, Casework, Gas/Water Systems) (HLAGAIAM)

Keywords

• Underground research infrastructure
• Building material testing
• Fire resistance testing
• Tunnel construction training
• Underground event venue

Headquarters

HQ city

Flums

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Research & Development Services: Providing dedicated underground research infrastructure to academia and industry for joint R&D projects, from early-stage research to full-scale testing and validation, funded through Swiss, European, and other research programmes.
2. Building Material Testing: Accredited laboratory testing services for construction materials including concrete, rock, asphalt, and structural components, with consulting and quality control services.
3. Training & Certification: Training and education programmes including sewerage systems training, nozzleman certification, safety and security courses, and continuing professional education in partnership with OST (Ostschweizer Fachhochschule).
4. Event Venue & Catering: Renting out the unique underground facility for corporate events, weddings, seminars, team building activities, themed events, and group excursions, with on-site catering services.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Hagerbach Test Gallery (VersuchsStollen Hagerbach AG) operates the Underground Future Lab, a 5 km tunnel network with 25,000 m² of laboratories, caverns, and test fields located in Flums, Switzerland. The company provides four integrated service pillars: (1) Research, Development & Innovation for collaborative R&D projects with academia and industry; (2) Training & Testing including fire safety, sewerage, and EFNARC nozzleman certification; (3) accredited Building Material Testing Laboratory for concrete, rock, and asphalt; and (4) Gastronomy & Event Location for underground corporate events, weddings, and seminars.

Product overview

Hagerbach Test Gallery (VersuchsStollen Hagerbach AG) operates as 'The Underground Future Lab' — a unified underground research infrastructure providing four integrated service pillars: (1) Research, Development & Innovation for collaborative R&D projects with academia and industry; (2) Training & Testing for full-scale testing, exercises, and demonstrations; (3) Building Material Testing Laboratory for accredited construction material analysis; and (4) Gastronomy & Event Location for unique underground event venues. The facility spans 5 km and 25,000 m² of tunnels, laboratories, caverns and test fields, enabling projects from early-stage research to full-scale testing and validation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Mission Earth First: Initiative linking underground space with outer space, focused on sustainable underground development and space technologies for Earth applications.
• SubSpace Energy Hub

Products and services

• Research, Development & Innovation Core service pillar providing the Underground Future Lab for academic and industry collaborative research projects. Offers modular adaptable infrastructure for large-scale prototyping and material testing under realistic, controlled, and repeatable underground conditions. The VSH research team supports clients in shaping research ideas, finding partners in academia and industry, and writing proposals for Swiss, European, and other funding programmes.
• Training & Testing Comprehensive testing and training environment including sewerage systems training, safety and security training, fire testing and fire resistance laboratory services (including BEV battery electric vehicle fire safety research), conducted under full-scale underground conditions. Includes EFNARC nozzleman certification programs in partnership with CUC Academy.
• Building Material Testing Laboratory Accredited testing laboratory for construction materials including mineral materials, concrete testing, asphalt testing, component testing, cracking, structural testing, and quality control for civil engineering applications. Includes consulting and quality control services. Now operates four laboratory locations following the Gusatest GmbH acquisition.
• Gastronomy & Event Location Unique underground venue for corporate events, weddings, seminars, team building activities, and group gatherings, featuring an event cavern, themed events, catering services, guided tours, show explosions, fire prevention courses, marble track building, shooting, and various team activities within the tunnel facility.

Quantifiable outcome

• Full-scale material testing and prototype validation under realistic underground conditions cannot be achieved on the surface — unique to VSH's 5 km tunnel network and 25,000 m² facility
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Amberg GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 October 2025VSH (VersuchsStollen Hagerbach AG) is a member company of the Amberg Group, which comprises 7 family-owned companies with 600+ employees. Amberg Group is 100% family-owned and has been a leader in engineering and surveying services for railway, metro, underground, and specialised civil engineering for around 60 years. VSH benefits from the group's infrastructure, resources, and distribution network across Amberg Engineering, Amberg Technologies, Amberg Infra 7D, Amberg Loglay, Amberg Infocon, and QAECY.
• Gusatest GmbHcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 August 2025Following a long-term and successful collaboration, VSH AG acquired Gusatest GmbH in August 2025 as a strategic development of both companies. The acquisition expands VSH's service offering and strengthens its market position, adding four laboratory locations and a team of highly qualified experts including laboratory technicians, engineers, geologists, and materials scientists.
• SubSpace Energy HubcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 January 2023VSH is an initiating partner of the International SubSpace Energy Hub, an international group of renowned individuals and companies focused on alternative energy systems and underground infrastructure development. The hub offers a platform for developing, prototyping, and installing new technologies for sustainable energy use and storage, combining above and underground facilities. VSH is being transformed into a visionary sustainable and CO2-neutral underground infrastructure as part of this partnership.
• ITACUS (International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association's Committee on Underground Space)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerITACUS advocates for the use of urban underground space for over a decade, helping cities address climate change, natural disasters, and urban density challenges. VSH provides ITACUS with a home for demonstrating the validity of developing urban underground spaces. The collaboration focuses on the SubSpace Energy Hub, Underground Green Farming, and energy solutions for CO2-neutral construction.
• SCAUT (Swiss Centre of Applied Underground Technologies)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSCAUT is the world's leading competency centre for the use of underground space, relying on high-end engineering, innovative solutions, and advanced ICT. SCAUT and VSH collaborate on underground space projects including Underground Green Farming, energy solutions, and the SubSpace Energy Hub. SCAUT and Dätwyler also launched an underground edge data centre prototype at VSH in September 2019.
• The HUS Institute / The System Change FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTHE HUS.institute is The System Change Foundation's exploratory institute for imagination, inspiring thought and action towards system change. The partnership hosts the annual World Systemic Forum at the Hagerbach facility and collaborates on Mission Earth First. The forum brings together global changemakers, policy-shapers, innovators, artists, and entrepreneurs.
• Arch Mission FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Arch Mission Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit preserving and disseminating humanity's most important knowledge across time and space. They are part of the Mission Earth First partner network, contributing knowledge preservation and future-proofing perspectives to the underground space innovation ecosystem.
• Next Gen Village AssociationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerA Swiss-based non-profit association creating positive visions and new models for regenerative future societies and prototyping systemic innovations in a living lab environment. They are part of the Mission Earth First partner network with interdisciplinary backgrounds in environmental sciences, urban planning, economics, and philosophy.
• Topcon Positioning SystemscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTopcon Positioning Systems and Amberg formed a partnership celebrating the launch of fully integrated solutions for rail and tunnel. A special 'Partners in Precision' event was held on October 9-10, 2025, at VSH featuring keynote speeches by Topcon CEO Ivan Di Federico and Amberg Group President Felix Amberg, followed by live product demonstrations for rail, tunnel, and geophysics.
• OST (Ostschweizer Fachhochschule)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerA new partnership between OST (Ostschweizer Fachhochschule / Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences) and Hagerbach Test Gallery for continuing professional education in the construction industry. The collaboration provides a fresh approach to continuing professional education, combining academic resources with VSH's underground infrastructure.
• DätwylerminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSCAUT and Dätwyler launched an underground edge data centre prototype at VSH in September 2019, demonstrating innovative applications of underground space for smart city data infrastructure. The collaboration received significant press coverage including in DataCenter Insider, The American Surveyor, and Tunneling Journal.
• PararaumminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerStudio Pararaum, an international design, art and architecture studio based in Zürich and Toronto, is part of the Mission Earth First partner network. They consider their practice a provocation of space's capacity to communicate through felt experience, contributing creative perspectives to underground space innovation.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• SGS SA: Swiss-headquartered global TIC (testing, inspection, certification) major. Comparable as a Swiss-based testing powerhouse serving construction and industrial markets; operates from surface labs rather than underground research infrastructure.
• Bureau Veritas: French-headquartered global TIC company with significant construction materials and infrastructure testing capability. Comparable to VSH's accredited building-material and fire-resistance testing services, but at global surface-lab scale.
• TÜV SÜD: German-headquartered testing, inspection and certification group with strong construction and infrastructure credentials. Comparable testing/inspection/certification overlap with VSH, especially around safety training and certification.
• Intertek Group: Global TIC firm with construction, fire and infrastructure testing services. Overlaps with VSH in fire resistance testing and building material certification, but operates conventional surface labs at much greater scale.
• Applus+: Spanish-headquartered TIC provider operating in construction materials testing, energy inspection and certification. Comparable accredited-testing overlap with VSH's material and component testing services.
• Eurofins Scientific: Global leader in bioanalytical and materials testing services for construction, environmental and industrial customers. Comparable to VSH's accredited material testing laboratory, but at vastly greater scale and without underground/physical-scale prototyping capability.

Direct peers

• ALS Limited: Global laboratory testing services group with strong construction materials and environmental testing footprint. Direct comparator to VSH's accredited material testing and quality control services.
• Element Materials Technology: Specialist materials, testing and product qualification services company serving construction, aerospace and industrial clients. Direct comparator to VSH's concrete/rock/asphalt and component testing services and fire-resistance laboratory.
• Amberg Engineering: Sister company within the Amberg Group and longstanding partner at VSH; provides rail, metro, tunnelling and underground engineering services. Internally comparable to VSH on tunnelling-related engineering, but commercial rather than research infrastructure.

Emerging players

• Sandia National Laboratories (Underground Test Facilities): Operates the Sandia Underground Test Facility and similar subterranean sites for weapons, energy and systems testing research. Functionally comparable as large-scale underground research infrastructure, although publicly funded and US-based rather than commercial.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/AmbergGroup
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@AmbergGroup
• Facebookfacebook.com/VersuchsStollenHagerbach
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hagerbach-test-gallery

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries1 record

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 Hagerbach Test Gallery