What Digital Winterthur does

Digital Winterthur is a Swiss non-profit association (Verein) founded in 2020 and headquartered in Winterthur, Switzerland, that operates as a regional digital ecosystem hub connecting government, academia, local businesses, startups, and individuals around the digital transformation of the Winterthur region. Its three operational pillars are: (1) Events — a portfolio including the flagship Digital Night, monthly Digital Lunch talks, Brown Bag Lunch workshops, the Digital Impact Day conference, and partner events; (2) Projects — concrete initiatives such as the Mental Health project (digital prevention services for youth, including a planned AI-supported chat), the Smart City WinLab Reallabor under city leadership, the EulachGold digital currency pilot (currently paused), and the Plantoid interactive public installation at Technorama; and (3) Membership Services — tiered annual memberships for individuals (CHF 90), SMEs (CHF 300), mid-sized organizations (CHF 450), large organizations (CHF 750), free student access, and individually negotiated premium memberships.

The organization is governed by a 10-person board (reduced from 12 in 2026) plus a Geschäftsstelle, led by President Andri Fabig and Vice President Fabian Danko. It is funded through membership fees, event sponsorships (e.g., Edi Expense Intelligence, NorthC), and — until 2026 — a substantial contribution from the City of Winterthur, which was halved in 2026 due to municipal fiscal strain, triggering a stabilization program of fee increases, event-format cuts, and absorption of office operations by the board. Membership grew from 95 entities in April 2025 to 123 in April 2026 (+29% YoY), and the association maintains ~2,800 LinkedIn/newsletter contacts. Strategic partners include Stadt Winterthur, Kanton Zürich, ZHAW, Home of Innovation, House of Winterthur, KMU-Verband Winterthur, and (newly in 2026) digitalswitzerland and Future City Alliance.

Digital Winterthur has no proprietary technology platform; it is a community orchestrator that leverages third-party tools (Appagic's evagic ticketing, ecoo's EulachGold infrastructure) and runs on a community-led GTM motion anchored in events, content, and partner referrals. Its core competitive position rests on its neutral-convener role and institutional ties rather than technology assets.

Name

Digital Winterthur

Legal name

Digital Winterthur

Website

https://digital-winterthur.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Digital Winterthur is a Swiss non-profit association (Verein) founded in 2020 that convenes government, academia, businesses, and individuals in the Winterthur region through events, digital transformation projects (Mental Health, Smart City WinLab), and tiered membership programs to shape the region's digital future.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Winterthur

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: Digital Winterthur generates revenue through tiered membership fees from private individuals (CHF 90/year), associations/NPOs up to 20 employees (CHF 300/year), organizations up to 100 employees (CHF 450/year), organizations over 100 employees (CHF 750/year), and premium organizational memberships with individual agreements.
2. Sponsorships and Event Partnerships: The association receives sponsorship revenue from partners such as Edi Expense Intelligence (Digital Lunch sponsor), NorthC (Newsletter sponsor), and other event sponsors. Additional funding comes from reduced city contribution (halved in 2026) and founding loan repayments.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Digital Winterthur is a non-profit membership association (Verein) that promotes digitalization in the Winterthur region of Switzerland by running community events, coordinating multi-stakeholder projects such as Smart City WinLab, and offering tiered memberships to individuals and organizations. Its operations are supported by a small Geschäftsstelle and a volunteer board of around 10 members.

Product overview

Digital Winterthur is a non-profit association (verein) founded in 2020 that promotes digitalization discourse and development in the Winterthur region. The organization operates through three main pillars: (1) Events including Digital Lunch, Digital Night, Brown Bag Lunch, Digital Impact Day, and Partner Events; (2) Projects including Mental Health (digital mental health support for youth), Smart City WinLab (urban innovation ecosystem), EulachGold (digital currency, currently paused), and Plantoid (interactive digital installation); and (3) Membership services providing networking, exclusive events, and community engagement. The association connects stakeholders from business, research, society, and politics to actively shape digitalization in the Winterthur region.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Organizational Membership
• Individual Membership (including free Student sub-tier)
• Digital Lunch event series
• Digital Night event series
• Smart City WinLab
• Mental Health Project
• EulachGold (paused)
• Plantoid (paused)

Quantifiable outcome

• 20 events for 1,200 guests in 2024/2025; 18 events for ~800 guests in 2025/2026
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers56 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

28 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major, supporting and project-specific.

• Stadt WinterthurcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe city of Winterthur is the primary strategic partner and funder. Digital Winterthur works with the city's Smart City initiative, contributing to the WinLab innovation ecosystem under city leadership. The city provides funding support (though reduced by 50% in 2026).
• Kanton ZürichcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCanton Zurich supports Digital Winterthur as part of its economic development strategy for the region.
• ZHAW (Zurich University of Applied Sciences)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerZHAW is a key academic partner, collaborating on events like Digital Night (co-creation) and the Digital Impact Day. The university contributes research expertise and students.
• Home of InnovationmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHome of Innovation is part of the Winterthur innovation ecosystem and collaborates with Digital Winterthur on regional initiatives.
• House of WinterthurmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHouse of Winterthur represents the local business community and collaborates on economic development and digital initiatives.
• KMU-Verband WinterthurmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe SME association represents small and medium businesses in Winterthur, partnering on events like the KMU-Apéro.
• Handelskammer & Arbeitgebervereinigung WinterthurmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Chamber of Commerce and Employers' Association represents the business community and contributes to regional economic development.
• Future City AlliancemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerA strategic partnership established in 2026 to strengthen Winterthur's representation in national and international smart city initiatives.
• digitalswitzerlandmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerA strategic partnership established in 2026 to connect Winterthur's digital initiatives with the national Digital Switzerland platform.
• InsideITsupportingGTM or Marketing PartnerSwiss IT industry publication that provides media coverage for Digital Winterthur events and activities.
• Entrepreneur Club WinterthursupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerECW connects entrepreneurs in Winterthur and collaborates on networking and startup ecosystem development.
• TechnoramasupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerTechnorama hosts the Plantoid project and will host the Digital Impact Day 2026. It is a key venue for digital engagement activities.
• CasinotheatersupportingGTM or Marketing PartnerCultural venue in Winterthur that collaborates on events and community activities.
• AppagicsupportingTechnology or IntegrationAppagic provides digital services and event ticketing platform (evagic) for Digital Winterthur events.
• Junge Altstadtproject-specificStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the Eulach Gold digital currency project and Smart City initiatives.
• SWICAproject-specificStrategic or Co-development PartnerHealth insurance company collaborating on the Mental Health project with expertise and sponsorship.
• Digital Health Center Bülachproject-specificStrategic or Co-development PartnerHealthcare innovation center contributing expertise to the Mental Health project.
• Aepsyproject-specificStrategic or Co-development PartnerMental health organization involved in the Youth Mental Health project.
• SalutaCoachproject-specificStrategic or Co-development PartnerHealth coaching platform participating in the Mental Health project.
• smilamindproject-specificStrategic or Co-development PartnerMental health startup contributing to the Mental Health project.
• Jugendinfo Winterthurproject-specificStrategic or Co-development PartnerYouth information service in Winterthur that is the target platform for the Mental Health Hub project.
• ecooproject-specificTechnology or IntegrationTechnology company that provided the technical platform for the Eulach Gold digital currency pilot project.
• Noser Engineeringproject-specificTechnology or IntegrationEngineering firm and partner in the Plantoid project, contributing technical expertise.
• Dr. Deuring + Oehningerproject-specificTechnology or IntegrationPartner in the Plantoid project.
• DesignRaumproject-specificTechnology or IntegrationDesign studio partner in the Plantoid project.
• smoca AGproject-specificTechnology or IntegrationTechnology partner in the Plantoid project.
• swisspeersproject-specificTechnology or IntegrationTechnology partner in the Plantoid project.
• Vogtpartnerproject-specificTechnology or IntegrationPartner in the Plantoid project.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Handelskammer und Arbeitgebervereinigung Winterthur: Winterthur chamber of commerce and employers' association, partnering with Digital Winterthur on regional economic development. Same Verein structure serving overlapping corporate members.
• Technopark Winterthur: Innovation park in the Winterthur area providing workspace, events, and programming for tech ventures. Operates an overlapping mission in the same regional innovation ecosystem and shared members.
• Home of Innovation: Winterthur-based innovation hub and named Digital Winterthur partner. Operates as a complementary regional platform fostering entrepreneurship and innovation, sharing members, events, and the same local ecosystem.
• Impact Hub Zürich: Switzerland's leading community-driven innovation hub; operates a similar model of events, project incubation, and a multi-stakeholder network — a comparable template for a regional digital hub of the kind Digital Winterthur is building.
• House of Winterthur: Represents the Winterthur business community and is a partner of Digital Winterthur on economic development and digital initiatives. Closely aligned mission around regional business promotion.
• KMU-Verband Winterthur: Local SME association in Winterthur that co-hosts events such as KMU-Apéro with Digital Winterthur. Same membership-association model serving the same regional audience of small and medium businesses.
• Entrepreneur Club Winterthur (ECW): Winterthur-based entrepreneur network and named partner of Digital Winterthur. Overlapping membership base, similar event-driven engagement model, and shared focus on the local startup ecosystem.

Broad incumbents

• digitalswitzerland: Switzerland's national cross-industry digital initiative. Direct strategic partner of Digital Winterthur (since 2026), operates at national rather than regional scale, and shares the same multi-stakeholder model linking business, government, and academia around digitalization.

Regional players

• Greater Zurich Area: Public-private marketing and location-promotion organization for the Greater Zurich region. Closely aligned with Digital Winterthur's stakeholder model (government + business + academia) but operating at a larger regional/national scale.
• BaselArea.swiss: Public-private innovation and economic promotion agency for the Basel region, comparable in structure and mandate as a regional innovation hub serving industry, research, and government. Geographic peer serving a different Swiss region.

Market position

Strengths3 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xch.linkedin.com/company/digital-winterthur
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/digital-winterthur

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 Digital Winterthur