25 Sep 2015
On September 24th, 2015, the school of Management Fribourg (HEG-FR) inaugurated its new Innovation Lab in the basement. School director, Rico Baldegger, and State Councillor Beat Vonlanthen opened the event. Afterwards, young entrepreneurs had the opportunity to exchange ideas with students and alumni and present their products to a wider public.
An old ski gondola, leather armchairs, desks and pallets stacked on top of one another may not seem like conventional office furniture, but then Innovation Lab is not your conventional office. Established in September 2015 in the basement of the Fribourg School of Management (HEG-FR), the Innovation Lab (see photos) is a place where students from the Pérolles campus can meet up, give presentations, work, discuss or just relax. “We also organize events like the 3 Day Startup, which helps young graduates get their business projects off the ground”, explains Jean-Marie Ayer, Director of the Innovation Lab Association.
“Engineers, biologists and economists are just some of the students that use the Innovation Lab. Our approach is resolutely multidisciplinary and our one and only goal is to nurture users’ entrepreneurial and innovative spirit”, declares Rico Baldegger, Director of the HEG-FR and the driving force behind the project. “I drew inspiration from what cities in the United States such as Boston and Cambridge are doing. Our primary objective is not to promote spin-offs. For me, the Innovation Lab is a kind of pre-incubator, which means that there is no overlap between our work and the coaching and support services already offered by Fri Up.”
Impressions