The entrepreneurial wind blowing through the canton of Fribourg is not weakening – on the contrary. After 2020, Fri Up could well break all its records for business start-up support this year too. This was the pleasing conclusion reached by the organization at its virtual 2021 General Meeting.
By the end of May 2021, the Fri Up team had already responded to 206 requests for advice, 56% more than in the same period in 2020, a record year to date. In these five months, Fri Up has supported more people than in the whole of 2017. The entrepreneurial dynamic in the canton of Fribourg is booming, a pleasing observation communicated by Fri Up President Pierre Esseiva to members at the 2021 General Meeting.
Support for innovative projects in Fribourg is no exception. Four new start-ups have joined the Fri Up support program since the start of 2021: Neuria, Vixelia, Lowimpact food and D4P. The Student Venture Program, launched in collaboration with HES-SO Fribourg, is also in full swing, with ten student or technology transfer projects supported since the start of the year.
General Meeting 2021 also saw the appointment of Jacques Genoud, Director of HES-SO Fribourg, to the Fri Up Board. He succeeds Jacques Bersier who, after 32 years on the Fri Up committee, has taken a well-deserved retirement. In a video portrait published in his honor, Mr. Bersier had the opportunity to look back at the beginnings of Fri Up in 1989 and the important role he played in the birth of the organization.