Logitech needs no introduction to anyone with a PC. It is more than possible that you are accessing this page using a Logitech control device. Half an hour from the centre of Geneva in the low hills overlooking the Olympics capital Lausanne, Logitech has grown from modest beginnings to becoming one of the most successful Swiss companies operating globally.

Logitech has just announced its best quarter ever with annual sales up by 26% and net profit up by 27%, more than double that of the first quarter in 2000. Logitech’s CEO, Guerrino De Luca says ’ These results demonstrate the attractiveness of our product line and are a reward for our efforts to seize opportunities in the market in which we are developing.’

The fact that Logitech has grown to the important player it is today in a highly specialised niche market has served as a clarion call to the many high-tech start-ups burgeoning in the greater Geneva region.

Geneva continues to see innovative start-ups from its region make it in the global marketplace. One of the key areas of development is in e-business. There are a number of contributory reasons for the spate of leading-edge companies being born here. The city is home to the headquarters of the International Telecommunications Union, the World Intellectual Property Organisation, the World Trade Organisation, the European Centre of Nuclear Research (birthplace of the World Wide Web) and is one of the leading congress cities of the world.

The whole Geneva region is committed to encouraging start-ups generally, and in the New Economy and e-business in particular. Much of this activity centres on one of the leading academic institutions in Switzerland 25 minutes from Geneva, the Swiss Federal College of Technology (EPFL). This exceptional institution has a chair in entrepreneurship and an important start-up incubator on campus. There are considerable spin-off effects while major synergies are being generated both with Swiss companies and institutions as well as the many multinationals in the region.

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Logitech web site: Link

Why high-tech leaders choose Geneva Link

Meeting place for start—ups and investors Link

Multinational companies in Geneva: Lnk

International organisations in Geneva: Link

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL): Link