Joint Venture Switzerland and Japan

By entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs.

House of Startups SA is a joint venture between the Kaneda and Mathier entrepreneurial families. It gives young companies a place to connect in a dynamic environment and realise their potential. The startup space Lausanne is operated by IFJ Institut für Jungunternehmen, together with Venturelab.

Discover the location Request a space

Route de Pallatex 15 · 1163 Etoy · next to Sunstar's global headquarters

House of Startups SA

More than a place to work.

The startup space in Etoy is a meeting point between experience and imagination, between long-term responsibility and young companies building what comes next. The idea behind it is simple: give new ideas room to grow and turn Etoy into a living bridge between entrepreneurial heritage and the next generation of companies.

Reception at startup space Lausanne in Etoy

startup space Lausanne · Etoy

From Japan to Lake Geneva

Where entrepreneurial heritage meets the next generation.

In 1932, Kunio Kaneda founded Sunstar in Japan, driven by an entrepreneurial instinct: to solve everyday problems with useful inventions.

Kunio Kaneda with his bicycle in front of a Japanese wooden house — Kunio Kaneda, founder of Sunstar. Image: Sunstar SA

What began with bicycle repairs grew into a global group for health and well-being. Shaped by long-term thinking, international ambition and the conviction that better health starts in everyday life.

Decades later, Sunstar chose Etoy near Lausanne as the seat of its global headquarters, building a bridge between Japanese heritage and the Swiss culture of precision, stability and innovation. Today, the startup space Lausanne opens a new chapter in this story, right next to Sunstar's new global headquarters.

Pierre-Alain Mathier

Giving back what Switzerland gave him.

The Mathier family has deep entrepreneurial roots in Switzerland.

Pierre-Alain Mathier has made a name for himself as a serial founder and investor in private equity, restructuring and venture capital. He brings experience in building, leading, financing and valuing companies, and has successfully sold or taken public several companies across different industries on two continents.

He sees House of Startups SA as an opportunity to give young companies what he received from Switzerland: a platform for founders, close to his birthplace and conceived as a project spanning generations. That his three children share the enthusiasm fills him with pride.

Who is behind it