Why Merantix founder Adrian Locher chose Berlin over Zurich for his AI start-up

Adrian Locher wanted to set up something new in Europe and ended up settling in Berlin with his company. SWI swissinfo.ch

Series Swiss entrepreneurs abroad, Episode 1:

Ten years ago, Adrian Locher from Bern set out to find the ideal location to develop an AI ecosystem – and ultimately chose Germany over Switzerland. A deep pool of international talent, easier hiring and the opportunity to build something new in Europe proved decisive.

Near Berlin’s Nordbahnhof train station, a sleek new building hosts the Merantix Campus, a hub where AI converges. Founder Adrian Locher is just one face among many in the co‑working space, coffee in hand. If there is a founder gene, he is clearly endowed with it.

Swiss entrepreneurs abroad series

Our series profiles Swiss men and women founding and building businesses abroad. Through their personal stories, we explore why they choose to pursue their projects beyond Switzerland’s borders, the working conditions they encounter there, and the challenges and opportunities.

Through their life stories, this series also showcases how the Swiss Abroad community contributes to Switzerland’s economic, cultural, and political influence.

He founded his first company while studying quantitative economics and business administration at the University of St Gallen in eastern Switzerland. In 2015, the sale of the bargain marketplace Dein Deal, which he had developed, to the Ringier Group gave him sudden access to significant capital.

He took time off and traveled to Silicon Valley, near San Francisco, with his family in search of inspiration. “I just wanted a different horizon and was looking for new topics,” he tells Swissinfo.

At the time, Zurich felt too cramped – “a bit too small, too settled”. In Europe, artificial intelligence (AI) was only known to insiders, and its disruptive capability was still a long way off. But in Silicon Valley the Swiss, born in 1982, sensed the start of something big.

Locher immersed himself in the West Coast start-up economy, met leading figures and learned how the ecosystem around AI ensures that ideas eventually turn into companies.

“I found the dynamics there incredibly inspiring, the level of ambition and the self-image of wanting to change the world. There were people like Elon Musk who were already completely obsessed with this topic at that time. The whole environment was about striving for big goals,” he says.

Locher says Silicon Valley thrived on collective ambition, with different spheres interacting and expertise converging. In Europe, he argues, such a place – and such a climate – still does not exist.

Location search in Europe

The Swiss had found a new idea but not the perfect location for a fresh start as an entrepreneur. San Francisco did not feel like the ideal place for his family. He wanted to build something new in Europe. But this meant finding experts from around the world and cutting-edge research from top universities, investors, a city and a government that supports start-ups.

Together with his German co-founder Rasmus Rothe, an internationally renowned AI and computer vision expert, Locher went on a European tour in search of the perfect location for Merantix.

About Merantix

In 2016, Adrian Locher founded Merantix with Rasmus Rothe. In 2021, the company moved to the Merantix Campus.

Merantix is an innovative mix of idea incubator, start-up and investment company. In the 5,200m2 co-working space on the campus, anyone involved in AI can rent it at cost price. This is where scientists rub shoulders with investment bankers, programmers and start-up experts. It’s a place where people can connect, be inspired, advance ideas together and seek funding.

Around 100 teams from start-ups, research, the investor community and the government work on the campus. Over 300 networking events take place every year.

Merantix also invests in the most promising ideas. It currently has ten companies in its portfolio. For example, Merantix Capital has a stake in the digital fertility clinic Ovom Care, which uses AI to increase the chances of pregnancy. The method is already being used in a clinic in Portugal. Merantix Services also offers AI solutions.

Zurich, Stockholm, London and Barcelona were all options. But it was clear that there was no single location with the best minds from all areas that they needed for their ambitious project. They would have to attract them.

At the time, London was a possibility, but there was already an AI ecosystem there – but not in Berlin.

“We saw it as a great opportunity to simply create that,” says Locher.

Berlin is still hip

Berlin’s reputation as a cosmopolitan and fashionable metropolis helped attract people from around the world to join the team. This was a decisive factor for Merantix’s successful growth.

“It’s simply an attractive city. People like living here,” says Locher.

But there are things that annoy him about Berlin: the dirt, the unreliable public transport system, and communication with the authorities.

The work permit situation was more favourable for Berlin than Zurich. Ten years ago, it was a major challenge in Switzerland to recruit people from non-EU/EFTA countries, says Locher.

“We have people from over 50 nations. Bringing them to Germany is no problem. It’s really only a matter of a few weeks here and then you’ve done everything,” he says.

In Zurich, it is also more difficult to attract good minds to a start-up when there are so many attractive employers in the financial sector offering high salaries, In Berlin, on the other hand, there are hardly any big players and the cost of living was also considerably lower.

But the real downside is German bureaucracy, he admits.

“I would say that the people here are successful not because of the administration, but in spite of it,” he says, adding that this clearly works better in Switzerland.

Dealing with the Berlin tax office, he says, feels less like being a customer and more like being a serf: everything is painfully slow and complicated. Yet he also sees an upside. Those who navigate such obstacles develop resilience – which can be an advantage. Convenience, after all, is an enemy of success.

Success comes at a cost

Locher is passionate about his ideas. But success came at a cost, which he recently talked about openly on a podcast.

“I missed the birth of my son,” he admits. Back then, almost ten years ago, he was commuting regularly between San Francisco and Europe, driven by his new ideas and the goal of building new companies on both continents at the same time. This resulted in a personal crisis followed but also the awareness that he needed more time for himself and his children.

“I burned out and learnt that I have to do things differently, that I have to find a balance if I want to be successful and happy in the long term,” he explains.

Today, Locher approaches life more consciously, deciding when to go all in and when not to. Maintaining that balance still demands constant effort.

After more than 20 years of experience, he believes it is important to address such topics and to remove taboos. Start-up founders are often highly ambitious, allow themselves little free time, and struggle to give enough space for their private life and family.

“I know many successful people and every one of them struggles with such issues,” he says.

Locher sits on the board of trustees of the University of St Gallen, where he sees that the next generation is already engaging more consciously with these issues. He travels to Switzerland several times a month, not only because the federal technology institutes ETH Zurich and EPFL rank among the world’s leading AI research institutes, but also because of key corporate and private ties.

He does not want his children to lose their connection to their homeland either. They go to an international school in Berlin where English is spoken.

“Sometimes they do that among themselves at home. I’ll make sure that we switch to Swiss German,” he says.

Edited by Balz Rigendinger/me. Adapted from German by AI/ac

Series Swiss entrepreneurs abroad

• Episode 1: 1. Why Merantix founder Adrian Locher chose Berlin over Zurich for his AI start-up