No. 02
In Build-up
High-End Audio · B2C
Dr. Benz Akustik
Uncompromising high-end audio for what matters: emotion — from source to loudspeaker. Swiss-made engineering in the high-end segment.
Swiss Family Holding · Founded 2006
People. Brands. Products.
With substance.
With care. With foresight.
Since 2006, Goldcare Holding has been developing — together with passionate people: products · services · brands. At the intersection with and toward people (personal brands), and at the intersection with academia, technology, design, and ecosystem. We commit ourselves long-term, capital-efficient, and with an outstanding standard of quality.
Conviction
Premium emerges where devotion becomes the business model.
The most valuable brands of the coming years are not built on volume scale, but on substance. Goldcare develops with people who deliver uncompromising quality — and turn it into economic stability and lasting value.
— One
Niche over mass market
We build brands that lead their niche — not those that serve the mass market. Our portfolio operates where passion meets dedication, in segments with high willingness to pay and enduring customer loyalty.
— Two
Quality over volume
We create quality, not volume. Cost efficiency matters — but not at the expense of quality and premium ambition.
— Three
Time over pressure
We operate without exit pressure. Our holdings are long-term. This enables business models built on trust, craftsmanship, and brand reputation — rather than short-term growth targets.
— Four
Local and international
Switzerland provides credibility in the premium segment — in services, products, and design. Our portfolio companies leverage this origin strategically and operate internationally.
— Five
Craft, academia, and technology
We combine craft and academia with due respect, and use technology as an instrument, not a creed. This is how solutions emerge that inspire — and keep people at the centre.
— Six
Method without ivory tower
Academic rigour becomes entrepreneurial success only when proximity to practice is immediate. Methods and models support us. Dogmas and paradigms do not.
Portfolio
Brands with a shared stance.
No. 01
Active
Personal brand · Consulting · Work
Dr. Alain Benz
Personal brand of the founder. One question in six perspectives: how people can live self-determined in their own home — and how companies can build business models that make inclusion economically viable. Person, Consulting, Mandates. Science and Keynotes.
No. 03
In Build-up
Interior Design · B2C
Maison Benz
An independent line for interior design and curated living objects. Craftsmanship, restrained elegance, Swiss origin.
No. 04
Active
Literary · Novel in Fragments
Regers Neffe
The founder's literary work. A novel in fragments — on sepsis, the power of diagnosis, rehabilitation, and authorship, in a form that allows thinking to continue after the collapse. Reading sample online, work in progress.
No. 05
Open
Next brand · yet to come
Your place could be here.
Goldcare continuously develops new brands or takes stakes in existing ones — at the intersection of technology, design, and ecosystem. Founders, entrepreneurs, and families with premium projects are invited to get in touch.
Track Record
Substance, not performance.
A holding is measured by what its people have built — operationally, methodologically, entrepreneurially. The record draws on three decades of Swiss practice.
— One
Operational Leadership
More than fifteen years of executive responsibility in the Swiss real estate and services industries. Accountability for balance sheet, employees, and customers — in structures that do not stand without substance.
Most recently
Managing Director ABZ Zurich
Portfolio
CHF 3.1 bn · 5,500 apts
Previously
CEO bonacasa AG
— Two
Methodological Depth
PhD from the University of St. Gallen, specialised in Business Engineering and Business Model Development. A methodology continuously refined in holding work.
Doctorate
HSG · IWI under Österle
Dissertation
No. 4205, 2013
Co-initiator
CC Independent Living
— Three
Entrepreneurial Genesis
Goldcare has existed since 2006. The early years were defined by a direct-to-consumer business in premium automotive care — pioneering work in Switzerland at the time. The activity is now dormant; what remains are verified traces of real execution.
Sources: HSG dissertation No. 4205 (Logos Verlag Berlin, 2013) · Allgemeine Baugenossenschaft Zürich, annual report · bonacasa AG · Goldcare seller profile on Ricardo.ch.
Ventures
For founders and entrepreneurs.
For people becoming a personal brand.
The methodology with which we develop our own portfolio, we also make available — to founders and entrepreneurs for their business models, and to people who want to become a personal brand for their public presence. As an honest and independently thinking counterpart, not an agency. Three fields: Business Model Development, Go-to-Market Design, and — in selected cases — synergetic holdings.
One
Business Model Development
Structured review and sharpening of existing or new business models — based on the Business Engineering approach. For founders before market entry, for family businesses in transformation, for product teams before launch.
Two
Go-to-Market Design
Development of market and distribution strategies for premium segments. Positioning, brand architecture, channel strategy, pricing logic — drawn from operational experience in direct-to-consumer, B2B advisory, and premium consumer positioning.
Three
Synergetic Holdings
In selected cases Goldcare goes beyond advisory — as co-investor or with involvement in execution. Requirement: a recognisable space of synergy with the holding's methodology, experience, or network; shared conviction, clear division of roles, long horizon. No classic venture rounds.
Conversations welcome — precise enquiries receive precise answers.
Enquire at ventures@goldcare.ch →
Structure
One holding, several brands, shared substance.
The Holding
Goldcare owns and develops interests in premium brands. It is not an operator but a strategic framework and capital base for its portfolio companies.
The Brands
Each portfolio brand operates as an independent company with its own market, its own brand, and its own website. They share values, not operational structures.
The Substance
Technology, development, design, and brand building are capability areas at work across all holdings. They turn the portfolio into more than the sum of its parts.
Capabilities
Four pillars, shared across all ventures.
Behind the four operational pillars stands an intellectual tradition: the St. Gallen Management Approach of the University of St. Gallen — interdisciplinary, systemic, oriented toward the interplay of strategy, marketing, organisation, and leadership. This is deepened by Business Engineering and Business Model Development at the intersection with computer science, technology, and design — the systematic approach to designing companies in which technology, customer value, and economic return reinforce each other. This approach shapes how Goldcare analyses, develops, and stewards its holdings over time — and is also the subject of the founder's HSG dissertation.
01
Technology
Digital infrastructure, data architecture, AI, automation. We bring technological excellence into industries that remain predominantly analog — from high-end audio to advisory services and living services.
02
Development
Product development, process design, iteration. We accompany products from first sketch to market readiness and treat development as a continuous discipline — not a one-time milestone.
03
Design
Product design, brand aesthetics, spatial design. Where Goldcare is engaged, there is visual and haptic precision — and depth of craft. Design is not decoration — it is an expression of stance and a commercial differentiator.
04
Brand Building
Positioning, storytelling, ecosystem. We develop brands that communicate a clear stance and hold it over decades. Brand value emerges through consistency, not campaigns.
Methodological Origin
The Business Engineering approach forms the methodological foundation of our work. It was substantially shaped at the Institute of Information Management of the University of St. Gallen. Dr. Alain Benz completed his doctorate there and wrote his dissertation on the design of business models.
— Benz, A. (2013): Business Models for Service Residences. Case Studies, Options and Design Recommendations. Dissertation No. 4205, University of St. Gallen. Logos Verlag Berlin.
Leadership
Entrepreneur-led. Personally shaped.
Founder & Managing Director
Dr. Alain Benz
Dr. Alain Benz, born 1980, Swiss citizen, has been founder, owner, and managing director of Goldcare Holding since 2006. He leads the holding strategically, develops its brands methodically, and brings his person in as a brand of its own.
PhD in Business Administration from the University of St. Gallen with a specialisation in Business Engineering and Business Model Development; dissertation at the Institute of Information Management (IWI-HSG) under Prof. Dr. Hubert Österle. Co-initiator of the Competence Center Independent Living. More than fifteen years of executive responsibility in the Swiss real estate and services industries — most recently as Managing Director of Allgemeine Baugenossenschaft Zürich (CHF 3.1 billion portfolio, 5,500 apartments, 100 employees), previously as CEO of bonacasa AG.
In late 2024, he suffered a pneumococcal sepsis with a three-week coma. Four amputations, one year of rehabilitation. This caesura now shapes the Goldcare approach: substance before scale, focus before growth, care before speed.
Since 2026, his personal work — consulting, mandates, keynotes, scholarly and literary work — is visible as a brand of its own at drbenz.ch. Goldcare is partnership-led and welcomes fellow travellers: capital partners, talent, operational partners who turn stance into substance.
Education
2009 – 2013
Doctorate in Business Administration, Business Innovation
University of St. Gallen · IWI-HSG
Final grade 5.5
2007 – 2009
Master of Arts, Business Innovation
University of St. Gallen
Final grade 5.74
2004 – 2007
Bachelor of Arts, Business Administration
University of St. Gallen
Final grade 5.02
2000 – 2003
Swiss Federal Matura
Part-time · ISME
1996 – 1999
Apprenticeship as Biology Laboratory Technician
EMPA · Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology
Governance
Key facts about the holding.
Legal form
Swiss GmbH (LLC)
Founded 2006 · UID CHE-112.908.361
Ownership
100% owner-led
Family holding · Dr. Alain Benz
Holding period
10+ years
Long-term · no exit mandate
Investment focus
Premium brands DACH & international
Technology · Design · Brand building
Contact
Get in touch.
Goldcare seeks dialogue with investors, founders, and talent. Every enquiry is answered personally.
One
Investors & Partners
For strategic partnerships, co-investments, and long-term capital relationships.
partners@goldcare.ch →Two
Founders & Ventures
For Business Model Development, Go-to-Market Design, and holdings.
ventures@goldcare.ch →Three
Talent & Careers
For people who want to work with Goldcare or one of its portfolio brands.
talents@goldcare.ch →