EY Startup Barometer Switzerland 2023

Our inaugural study of the Swiss startup scene explores financing trends and analyses the figures by industry, region and investor location.

With its reputation for innovation and ease of doing business, Switzerland is home to a thriving startup scene. The EY Startup Barometer Switzerland shines the spotlight on the financing of startups and scale-ups in Switzerland. This article shares highlights from our more detailed study.

In the first half of 2023, Swiss startups received almost CHF 2 billion in financing – the third-highest financing volume in the period under review, despite a sharp decline in the number of financing rounds (339 deals compared to 471 in H1 2022). The highest financing volume (CHF 2.3 billion) was recorded in the second half of 2017, when record volumes were influenced with initial coin offerings. In H1 2023, 2% of financing came from alternative financing forms (e.g. token-based, crowdfunding).

Following a slow start to the year, the number of deals and financing volume increased significantly as 2023 got underway. While volumes of less than CHF 150 million were recorded in the first two months of the year, over CHF 300 million in financing was registered in each of the most recent four months. The half-year ended on a high, with the peak transaction volume of the last 12 months achieved in June 2023 (CHF 635 million).

Regional focus

What about regional differences within Switzerland? Unsurprisingly, in terms of the number of financing rounds, the Greater Zurich Area stands out as the clear leader with 140 deals closed. The Romandie was the only other region to pass the 100-deals mark in the first half 2023. However, both regions recorded a significant decline in financing rounds compared to the first half of 2022. Overall, the number of deals decreased in 6 of the 7 major regions compared to the same period last year. Only Northwest Switzerland saw the same number of financing rounds (24) as in the previous year.

However, in terms of financing volume, sustainability had a bigger impact. The cumulative volume of deals related to sustainability totaled CHF 345 million, equivalent to 18% of the total capital invested in the first half of 2023. In other words, one in five Swiss francs invested in a startup went to a sustainability related project.

Investor focus

Who’s behind financing of startups in Switzerland? For our analysis, we excluded grants, crowdfunding and debt financing, leaving 184 deals. Of those, Swiss-based investors were involved in almost half of the transactions (90) in the first half of 2023. At least 25 financing rounds (14%) involved exclusively domestic investors, compared to 59 deals financed exclusively by foreign investor groups. 

In 35 of the 184 deals that were considered in our analysis, no investor information was disclosed. A total of (at least) 456 investors were involved in the remaining 153 financing rounds in which the investors were known. Swiss investors were the most numerous, followed by those from the US, Germany and the United Kingdom.

In terms of volume, pure Swiss investors accounted only for a marginal 2% (CHF 31.5 million) of invested capital. In contrast, as much as CHF  935 million (60 percent) came from investor groups where all investors are headquartered abroad. The remaining CHF 588 million (38%) was provided by mixed investor groups in which the investors come from both Switzerland and abroad. At least seven of the 10 largest financing rounds in the first half of 2023 took place without participation of Swiss investors. In addition, the share of Swiss investors decreases as the size of transaction increases.

Download the EY Startup Barometer Switzerland to browse our results in full and discover which companies were involved in key deals in Switzerland in the first half of 2023: