Canton of Zurich leads in investments in start-ups

(CONNECT) Total investment in Swiss start-ups fell by 8.5% to CHF 2.4 billion last year compared to 2023. The number of financing rounds fell from just under 400 to 357 in the same period. Very large investments in the three-digit million range were missing.

On the other hand, the proportion of financing rounds in which founders were able to raise more than CHF 3 million rose by 40.7 percent. This is shown in the 13th Swiss Venture Capital Report. It is compiled annually by the news portal startupticker.ch and the Swiss Private Equity & Corporate Finance Association (SECA) in collaboration with startup.ch.

According to the report, investments in ICT and fintech companies have once again fallen sharply compared to the record year of 2022. At CHF 739.2 million, the biotech sector attracted 50 percent more than in the previous year. The IT sector in the healthcare sector was also able to more than compensate for the previous year's decline and recorded strong growth. The micro and nanotech sector held its own.

The number of exits remained stable in 2024: around 30 start-ups were sold abroad, while eleven of them found domestic buyers. The acquisition of the Swiss-Greek company BETA CAE Systems International, based in Lucerne, which was completed in June 2024, was worth more than 1.2 billion dollars to the Californian software group Cadence.

Despite considerable losses, Zurich is at the top of the cantonal rankings, followed by Vaud, Geneva and Basel-Landschaft. The Canton of Bern had a record year with 24 financing rounds totaling CHF 117.85 million. ce/mm