CHF 2.6 billion for Swiss startups in 2023

30.01.2024 09:31, Rita Longobardi

As expected, investments in Swiss high-tech startups fell in 2023 compared to the previous year. The slump was more pronounced in the segment of comparatively mature startups with high capital requirements. The number of financing rounds remained stable. These are the main findings of the Swiss Venture Capital Report (SVCR), published by the online news portal startupticker.ch and the industry association SECA in cooperation with startup.ch.

In 2023, the downturn in the global venture capital market reached Switzerland. The causes were the same as in the US and in the European countries: First, rising interest rates slowed the influx of funds from institutional investors, asset managers, family offices, and private individuals, and second, general economic uncertainty caused venture capitalists to hold back on new commitments and reserve money for companies in which they were already invested. All in all, these factors led to a marked decline in venture capital investments in 2023.

Swiss startups received CHF 2.6 billion last year, 35% less than in 2022. However, it should not be forgotten that in 2022 we had two outlier financing rounds from Climeworks with 600 million and wefox with 400 million, which together pushed up financing by one billion. Startups in the growth phase were particularly affected by the decline in 2023: The 20 largest financing rounds totaled CHF 1.4 billion in 2023, compared with CHF 2.6 billion in the previous year. In contrast, financing rounds rose slightly from 383 to 397. The sector breakdown shows that start-ups from the ICT and fintech sectors in particular had a hard time raising money in 2023: According to the Swiss Venture Capital Report, investments fell by more than 60% to CHF 786 million, while investment in biotech and medtech start-ups rose by 22% to CHF 492 million and 41% to a record CHF 379 million, respectively.


Startups can now be expected to leave behind the "growth at all costs" attitude
“2023 was a year of uncertainty, rising interest rates, and a focus on profitability rather than growth-at-all-cost, which have dampened investor confidence. Startup funding has dropped from post-pandemic highs and that has meant a challenging time for many founders, for whom the runway is shortening, and startup valuations are falling,” explains Stefan Steiner, Co-Managing Director at Venturelab. Early-stage startups have been able to fundraise in 2023 and strong startups in the right sectors, but it has taken much longer than in previous years, with a greater focus on due diligence, demonstrating product-market fit, traction, and a clear path toward profitability. “The decline of active investors has been acutely felt at the later stages, where crossover capital is necessary to close the large check sizes needed for growth. 2024 will be another challenging year for growth startups and hopefully, things will pick up again from 2025.”

As an analysis by the Swiss Venture Capital Report shows, a good 50 Swiss venture capital firms are currently raising money for new funds. We took a closer look at our daily fundraising data to determine which Swiss and European venture capital investment firms have closed a new fund in 2023. Data shows that there are still plenty of opportunities for Swiss startups and scale-ups to raise capital from investors.