Q3 numbers are in: CHF 3.4 billion invested in Swiss startups in 2022

11.10.2022 17:02, Morgane Ghilardi

The Swiss Venture Insights Report 2022 – Q3 presents a favorable reflection of investment trends in the Swiss startup sector. Total funds raised to date this year have already surpassed the 2021 total. The various crises looming on the global stage call for cautious optimism: Swiss startups relatively face a stable but increasingly challenging financing environment.

The Coronavirus crisis brought a digitalization push that provided a tailwind for agile, young companies. As soon as we thought one global crisis was behind us, others rapidly emerged: war, supply chain disruptions, inflation, Euro, Taiwan, etc. There is no question that, globally, venture capitalists' appetite has noticeably cooled.

Yet, in Switzerland, a record CHF 3.4 billion in venture capital flowed into startups between January and September. Out of this, close to CHF 1 billion went to TOP 100 alums Climeworks and wefox. 

Overall, Fintech, ICT, and Biotech attracted the highest investments. Another notable development in Q3 was the increase in early-stage investment rounds and a decrease in later-stage rounds.

While an overall gain in investments is promising, current economic challenges will undoubtedly affect the Swiss startup ecosystem.

"We are definitely seeing that investors are more restrained in Switzerland," Venturelab's Stefan Steiner noted in a recent interview with SRF, "but we also see that startups like Climeworks or wefox are attracting investments in the hundreds of millions." 

Swiss startups are also drawing more attention from American investors due to lower valuations, he added. Examples are Ledgy, which secured funding from New Enterprise Associates (NEA), and Yokoy, which attracted Sequoia as an investor.
 
Access the Swiss Venture Insights Report 2022 - Q3 here.

Subscribe to our Startup Funding Newsletter.