Vaud-based startups raised over half a billion in 2022

26.01.2023 17:00, Morgane Ghilardi

According to the Swiss Venture Capital Report, the canton of Vaud's technology startups were part of the continuing growth trend in Switzerland's startup ecosystems in 2022, which saw an influx of venture capital of almost CHF 4 billion.

According to the online information portal Startupticker.ch, which presented the Swiss Venture Capital Report today in collaboration with SECA and startup.ch, the canton of Vaud remains in second place nationwide in terms of fundraising—behind Zurich and ahead of Geneva—with CHF 548.6 million raised in 67 rounds of financing. 

The number of exits of Vaud-based startups was particularly remarkable: a total of 13 young technology companies were acquired by private companies in the canton.

"The amount of investment in Vaud-based startups in 2022, which is slightly lower than in 2021, is mainly explained by the record number of buyouts of startups and scale-ups based in the canton. These companies, which have now been acquired, were candidates to receive funds from investors and therefore to contribute to the results of the fundraising in Vaud last year," explains Patrick Barbey, director of Innovaud. 

 

Startup	Sector	Founded in	Acquired by
MedAlliance (scale-up)	Medtech	2008	Cordis (US, CHF 100 million)
Beqcom (scale-up)	ICT	2009	Sumeru Equity Partners (US, CHF 280 million)
AMF Medical	Medtech	2014	Tandem Diabetes Care (US, CHF 200 million)
BlueBotics (scale-up)	ICT, Robotics	2014	ZAPI (Italy)
Finity (Paper.li)	ICT	2016	DemandScience (global)
Solstis	Cleantech	1996	BKW (Switzerland)
Coorpacademy	ICT	2013	Go1 (Australia)
Hacknowledge	ICT	2016	Swiss Post (Switzerland)
OK Job	ICT	2012	Crit (France)
Depsys (scale-up)	Cleantech	2012	Kranken (UK)
Quantis	Cleantech	2006	Boston Consulting Group (US)
RouteRank	ICT	2007	Netcetera (Switzerland)
Sysmosoft	ICT	2010	SwissSign (Swiss Post) (Switzerland)

The performance confirms the attractiveness and reputation of Switzerland and the canton of Vaud in terms of technological innovation, economy, and academic research. "These exits clearly prove that our region is a land of proven success, both for entrepreneurs and investors," concludes Patrick Barbey.



The canton of Vaud is home to the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), an insitutional hub of research and innovation

The sectors attracting the most capital in the canton of Vaud are medtech, digital health, and micro-nanotechnologies. In terms of the share of invested capital, 66.8% of capital invested in medtech startups in Switzerland went to Vaud-based startups. Innovators in the fields of digital health and micro-nanotechnologies have also attracted investors, as the sectors' combined investments are almost as high as for medtech.

Sectors receiving the largest share of investment (in CHF millions)
 

Year	Biotech	Cleantech	Digital Health	ICT	Fintech	Medtech	Micro-nano Tech	Total
2018	29,5	16,1	0,5	138,35	2,5	66	13,8	266,75
2019	166,4	21,7	77,2	111,5	4,4	24,3	49,7	455,2
2020	1,8	25	114	113, 85	35,5	96,05	55,8	600,61
2021	92,4	27,6	14,97	278,84	36	95	55,8	600,61
2022	88,45	58,68	101,8	56,85	4,2	179,72	58,9	548,6

These results were presented this afternoon at the Startupticker Afterwork event in Lausanne hosted by Innovaud at the World Trade Center Lausanne.