SWITZERLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Marion Bähler, Ramona Wyss, Florian Gunz Niedermann, Fabienne Limacher and Urs Hofer, Walder Wyss Ltd
1. Trends 1.1 VC Market
1.2 Key Trends In 2024, the number of financing rounds of Swiss start-ups declined by 10.1% while the total amount of capital invested decreased by 8.5% compared to 2023. The number of exits remained at the low level of 2023 with even few - er Swiss companies acquiring start-ups. Despite this overall decline, there was a 40.7% increase in median financing amounts, reaching a record CHF3 million across all rounds. Later-stage investments remained relatively stable in volume, but the number of financing rounds declined by about 10%. In contrast, there was a noticeable decline in the number of transactions in early-stage companies, but with an increased total investment volume (indicat - ing larger investments). For seed investments, both the investment volume and the number of transactions decreased considerably (-19% and -11%, respectively). Although the total invested amount in the top 20 financing rounds dropped by 18.1%, 31 mid- sized growth companies were able to secure more than CHF20 million (compared to 29 in 2023). (Numbers by Swiss Venture Capital Report 2025 published by startupticker.ch and SECA – Swiss Private Equity & Corporate Finance Association.) Similar to other jurisdictions, there has been a significant number of downrounds and recapi - talisations, a stronger focus of investors on profitability and several cashless exits in which shareholders had to roll-over their shares into
For financing rounds, the list of most sizeable transactions in 2024 is headed by the following: • clinical stage biotech company Alentis Thera - peutics, with its CHF160 million Series D financing round led by OrbiMed with co-leads Novo Holdings and Jeito Capital; • clinical stage biotech company Asceneuron, with its CHF89.5 million Series C financing round led by Novo Holdings; and • clinical stage biotech company Bright Peak Therapeutics’ with its CHF80 million Series C financing round led by Johnson & Johnson Innovation JJDC. With respect to exit transactions, the top two in terms of transaction value include the following: • Cadence’s acquisition of BETA CAE Systems International, providing multi-domain, engi - neering simulation solutions, for approximate - ly USD1.24 billion; and • the acquisition agreement of Swiss-Dutch biotech company Calypso Biotech with Novartis, with an upfront payment of USD250 million and development milestone payments of up to USD175 million. There was no IPO in the venture capital market in 2024. However in February 2025, BioVersys AG, a multi-asset, clinical stage biopharmaceu - tical company completed its IPO on SIX Swiss Exchange. (Numbers by Swiss Venture Capital Report 2025 published by startupticker.ch and SECA – Swiss Private Equity & Corporate Finance Association.)
shares of the buyer. 1.3 Key Industries
Traditionally, venture capital activity in Switzer - land has been driven by ICT, fintech and bio -
544 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook