SWITZERLAND Trends and Developments Contributed by: Karim Maizar, Nicolas Mosimann, Alexandre Gachet and Nicolai Nuber, Kellerhals Carrard
Cleantech demonstrated an extraordinarily strong performance with the total amount invest - ed being at CHF471.9 million and with a new record number of financing rounds. This reflects the sector’s ability to attract large investments despite challenging conditions. Seven of the top 20 investments were in cleantech start-ups, underscoring the growing importance of sustain - able technologies. Other sectors, such as ICT (including fintech) and healthcare IT, faced declines in investment. Fintech investments halved, while ICT invest - ments fell by 12.9%. However, the early-stage rounds in ICT saw a significant increase in vol - ume, indicating a shift towards nurturing emerg - ing technologies. This trend suggests that while mature sectors may face challenges, there is still strong investor interest in innovative and disrup - tive technologies. Low exit activities in 2024 Exits are a critical component of the VC ecosys - tem, providing returns to investors and enabling start-ups to scale further. The Swiss Venture Capital Report 2025 indicates a mixed picture in that regard with numbers remaining at the low level of 2023. Nonetheless, there were some notable transactions; for instance, Calypso Bio - tech was acquired by Novartis for USD250 mil - lion, and Viventis Microscopy was taken over by Leica Microsystems. The report also highlights the importance of international buyers in the Swiss exit landscape. Acquirers from the US, Germany and other coun - tries played a significant role in acquiring Swiss start-ups. This international interest underscores the global competitiveness of Swiss start-ups and their ability to attract foreign investment. However, the overall exit environment remains challenging. The number of initial public offer -
ings (IPOs) has been limited, and many start-ups are finding it difficult to achieve the valuations needed for successful exits. Judging by inves - tor surveys conducted at the end of December 2024, 2025 is set to see not only more invest - ments and higher valuations but also larger numbers of exit transactions. Araris Biotech seems to pave the way with its sale in Q1/2025 to Tokyo-based pharmaceutical company Taiho for around USD1.14 billion. Key Trends in the Swiss Start-Up and VC Ecosystem Deep tech nation Switzerland Over the past 20 years, Switzerland has emerged as a global leader in deep tech, which the Euro - pean Deeptech Report defines as the sectors with “novel scientific or engineering break - throughs making their way into products and companies for the first time” . Key differences to regular tech are longer development cycles, higher capital intensity, and a higher technologi - cal risk. Switzerland attracted approximately USD500 million in deep tech VC funding in 2024, showing 45% year-on-year growth. This places Switzer - land among the top countries in Europe for deep tech investments, with the Zurich region being highlighted as one of the main deep tech hubs, alongside cities like London, Paris, and Munich. The country’s competitive advantage in this field stems from its highly educated workforce, renowned research institutions, and strate - gic location at the heart of European markets; features that have also caused a high number of global tech companies to set up European headquarters or research teams in Switzer - land, including Apple, Google, Huawei, AWS, Meta, Disney, Palantir, IBM and others. Private accelerator programmes, prime among them
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