2021 was a record fundraising year for Swiss startups, according to figures published earlier today in the Swiss Venture Capital Report, prepared by Startupticker.ch in conjunction with the Swiss Private Equity & Corporate Finance Association (SECA) and startup.ch. Highs were recorded both nationwide, with CHF 3.1 billion invested in 2021 (versus CHF 2.1 billion in 2020), and in Vaud Canton, where venture-capital funding amounted to CHF 604.6 million in 2021 (versus CHF 409.1 million in 2020). Vaud was second only to Zurich in terms of startup funding in Switzerland.
For Vaud Canton, three key figures tell the story of 2021: CHF 604.6 million, which is the record-breaking sum of all financing rounds by startups; CHF 307 million, which is the combined total of the IPOs by Sophia Genetics and Onward Medical; and CHF 114 million, which is the size of the loan granted to MindMaze. That loan, announced in October 2021, is particularly noteworthy because most startup loans are worth less than CHF 100 million and are not always made public.
“This record fundraising performance for both Vaud Canton and Switzerland as a whole is a very good sign for our economy,” says Patrick Barbey, the director of Innovaud. “It provides further proof that our innovation ecosystem has remained robust and resilient despite the pandemic, and it helps bolster the canton’s reputation as fertile ground for innovative, job-creating tech startups.” He adds: “In addition to our funding success, we’ve also seen some extraordinary exits by Vaud-based startups and scale-ups, such as Green Motion, Alaya and Artmyn.”
Key figures for 2021
Venture capital raised by Vaud-based startups (CHF m)
| 2021 |
206,1 |
| 2013 |
89,7 |
| 2014 |
199,75 |
| 2016 |
463,22 |
| 2017 |
298,25 |
| 2018 |
342,2 |
| 2019 |
455,7 |
| 2020 |
409,1 |
| 2021 |
604,6 |
Vaud IPOs (CHF m)
| SOPHiA GENETICS |
214 |
| Onward Medical |
93 |
| Total |
307 |
The top ten funding rounds in Vaud Canton
| |
Montant investi (mio CHF) |
Entreprise |
Domaine innovation |
| 1 |
161,7 |
Nexthink |
ICT |
| 2 |
69,2 |
Kandou Bus |
ICT |
| 3 |
51,8 |
Oculis |
Biotech |
| 4 |
46,3 |
MedAlliance |
Medtech |
| 5 |
45 |
Astrocast (whose IPO came after this funding round in 2021) |
Micro/nano / aérospatial |
| 6 |
35,1 |
ZoodPay |
ICT (fintech) |
| 7 |
29,3 |
ONWARD Medical |
Medtech |
| 8 |
25 |
Vanguard Internet (Batmaid) |
ICT |
| 9 |
18 |
Haya Therapeutics |
Biotech |
| 10 |
13,2 |
ecoRobotix |
Cleantech |
Number of funding rounds in Vaud Canton
| 2012 |
20 |
| 2013 |
18 |
| 2014 |
19 |
| 2015 |
26 |
| 2016 |
48 |
| 2017 |
29 |
| 2018 |
37 |
| 2019 |
48 |
| 2020 |
55 |
| 2021 |
66 |
Investments in Swiss startups (CHF m)
| 2012 |
316 |
| 2013 |
415 |
| 2014 |
457 |
| 2015 |
676 |
| 2016 |
909 |
| 2017 |
938 |
| 2018 |
1236 |
| 2019 |
2294 |
| 2020 |
2124 |
| 2021 |
3059 |
Number of funding rounds in Switzerland
| 2012 |
61 |
| 2013 |
90 |
| 2014 |
92 |
| 2015 |
120 |
| 2016 |
151 |
| 2017 |
175 |
| 2018 |
230 |
| 2019 |
266 |
| 2020 |
304 |
| 2021 |
355 |
About
Swiss Venture Capital Report
For the past ten years, the Swiss Venture Capital Report has provided a round-up and analysis of all publicly disclosed venture-capital investments in Swiss startups. This report is prepared by Swiss news portal Startupticker.ch together with Swiss Private Equity & Corporate Finance Association (SECA) and startup.ch.
Startupticker.ch
Startupticker.ch publishes news on Swiss startups daily on its website and in a weekly newsletter. Since it was launched nine years ago, Startupticker.ch has become the leading innovation news outlet in Switzerland. The Swiss Venture Capital Report is commissioned by Innosuisse, the Swiss innovation agency. Startupticker.ch is supported in its work by over 40 organizations and companies.