7 Feb 2024
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EY Swiss Startup Barometer H2 2023

Alexander Schatt
By Alexander Schatt

Associate Director, Head Startups & Scale-ups Business Development Executive | EY Switzerland

Being a trusted partner for entrepreneurs, supporting them on their business journey, with targeted, value-adding solutions. This is what I’m passionate about.

7 Feb 2024
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Despite a strong start to the year, Swiss startups received less financing and fewer rounds in 2023.

Download the EY Startup Barometer Update second half of 2023

In brief

  • Financing fell significantly in the second half of 2023 compared to the first six months, resulting in a lower overall financing volume for 2023 than the preceding two years.
  • Health startups secured almost one-third of all funds invested in Swiss startups, making the healthcare industry the best performer in this space once again in 2023.
  • A clear majority of startups that secured financing were founded by all-male teams even though women are well represented in the startup scene in general.

The EY Startup Barometer, which is also published regularly across diverse European nations, seeks to foster in-depth comprehension of financing in the varied sectors of the Swiss startup scene.

Our updated EY Startup Barometer that includes latest data from H2 2023 revealed that startups in Switzerland achieved a significantly lower financing volume in the second half of 2023 (CHF 1.62bn) than in the first six months, bringing the total for the year to USD 3.58bn. This represents a fall of around 10% on the prior year and the lowest figure since the initial outbreak of Covid in 2020. Two large-volume deals in July inflated the overall volume in what was otherwise a modest financing year.

Financing rounds

596

The total number of rounds in 2023 fell by 34% compared to the prior year.

Just as surprising is the decline in financing rounds carried out in the second half of 2023: 254. This marks a steady fall in since the first half of 2022 (H1 22: 471 rounds; H2 22: 426 rounds, H1 23: 342 rounds). In 2023, 596 financing rounds were completed – a decrease of 34% compared to the previous year (897 rounds).

Regional focus

Zurich and Romandie

70%

A solid trend: most financing rounds in 2023 were attributable to Zurich and Romandie.

Zurich and Romandie managed to maintain their status as financing focal points in 2023, collectively holding 70% of the market share in terms of number of financing rounds. However, all regions experienced a notable decline in financing rounds overall compared to the prior year.

The decline in number of rounds was also reflected in lower financing volume across the board in 2023. The Greater Zurich Area once again dominated, albeit slightly less so than in the prior year, capturing 45% of the market and CHF 1.6 billion.

Industry focus

In 2023, health startups secured the lion’s share of investment capital, amassing approximately CHF 1.15bn, which represents 32% of all funds invested in Swiss startups. The Health industry was also the strongest performer when it came to the number of financing rounds.

Two leaders

53%

Combined share of the market of the Health and Software & Analytics sectors.

The Software & Analytics sector came in second with 143 deals; together with Health, this comprised 53% of all financing rounds for the year.

In terms of volume, the FinTech/InsurTech sector closely followed in investment attraction, drawing nearly CHF 1bn in capital or 28% of the market share. Together with Health, they comprised about 60% of the aggregate investment volume in Swiss startups for 2023. Software & Analytics sector took third place with a volume of CHF 460m. ClimateTech/Green Tech/CleanTech, Mobility, Hardware and AgTech each secured financing more than CHF 100m in 2023, bringing the count of sectors reaching this investment level to seven.

Female focus

In updating the EY Startup Barometer Switzerland for the second half of 2023, a special focus was placed on analyzing how high the proportion of women is among founders who received financing in the last year. Of 484 startups in Switzerland that were able to secure at least one financing round, just ten founding teams are made up exclusively of women. Additionally, 108 startups included at least one woman on their founding team. Yet, the overwhelming majority, with 366 startups, were founded exclusively by male teams in 2023.

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Women underrepresented

12.8%

Percentage of Swiss women startup founders who secured venture capital in 2023.

Out of 1,090 Swiss startup founders who secured venture capital in 2023, 140 are women, making up 12.8% of the total. The education sector boasts the largest share of female founders at 29%, with 7 out of 24 founders being women. Following close behind are the Health sector with 59 of 296 female founders and the AgTech sector with 5 out of 35.

Download the EY Swiss Startup Barometer to browse our updated results in full and discover which companies were involved in key deals in Switzerland in 2023:

Man at the Beach for Surfing

EY Startup Barometer Update second half of 2023

Which startups have benefited from funding in the last 6 months of 2023?

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Summary

The year 2023 failed to match the strong performance of the previous two years in terms of deal number and volume. Switzerland fared slightly better than its German-speaking neighbors, however, with a decline of 29% in investment volume in 2023 compared to a drop of 39% in Germany and 32% in Austria.

It will be interesting to see if the first half of 2024 sees a continuation of falling figures observed since September 2023.

About this article

Alexander Schatt
By Alexander Schatt

Associate Director, Head Startups & Scale-ups Business Development Executive | EY Switzerland

Being a trusted partner for entrepreneurs, supporting them on their business journey, with targeted, value-adding solutions. This is what I’m passionate about.

Upvote