After spending three weeks in Zurich meeting dozens of founders and investors, I’m back with some thoughts on Switzerland’s startup scene. The country has built something genuinely impressive — a deep tech powerhouse with world-class research, patient capital, and an environment that lets founders focus without the FOMO-driven chaos of other ecosystems. But there’s a catch that everyone whispers about but few say out loud: the best founders still fly to the US when it’s time to scale.
Here’s what I learned from conversations with founders, VCs, and ecosystem players across the Swiss startup landscape.
The Optimistic Reality Check
Switzerland’s startup ecosystem is having a moment, but it’s complicated. The numbers tell a story of resilience: CHF 2.4 billion invested in 2024 across 357 funding rounds, with deep tech and robotics leading the charge. The country ranks first in Europe for deep tech funding per capita and has the highest density of AI talent on the continent. Swiss robotics startups alone raised almost $250 million in 2024 — more than the boom years of 2021–2022.
Yet beneath these impressive figures lies a more nuanced truth. Investment volumes dropped 8.5% in 2024, and for the first time since 2012, the number of financing rounds declined. The ecosystem is maturing, but it’s also consolidating. The median funding round increased 40.7% to CHF 3 million, suggesting fewer but larger bets — a sign that only the strongest startups are attracting capital.
🔥Startups to Know
Switzerland’s startup scene is dominated by deep tech companies that emerge from world-class research institutions. Here are the names that kept coming up in conversations:
Robotics & Hardware:
- Mimic Robotics: The humanoid robotics company everyone’s talking about. They’re developing collaborative robots with AI-powered humanoid hands to address global labor shortages. Fresh off a $2.5M pre-seed from German, UK, and Swiss investors.
- ANYbotics: The four-legged inspection robot company that’s gone global with $60M in funding and just won Switzerland Global Enterprise’s Export Award.
- Verity: Zurich’s most advanced robotics startup with ~200 employees and $70M raised — more than any other Swiss startup. Founded by Raffaello D’Andrea, who previously sold Kiva Systems to Amazon.
- Auterion: The largest open source drone software company, whose software controls an estimated 80% of drones worldwide. Backed by top US/European VCs and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.
Biotech & Life Sciences:
- Mabylon: Just raised CHF 30 million to fight allergies with human-derived antibodies.
- u-blox: The ETH spin-off being sold at unicorn valuation to US private equity firm Advent International.
- Energy Vault: Secured $300 million for energy storage technology.
Notable Acquisitions:
- Daedalean: Aviation AI company acquired by Destinus for CHF 180 million, showing the sector’s consolidation potential.
I could see a clear pattern: Switzerland excels at creating companies that solve hard technical problems with defensible IP. These aren’t consumer apps or marketplace plays — they’re deep tech companies building the infrastructure for tomorrow’s economy.
💰VCs to Know
The Swiss VC landscape is smaller but more focused than other European hubs. Here are the key players and what they’re backing:
Tier 1 — The Heavyweights:
- Verve Ventures (Zürich): The most active deep tech investor, writing checks from EUR 500k to several million. Sweet spot around $1.5M. They’ve invested in 150+ science and technology startups across Europe.
- Redalpine: Multi-stage investor with Swiss roots and pan-European approach. Notable portfolio includes N26, Taxfix, Klarna, and Mistral AI. They’ve been connecting software and science since 2006.
- HBM Healthcare Investments: Listed on SIX Swiss Exchange (HBMN), they’re the go-to for healthcare and biotech investments.
Corporate & Strategic:
- Swisscom Ventures: The telecom giant’s VC arm focusing on strategic investments in early-stage tech (also met their folks in Silicon Valley)
- UBS Growth Advisory: Has supplied over CHF 300 million to late-stage Swiss growth companies. Portfolio includes Avaloq, econostock, and Enterprise Bot.
Sector Specialists:
- Blue Horizon (Zürich): The future of food investor with 70+ companies in alternative protein and food tech.
- Emerald Technology Ventures: Climate and sustainability focused, managing over €1 billion across Zurich, Toronto, and Singapore.
International Players with Swiss Presence:
- Endeavour Vision: Geneva-based medtech specialist with successful exits including Relievant Medsystems and Vertiflex.
- Momenta Ventures: Industrial Impact® investor focusing on energy, manufacturing, and supply chain.
🤔The reality check: While these VCs are sophisticated and well-capitalized, the ecosystem lacks the density of Silicon Valley. There are fewer than 40 funds actively fundraising, and many startups still look to US investors for later-stage rounds. The smart money often comes with strategic value — customer introductions, technical expertise, and access to European markets.
🏙️Organizations to Know
Switzerland has built a comprehensive support infrastructure for startups, though it’s more coordinated than competitive:
The Accelerator Ecosystem:
- Kickstart Innovation: One of Europe’s largest zero-equity accelerators. Alumni have raised over CHF 2.8 billion, and they run scale-up programs for later-stage startups. Based in Zurich, they’re backed by digitalswitzerland. I mentored there back when I lived in Zurich.
- F10 Incubator & Accelerator: The fintech specialist running programs twice a year for FinTech, RegTech, InsurTech, and Climate Fintech startups.
- Venturelab: The veteran organization (since 2004) behind Venture Kick, Venture Leaders, and the TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award. They’re the connective tissue of the ecosystem.
Innovation Hubs:
- Kraftwerk (Zurich): The networking hub in Selnau promoting collaboration across industries. Connected to Impact Hub Zurich and designed for cross-sector innovation. Great coffee and co-working space ☕️👩💻
- Impact Hub Zurich: Switzerland’s largest network of creatives and change-makers, focused on sustainable innovation.
- Büro Züri —my favorite free coworking place, everyone can book it between 9am-5pm.
Research & Policy:
- Deep Tech Nation Switzerland: The information platform that’s become the go-to resource for understanding Swiss deep tech. They publish comprehensive reports and connect VCs with startups.
- SICTIC: Angel group and research organization providing data and insights on the Swiss startup ecosystem.
- SECA (Swiss Private Equity & Corporate Finance Association): The industry body that co-publishes the annual Swiss VC Report.
🤔 The Swiss approach is refreshingly collaborative rather than competitive. Organizations work together rather than fighting for territory, creating a more supportive but perhaps less dynamic environment than other startup hubs.
Events to Participate In
Switzerland’s event calendar reflects its focus on quality over quantity:
The Must-Attend:
- World Economic Forum (Davos): Still the ultimate platform for Swiss startups to gain global visibility. The Technology Pioneers program awards 100 leading early-stage startups globally, and UpLink builds innovation ecosystems. If you can get there, go.
- Startup Days: The major Swiss startup event with 50+ sessions and 140+ speakers. Highly customizable experience.
🤔 The Reality: Switzerland’s event scene is more intimate than London or Berlin. You’ll see the same faces at multiple events, which creates strong networks but limited diversity of perspectives. The quality of conversations is high, but you won’t find the serendipitous collisions that happen in larger ecosystems.
Universities That Incubate Founders
ETH Zurich dominates Swiss startup creation in a way that’s almost unfair to other institutions:
- The Infrastructure: UPortunity (the ETH Start-up Accelerator enabled by UBS), RocketHub (managed by ETH Entrepreneur Club), and a dynamic ecosystem connecting research with entrepreneurship.
- The Track Record: u-blox, countless robotics companies, and the foundational software that powers 80% of global drones all trace back to ETH.
- The Advantage: World-class research, patient capital, and a culture that encourages commercialization of research.
Other Swiss universities contribute, but ETH is the undisputed leader. The university’s combination of technical excellence and entrepreneurial culture creates a steady pipeline of deep tech startups.
Switzerland vs. The US
Here’s what everyone knows but few say directly: Switzerland is an excellent place to start a company, but the ambitious founders eventually look west.
Why Switzerland Works for Starting:
- Focus Environment: No FOMO, fewer events, less noise. You can actually build without constant distraction.
- Patient Capital: Swiss investors understand long development cycles and don’t push for premature scaling.
- Technical Talent: ETH and other institutions produce world-class engineers and researchers.
- Regulatory Stability: Predictable environment for long-term planning.
- Quality of Life: Founders can maintain work-life balance while building.
Why Founders Eventually Look to the US:
- Scale Limitations: The Swiss market is small, and European expansion is complex and fragmented.
- Capital Constraints: While there’s patient money, there’s less risk capital for aggressive scaling.
- Talent Pool: For non-technical roles, especially sales and marketing, the US offers deeper talent pools.
- Network Effects: Silicon Valley’s density creates opportunities that don’t exist elsewhere.
- Exit Opportunities: More acquirers, more strategic options, higher valuations.
The Pattern I Observed: Smart founders use Switzerland for the prototype and proof-of-concept phase. The environment is perfect for deep technical work without distraction. But when it’s time to scale globally, many apply to Y Combinator, raise Series A from US VCs, or relocate key functions to the US including registration in Delaware.
This isn’t necessarily a problem — it might be Switzerland’s competitive advantage. The country has become the world’s best R&D lab for deep tech startups. Companies get the technical foundation right in Switzerland, then scale globally from wherever makes most sense.
The Bottom Line
Switzerland has built something unique: a deep tech ecosystem that prioritizes substance over hype. The country produces fewer unicorns than the US or China, but it creates more sustainable, technically sophisticated companies that solve real problems.
The ecosystem’s strength is also its limitation. The focus on deep tech and patient capital creates amazing companies, but it may not be the right environment for every type of startup. If you’re building enterprise software, consumer apps, or marketplace businesses, you might find more relevant support elsewhere. But if you’re working on robotics, biotech, climate tech, or any problem that requires years of R&D before commercialization, Switzerland offers something rare: an environment where you can focus on the hard technical problems without pressure to show hockey stick growth from day one.
The Swiss approach won’t work for everyone, but for the right founders building the right companies, it might be exactly what the world needs more of: patient capital supporting patient innovation in service of solving humanity’s biggest challenges
