Real estate drives growth of the crowdfunding market
Lucerne/Rotkreuz - In 2025, the Swiss crowdfunding market recorded growth for the first time since the record-breaking year in 2021. According to a study by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, a total of 629 million Swiss francs was brokered via platforms of this kind. Real estate projects represent the driving force behind this development.
The volume of the Swiss market for crowdfunding grew by +14 percent to 629 million Swiss francs in 2025. According to a statement covering the Crowdfunding Monitor 2026, an annual study published by Financial Services Zug (IFZ), the competence center for finances based at the Campus Zug-Rotkreuz of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU), this marks the first increase since the record year of 2021.
The most important growth driver was crowdlending: In total, 480 million Swiss francs was brokered in this segment, which accounts for more than 75 percent of the total market volume and reflects an increase of +18 percent on the previous year. Crowdlending involves numerous investors granting loans to companies or private individuals, which ultimately provides them with debt capital to finance their projects.
Crowdlending loans for financing real estate projects were particularly in demand in 2025. According to the study, this can be explained by the implementation of the Basel III reform package, which entered into force on January 1, 2025. Since then, Swiss banks have been required to hold higher equity capital for higher-risk loans, which has led to more cautious and expensive lending conditions, especially in the real estate development sector. As a result, crowdlending platforms are increasingly positioning themselves as an attractive alternative in efforts to secure financing.
The crowdsupporting/crowddonating segment also enjoyed substantial growth, with an increase of +30 percent recorded here. In crowdsupporting, investors receive one-time rewards, such as products, artwork or services. According to the study, crowddonating involves straight donations to projects of a social, charitable and cultural nature. The largest category by volume was sports and health, in which a sum of 13 million Swiss francs was raised. At the same time, the crowdsupporting sector is undergoing a process of increasing market concentration, whereby the three largest platforms were responsible for brokering more than 80 percent of the overall volume.
The crowdinvesting sector, where investors participate in companies or real estate in exchange for a share of the profits, registered a slight decline. The volume of transactions in this segment fell by -2.8 percent in 2025 to a total of 113.8 million Swiss francs.
