Startups raised more venture capital
Lucerne/Schlieren - Swiss startups generated 1.47 billion Swiss francs in venture capital in the first six months of 2025, which represents an increase of 36 percent on the previous year. This is a finding of the half-year update of the Swiss Venture Capital Report.
The 1.47 billion francs in venture capital that went to Swiss startups in the first half of 2025 is the third best result ever. When compared with the first half of 2024, this represents an increase of 36 percent, as was reported in a press release from startupticker.ch on the half-year update 2025 of the Swiss Venture Capital Report. This Report is prepared by startupticker.ch based in Lucerne in cooperation with the startup.ch platform run by Venturelab.
According to the press release, the number of financing rounds fell from 138 to 124. This suggests that «the search for funding remains difficult» for the majority of start-ups. The positive figures overall are reportedly due to individual large financing rounds.
In particular, start-ups in the biotech sector benefited, generating a record 705 million francs in capital. The previous high was 436 million francs in the first half of 2021. Compared with the first half of 2024, the amount invested in general ICT startups increased by 86 percent, while fintech startups saw an increase in 93 percent.
Three biotechs received the largest financing in mega-rounds. Namely, Windward Bio in Basel raised 183.1 million francs, while CeQur in Horw in the canton of Lucerne secured 109.3 million francs and GlycoEra in Wädenswil in the canton of Zurich generated 107.5 million francs.
Taking into account the results of a broad-based survey of Swiss venture capital investors, expectations for the next 12 months are described in the Swiss Venture Capital Report as «subdued».
