Tokyo (SCCIJ) – The world is becoming sustainable and Swiss start-ups are working on the requisite technology. No other country has more sustainability-orientated start-ups in relation to its overall population than Switzerland. This is a finding from the fifth edition of the Swiss Startup Radar.
The start-up Planted produces innovative meat substitute products in Kemptthal (© Planted).
Good report card
Switzerland has boasted the highest per capita density of start-ups operating in the area of sustainability. Over the past two years, the share of sustainable start-ups among all technology and science-oriented new companies has risen from 4 percent to nearly 10 percent.
At the same time, the total volume of venture capital investments in this area increased from 200 million Swiss francs to 600 million Swiss francs across the same time frame. These are the findings of the Swiss Startup Radar 2022/2023, which is available in three languages and was published by the online news portal startupticker.ch.
“The new Startup Radar gives Switzerland a good report card on relevant topics: As a deep-tech nation, we are creating the future thanks to innovation,” said Pascale Vonmont, President of the Startupticker Foundation. “The fact that Swiss start-ups create many jobs overall and thus perpetuate our ‘small and medium enterprise culture’ is also heartening for a business location.”
Broad analysis
This fifth edition of the Swiss Startup Radar focuses on sustainable start-ups. In addition to national sources, the authors evaluated international databases such as Pitchbook and Crunchbase. Overall, the analysis is based on data from around 5,000 domestic and more than 250,000 foreign start-ups.
Two sectors in Switzerland stand out in particular in terms of sustainability: mechanical engineering and the food industry. Both sectors boast “mature innovation ecosystems”. Meat substitute products and AI-based platforms for resource-saving agriculture represent these strengths, as do natural fiber-based composite materials for more environmentally friendly mobility. Founders have the opportunity to collaborate with leading international universities and market-leading companies at all stages of the value chain.
The Swiss Startup Radar is an annual co-production of the online news portal startupticker.ch and the University of Lausanne and has now been published for the fifth time. The fourth study for 2021/22 investigated the topics of Covid-19 and the digitization boost, the characteristics of founders, and the development of venture capital financing in Switzerland. The results were compared with several other countries and regions including the United Kingdom, Israel, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, and Massachusetts.
Text: © Startupticker, S-GE (editing by SCCIJ)
