Deep tech in Switzerland and the money behind it
About 63 percent of Swiss domestic venture capital goes to deep tech, but the large growth rounds are paid for mainly from abroad. Banks and corporates answered with the Deep Tech Nation Switzerland Foundation, founded by UBS and Swisscom, and UBS runs an investor summit with ETH Zurich. The Swiss Deep Tech Report names pension funds and other Swiss institutional investors as the missing source at the growth stage. Dated events are in the calendar below.
What the Swiss Deep Tech Report shows
The Swiss Deep Tech Report is published by the Deep Tech Nation Switzerland Foundation with Founderful, Kickfund, Startupticker.ch and Dealroom. According to finews.com, deep tech venture investment in Switzerland has grown almost fivefold since 2015 to 2.6 billion dollars, and about 63 percent of domestic venture capital goes to deep tech companies.
The gap is in growth rounds. In rounds of 15 to 100 million dollars, 82 percent of the capital comes from abroad, against a European average of 60 percent. Swiss institutional investors, pension funds included, play a limited role at that stage, and Switzerland has no state-backed venture capital program of the size Germany, France or the UK run. The German model is described on deep tech venture capital.
Deep Tech Nation Switzerland: banks and corporates step in
UBS and Swisscom founded the Deep Tech Nation Switzerland Foundation as an independent non-profit foundation. In the founding announcement (in German) they set the goal of mobilizing 50 billion Swiss francs for Swiss deep tech startups and scale-ups over ten years. The foundation does not launch its own funds; partner contributions go into the foundation's capital, which it invests in its programs.
On its own site the foundation names three aims: bring Swiss institutional capital into deep tech, reinvest success into the next founders and the next capital, and connect Swiss innovation with global investors. Its Venture Hub Switzerland wants more venture capital from domestic institutional investors, and a pension fund education program addresses them directly. The partners include Julius Baer, SIX, Swiss Re, Vaudoise and Die Mobiliar from Swiss finance.
Zurich: UBS and ETH bring investors to the spin-offs
The DeepTech Investor Summit is co-hosted by UBS and ETH Zurich, invitation only, in the ETH main building. Venture funds, corporate venture units, family offices and private equity firms meet about 100 spin-offs and startups from ETH, EPFL, Empa and PSI. Details are on deep tech conferences.
For the finance side of the city, see fintech in Zurich. SIX, one of the foundation's partners, runs SIX Digital Exchange, its regulated exchange for digital assets.
Upcoming Finance Loop events
What is Deep Tech Nation Switzerland?
It is a non-profit foundation founded by UBS and Swisscom that wants to mobilize 50 billion Swiss francs for Swiss deep tech companies over ten years. It works through programs such as Venture Hub Switzerland and publishes the Swiss Deep Tech Report.
Why does Swiss deep tech need foreign capital?
Because Swiss institutional investors, including pension funds, invest little in growth rounds. In rounds of 15 to 100 million dollars, 82 percent of the money comes from abroad, according to the Swiss Deep Tech Report.
Does the foundation run its own fund?
No. According to UBS, the foundation does not launch its own funds. Partner contributions go into the foundation's capital, which pays for its programs.
Deep tech in Switzerland and Finance Loop
Finance Loop connects the finance, IT and AI communities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and the Swiss question of how pension funds and banks finance growth rounds belongs to its Investment & Digital Assets track. Finance Loop membership starts on the membership page, and the events run in Frankfurt, Munich, Berlin and Hamburg.
Finance Loop helps Swiss banks, funds and foundations that want to meet German investors to host an event, sponsor a meetup or join the partner program.
Finance Loop is a professional network and has the goal of driving the adoption of emerging technologies in finance, such as AI, digital payments, cloud and blockchain solutions. Finance Loop helps its members build skills and personal networks in these fields: Investment & Digital Assets, Payments & Digital Money, Digital Infrastructure & Sovereignty, and Risk & Compliance.