A total of 43,174 new companies were founded in Switzerland in 2018, or just 0.64 per cent fewer than in the record-breaking year of 2017. These are the findings of a new report published by the Institut für Jungunternehmen (IFJ). “The Swiss startups scene is developing rapidly,” commented the startup support organization in a statement. It highlighted particularly strong growth in company foundations over the last four years.
In terms of cantons, Zug reported the highest percentage growth in new companies between 2015 and 2018 (+38.9 per cent). It was followed in second and third places by the cantons of Glarus (+20 per cent) and Vaud (+17.87 per cent). In absolute figures, the canton of Zurich welcomed the greatest number of new companies (+7,664), followed by Vaud (+4,370) and Geneva (3,745).
Most entrepreneurs opted to found their companies under the limited liability structure, which proved even more popular in 2018 than in the preceding year. Almost a third of the new companies were sole proprietorships and a fifth, public limited companies.
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