Switzerland leads with most sustainable start-ups per capita

Since 2022, Switzerland is one of the ten countries worldwide with the highest number of sustainable start-ups. Per capita, Switzerland is even at the top of the list: Nowhere else the density of young technology companies that contribute to the change to a sustainable economy with their products or services is higher. These are findings of the Swiss Startup Radar 2022/2023, which was published by startupticker.ch and the University of Lausanne.

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 just under 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: with this, environmental start-ups in Switzerland received more than 20 percent of the total venture capital invested. These figures are also clearly above average in an international comparison.

This fifth edition of the Swiss Startup Radar focuses on sustainable start-ups. In addition to national sources, the authors also evaluated international databases such as Pitchbook and Crunchbase, further details of which can be found in a press release. Overall, the analysis is based on data from around 5,000 domestic and more than 250,000 foreign start-ups.

According to the information in the press release, the strong increase can be traced back to the spread of the idea of sustainability in a wide variety of sectors. Two sectors in Switzerland stand out in particular in terms of sustainability: mechanical engineering and the food industry. Both boast “mature innovation ecosystems”, the press release states. These strengths are centered around meat substitute products and platforms for resource-saving agriculture based on Artificial Intelligence (AI), in addition to natural fiber-based composite materials for more environmentally friendly mobility. This extension of the subject of sustainability across many sectors highlights the need and potential for start-ups in Switzerland to further enrich and develop the local economy and many different fields of innovation.