Swiss Venture Capital Fund Return Study 2025 (Swiss Venture Capital Report (startupticker))

Summary

• Swiss VC funds allocate an average of 30% of invested capital and 50% of their total number of investments to Swiss start-ups.p.2
• ICT represents the largest industry capital allocation for Swiss VC funds at 35%, followed by Cleantech & Energy at 29%.p.6
• A simulated fund-of-fund investing in Swiss VC from 2014 to 2020 generated an IRR of 14%, equivalent to 1.5x TVPI.p.3

Key insights

1. Swiss Venture Capital remains underfunded despite substantial institutional capital availability due to a lack of reliable return data.p.3
2. More than 80% of start-up funding in Switzerland originates from abroad, highlighting a gap in domestic growth funding.p.4
3. The median Swiss VC fund manages 17 portfolio companies with an average paid-in capital of 2.7 Mio. per company.p.6
4. The US accounts for the largest share of capital allocation by Swiss VC funds at 31%, closely followed by Switzerland at 30%.p.6
5. Recent Swiss VC fund vintages from 2020-2024 demonstrate outperformance relative to European peers.p.3
6. Under the 2014-2020 fund-of-fund simulation, 84% of committed capital would have been called and 22% of paid-in would have been distributed.p.3