Raising funds for a startup in Switzerland happens in successive rounds, with investors changing as the amounts grow. Business angels, venture capital funds and corporate investors take over from one round to the next. Innosuisse, grant bodies and prizes complete the picture. The 2026 context also matters: according to CB Insights, global venture capital reached $698.3 billion in the first nine months, driven by artificial intelligence (AI).
What stages does a funding round go through?
Fundraising is broken down into successive rounds, each intended to clear a specific milestone. Pre-seed and seed rounds finance the company's first steps. Series A, B, C and beyond follow, when it is time to grow, hire or target new markets.
Each round serves a stated objective, and it is this objective that convinces investors. A dated example: in October 2026, Basel biotech Nouscom closed a $135 million Series D, according to Startupticker.ch. The money is to fund a global clinical trial with a view to registering its immunotherapy NOUS-209. Other cases are gathered in our startup fundraising section.
A funding round should not be confused with other announcements. It brings money into the company's capital in exchange for shares. A commercial partnership or a product launch does not provide equity, even when announced at the same time.
Which investors should you turn to?
The Swiss market has several families of investors. The startupticker.ch portal maintains a directory of more than 100 business angel clubs, venture capital funds and corporate investors that have backed Swiss start-ups in recent years.
- Business angels: individuals who invest their own money, often grouped into clubs.
- Venture capital funds: they lead the larger rounds. At Nouscom, M Ventures and Revelation Partners co-led the Series D.
- Corporate investors (corporate venture capital): groups that invest through a dedicated vehicle. Angelini has backed Nouscom since the Series C through its Angelini Ventures arm, before coming in directly with Angelini Industries.
- Public players: in the same round, the European Investment Bank came in via Aurea, its co-investment facility with Angelini Ventures.
Existing shareholders count as much as newcomers. In Nouscom's Series D, all existing investors followed on, and the round is described as oversubscribed. The announcement, however, gives neither the breakdown of the amounts nor the company's valuation.
What role do Innosuisse, grants and prizes play?
Innosuisse, the Swiss Innovation Agency, plays a different role from investors. It supports SMEs, start-ups and research institutions in their research and development activities.
For young companies, its "Start-up support" strand brings together three offerings:
- Entrepreneurship Training: training modules for founding, taking over or reorienting a start-up;
- Start-up Coaching: advice from experienced entrepreneurs to develop the company;
- Start-ups GoGlobal: two support options for expanding internationally.
Innosuisse also supports national and international innovation projects, carried out alone or with partners. The Innowwide programme helps SMEs and start-ups assess the viability of projects in international markets. Eurostars targets innovative SMEs leading international consortia. Applications go through the Innolink portal, and the Innosuisse Guide points to the right offering, from advice to financial support.
Beyond Innosuisse, startupticker.ch lists 70 organisations offering grants and loans throughout a start-up's life. The portal also lists around a hundred prizes useful to young companies.
How much to raise and what dilution to accept?
There is no single scale, and our sources do not give typical amounts per stage for Switzerland. The logic of dilution remains simple: each round brings in new shareholders, and the founders' stake shrinks. Its extent depends on the amount raised relative to the agreed valuation.
Global averages give an order of magnitude, not a norm. According to CB Insights, the average round rose from $23 million in 2025 to $49.8 million in 2026. In AI, it reaches $91.3 million, compared with $31.7 million in 2025. A few giant rounds pull these averages upwards.
For Switzerland, the benchmark remains the Swiss Venture Capital Report. Its 2022 edition already analysed rounds by sector, by canton and by investment phase.
What does the Swiss Venture Capital Report say?
The Swiss Venture Capital Report is the reference publication on investment in Swiss start-ups. It is published by the startupticker.ch portal and the investor association SECA, in collaboration with startup.ch.
The annual report analyses financing rounds, lists investments and presents the main exits. A first-half update appears in July. The 2026 edition covers the year 2025 and includes a survey of 100 Swiss investors.
The first-half 2026 update, a 16-page document, adds a survey of 75 Swiss investors on the coming 12 months. The detailed amounts appear in these PDF documents, which the presentation page does not reproduce.
A historical benchmark gives the Swiss order of magnitude. In 2021, Swiss start-ups received a record CHF 3.1 billion in venture capital. Only 4.12% of this amount, or CHF 139.45 million, went to 41 start-ups led by a woman.
Another tool sheds light on the market from the investors' perspective. The University of Basel, SECA and the Deep Tech Nation Switzerland foundation have published the first comprehensive study on venture capital returns in Switzerland. This past performance data promises no future returns.
What does the AI-driven global venture capital rebound change?
Global venture capital is rebounding strongly in 2026, but it is concentrated in a few very large rounds. The CB Insights figures, reported on 21 October 2026 by Fintechnews Switzerland, show the scale.
In the third quarter of 2026, investment reached $187.2 billion. Over nine months, the total amounts to $698.3 billion, up 108.9% year on year. The number of deals nevertheless fell 23% quarter on quarter, to 6913, a record low.
AI accounts for most of this rebound. Start-ups in the sector raised $495.5 billion over nine months, or 71% of the total. OpenAI ($132 billion) and Anthropic ($95 billion) alone account for about a third of the year's amounts.
Rounds of $100 million or more captured around 80% of the quarter's total, or $149.2 billion. Yet they represent only 299 deals out of 6913. It is the third quarter in a row at this level.
Europe is also growing, with $31.5 billion in the third quarter, up 13% quarter on quarter. This is its best total since the second quarter of 2022. The largest European round of the quarter went to France's Mistral AI, with $3.5 billion.
Outside AI, fintech attracted $11.8 billion in the third quarter, or 6.3% of the total. Digital health raised $8.3 billion, or 4.4%. Looking ahead, KPMG expects faster growth in AI infrastructure, physical and industrial AI, and robotics. The momentum is expected to spread to defence and alternative energy.
For a Swiss start-up, these figures point to a two-speed market. Record amounts are concentrated in AI and in a handful of very large rounds. The total number of deals, meanwhile, is falling.
Key figures
- $698.3 billion: global venture capital in the first nine months of 2026, +108.9% year on year (CB Insights).
- 6913 deals in the third quarter of 2026, a record low, −23% quarter on quarter (CB Insights).
- 71%: AI's share of global venture capital in 2026, or $495.5 billion (CB Insights).
- $49.8 million: average round size worldwide in 2026, compared with $23 million in 2025 (CB Insights).
- CHF 3.1 billion: record venture capital invested in Swiss start-ups, reached in 2021 (startupticker.ch).
- More than 100 business angel clubs and funds listed, 70 grant and loan organisations, around a hundred prizes (startupticker.ch).
What we don't know yet
- The amounts invested in Swiss start-ups in 2025 and in the first half of 2026: they appear in the PDF reports, not in our sources.
- Usual amounts per stage and dilution levels in Switzerland: none of our sources puts a figure on them.
- The effect of the global rebound on Switzerland: CB Insights does not give a separate Swiss figure.
