USD 2.1bn Equity Raised in 214 Swiss Tech Start-up and Scale-up funding rounds 2023

Davos, 7 Jan 2024

by Dr. Winfried Weigel

This analysis is based on an unnamed database and information services provider that entered the market a few years ago.

We counted tech start-up and scale-up funding rounds worth USD 2.1 billion equity and USD 390 million debt. A further 78 reported tech funding rounds did not reveal the raised amount. This is a decline of more than 50% year-on-year.

The largest group were 110 seed rounds for a total of USD 370mn, plus a further 53 seed rounds (1/3 of a total of 163 seed rounds) without disclosed funding amounts. The largest seed round was a USD 50mn round led by Recipharm into genomics company NewBiologix that develops engineered cell lines for drug development. Intel, supported by M Ventures, led a USD 14mn seed round of UNIVERS, a manufacturer of semiconductor fabs & equipment. Wingman, supported by Beiersdorf, led a USD13.8mn seed round of DePoly, that develops a chemical based plastic recycling solution. For 2022, we counted 147 seed rounds for a total of USD 414mn.

Almost the same total amount (USD369) was invested in 39 Series A fundings. A further eight A-rounds did not disclose the funding amount. The two largest fundings raised USD 39mn and USD 37mn. TOLREMO, a developer of small molecules for anti cancer medicine received USD 39mn from Biomed Partners. Limma Tech Biologics, a developer of bioconjugate vaccines, raised USD 37mn from Adjuvant Capital and AXA. For 2022, we counted 72 Series A fundings for a total of USD 817mn.

By value the largest group were Series B financings with 23 companies raising a total of USD 575mn and another 8 companies closing a B-round without revealing the investment amount. The largest B-round was USD 112mn, raised by Noema Pharma, developing therapeutics solutions for neurological disorders. The second largest B-round was raised by Rejuveron Life Sciences that secured USD 75mn from Catalio and Apeiron for drug development for age related diseases. For 2022, we counted 31 B-rounds with a total funding value of USD 869mn.

10 Series C funding rounds secured USD 381mn in funding. The largest C-round was the USD 105mn raised by Alentis Therapeutics from Jeito and Nova Holding. Alentis develops viral vector based vaccines for cancer treatment. The second largest C-round of USD 72mn from Andera Partner and BPI France went to Nouscom that develops electric propulsion systems for aircraft. For 2022, we counted 13 C-rounds with a total value of USD 883mn.

7 Series D fundings raised a total of USD 185mn. SkyCell, a developer, manufacturer and operator of climatized standard aircraft containers for door-to-door delivery of temperature sensitive products, secured an undisclosed but substantial double digit amount from Lazard Asset Management in April and closed another USD 57mn round with M&G Catalyst in Q3. For 2022, we counted 11 D-rounds worth a staggering USD 1.76 bn. The top PE firms entered the large scale-up funding rounds in 2022, but apparently stayed on the sidelines in 2023.

We only registered one closed Series E and one closed Series F funding round. Kandou Bus, a developer of electronic design automation tools based on programmable IPs for in-package applications, secured USD 72.3mn in a Series E funding. Distalmotion, a developer of robotics for surgical procedures, secured the largest equity funding round 2023 with an USD 150mn Series F funding from Revival Healthcare Capital. The only E-round in 2022 raised USD 650mn for Climeworks.

In addition, we noticed 23 grants or awarded prices totalling USD 20.5mn. The largest grantors were InnoSuisse and Venture Kick with each 6 donations followed by EIC with 5 donations. For 2022, we counted 83 grants for a total amount of USD 41mn.

On the debt funding side we can report one venture debt deal of USD10.8mn for Lunaphore that closed at the same time as a USD 43.4mn D-round led by the EGS and PHC Holding. Lunaphore develops microfluidic-based instruments for tumor analysis.

In addition to only one venture debt deal of just CHF 10.8mn we noticed 11 conventional debt financings for a total of USD 379mn. The largest was a USD 294mn financing by Barclays and M&G for Teylor.com, a cloud-based lending marketplace for businesses.

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In case of questions or comments please do not hesitate to contact me.

Dr. Winfried Weigel [email protected] +41 76 443 2001