Switzerland extends its lead in the technologies reshaping the global economy
The Swiss Deep Tech Report 2026 ranks Switzerland first in the world for the share of venture capital going to deep tech, ahead of China and the United States.
Zurich, June 17, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The technologies now driving the global economy, from advanced computing to artificial intelligence and robotics, are built patiently, over decades of sustained investment and deep scientific groundwork. Increasingly that work traces back to a country a fraction of the size of the giants it competes with.
Switzerland now directs a greater share of its venture capital to deep tech than any other nation, and commits more per head than any country in Europe, placing it among the top three worldwide. The finding anchors the Swiss Deep Tech Report 2026, published today by Deep Tech Nation Switzerland, Founderful, Kickfund, Startupticker.ch, and Dealroom.co, and launched at VivaTech in Paris.
Share of total VC funding allocated in Deep Tech (2020-2026).
The report sets out where the next decade of frontier technology will be engineered. The world's most valuable companies are built on data centers, artificial intelligence and robotic automation, and Switzerland is among the few countries worldwide where that work is researched and commercialized at the frontier. What has changed is that its companies now stay to scale, and the world has taken notice. “For the first time, the companies spinning out of ETH and EPFL are staying, scaling and attracting serious capital,” says Jean-Philippe Fricker, Co-Founder and Chief System Architect of Cerebras Systems. The country's international standing now matches the strength of its ecosystem.
Five findings that put Switzerland at the forefront of deep tech innovation
The pipeline is shifting toward the sectors that dominate global capital. AI and machine learning now account for one in four newly founded Swiss deep tech companies, more than double their previous share. Beyond startup creation, Switzerland has the highest density of AI researchers globally, twice that of the UK and the US. Robotics is moving even faster relative to peers: Switzerland has created 3.5 times more venture-backed robotics startups per capita since 2020 than the United States, and 5 times more than the UK. In Future of Compute, 2026 is already a record funding year, and Switzerland boasts 7 times more patents per capita than the European average, driven by its world-leading microelectronics and high-precision sensor industries.
The world's most deep-tech-focused venture market. 63% of all Swiss venture capital flows to deep tech, the highest share of any country, ahead of China and the United States and nearly double the share of Germany and the UK, and well ahead of France.
First in Europe on intensity, top three globally. At $1,470 invested per capita, Switzerland commits more to deep tech per head than any country in Europe. Worldwide, that places it among the top three nations alongside Israel and the United States.
Funding is accelerating. Swiss deep tech funding has grown roughly fivefold since 2015 to reach a record $2.6B in 2025.
The strongest growth is still ahead. ETH Zurich and EPFL Lausanne are Europe's leading universities for new deep tech spinouts. Building on a leading position, the two have extended their lead since 2023, and that cohort is only now reaching the seed-to-Series-A window, the stage at which company value and capital raised compound most sharply.
Main segments Swiss Deep Tech as % of startup created.
Momentum on the ground
Some of the clearest signals do not yet appear in the funding data. Among the report's co-authors are several of the country's most active deep tech investors, who describe a change in the character of the ecosystem over the past year. The world’s top funds no longer need persuading to look at Switzerland; they are arriving on their own initiative. “The energy and talent dynamism reminded me of what we saw in Israel and the UK in the early 2000s,” says Saul Klein, Founding Partner of LocalGlobe.
Global technology leaders are expanding their computing, robotics and AI research presence in the country. The pipeline feeding that activity runs straight from the universities. “At EPFL we see it every day: the discoveries made in our laboratories become the deep tech companies of tomorrow,” says Anna Fontcuberta i Morral, President of EPFL. And as deal flow deepens, founders are growing more selective about the investors they choose to work with.
“Since we launched in 2019, we've never seen such a high density of ambitious entrepreneurs tackling globally relevant tech challenges as right now. The pace at which these founders execute reminds me of what people speak about when they refer to SF. In the coming decade Zurich will become home to at least a dozen global category leaders, I'm sure of that.”
— Alex Stöckl, Partner at Founderful and Swiss Deep Tech Report co-author
Where the opportunity sits
Foreign investors supply 88% of Swiss deep tech funding at rounds of $100M and above, against 75% across Europe, while domestic capital falls to just 12% at late stage. In a top-ranked ecosystem, late-stage capital remains underweight relative to the quality of the companies being built, leaving clear room for new investors to enter early.
“We built one of the world's most deep tech-focused economies without a franc of public venture capital. In Germany, France and the UK, much of the late-stage money is state-backed through Bpifrance, British Patient Capital or the German Future Fund. In Switzerland that barely exists, and yet the world's best investors now come here on their own initiative, with some setting up shop. No public money had to write the cheque to make this real.”
— Wanja Humanes, Partner at Kickfund and Swiss Deep Tech Report co-author
What happens next
The seed-to-Series-A cohort now moving through the ecosystem is the largest Switzerland has produced, and it is only now reaching the stage where company value and capital raised compound most sharply. Deep tech funding has already grown roughly fivefold since 2015 to a record $2.6B. The companies are staying, and the funds are arriving on their own. The report sets out, sector by sector, the leaders and the startups most worth watching, and invites the investors who would rather arrive early than late.
The full report is available for download here: https://deeptechnation.ch/resources/swiss-deep-tech-report-2026
Notes to editors
High-resolution charts, logos and report imagery are available here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1c7bbEYwLhjrksMRoQL0U3Pu4KmJXc4-N?usp=sharing
Methodology note: the share-of-VC-to-deep-tech figure uses Dealroom's deep tech definition, which includes Life Sciences, applied consistently across all countries compared. The US figure
already includes foundational-model rounds; Switzerland leads the metric with those rounds counted.
Key figures for editors
- #1 in the world for share of VC going to deep tech: 63%, ahead of China (56%) and the US (54%)
- #1 in Europe and top 3 globally for deep tech investment per capita: $1,470 ● ETH Zurich and EPFL Lausanne are Europe's leading universities for new deep tech spinouts
- ~5x growth in Swiss deep tech funding since 2015, reaching $2.6B in 2025 ● 88% of late-stage ($100M+) Swiss deep tech funding comes from foreign investors, against 75% across Europe
- AI/ML share of new deep tech company creation has more than doubled, from 11% to 25%
- Switzerland has created 3.5x more VC-backed robotics startups per capita since 2020 than the US, and five times more than the UK
- 1,500+ venture-backed deep tech startups in the Alpine Tech Cluster, one of only two European super clusters
Voices from the ecosystem
“Wafer-scale computing was a bet the entire industry thought was impossible. The engineering instinct behind it was shaped at EPFL, and Switzerland produces that kind of talent at a density few places on earth can match.
For the first time, the companies spinning out of ETH and EPFL are staying, scaling and attracting serious capital. If you want to know where the next generation of compute and AI hardware gets invented, this is a place in the world worth watching.”
— Jean-Philippe Fricker, Co-Founder and Chief System Architect, Cerebras Systems
“The future of the space economy will be built by countries that combine scientific excellence with entrepreneurial execution. Switzerland is uniquely positioned to do both, especially with a growing community of venture and angel investors helping amplify and accelerate the entrepreneurial energy emerging from our universities and research institutions. We are already seeing a new generation of companies, including ventures such as Stellar Alpina and PAVE, emerge from an ecosystem where world-class research meets global ambition. The opportunity is not simply to participate in the space sector, but to lead in selected areas where Swiss precision, innovation, and trust create a competitive advantage. If we continue to connect research, entrepreneurship, and investment, the next decade could become Switzerland's strongest chapter yet in space!”
— Thomas Zurbuchen, Director, ETH Zurich Space
“Zurich is emerging as a beacon in the 4Alps innovation cluster - the region in and around Switzerland. Having been involved in nascent venture ecosystems while building LocalGlobe and Seedcamp, the trajectory of this innovation ecosystem, the energy and talent dynamism reminded me of what we saw in Israel and the UK in the early 2000s. Europe's role in the global economy during the coming decade depends highly on our ability to accelerate such ecosystems and build global category winners.”
— Saul Klein, Founding Partner, LocalGlobe
“The AI and quantum revolution is impacting at an unprecedented pace all aspects of science, engineering, health, education, and society. This report makes clear that Switzerland, thanks to the ETH Domain and the Federal investments, is among the world's most concentrated hubs defining this future, with contributions to all layers of the stack, from the foundations in semiconductors and energy-efficient architectures, to leading open-source large language models and robots. At EPFL we see it every day: the discoveries made in our laboratories become the deep tech companies of tomorrow.”
— Anna Fontcuberta i Morral, President, EPFL
About the Swiss Deep Tech Report
The Swiss Deep Tech Report 2026 is designed as a working reference for investors. For every major sector, from robotics, AI and the future of compute to aerial and space, medtech, biotech and energy and climate, it names the established leaders and the emerging startups most worth watching. These shortlists are curated, investor-grade selections made by people close to the companies being built, organized by stage and by sector.
The report's selection track record speaks for itself. Of the 72 companies featured on last year's watchlist, one in three closed a funding round within twelve months of publication. More than half grew their teams by over 30 percent, with several more than doubling in size.
The report is published alongside a live digital index that lets investors and ecosystem actors explore the data by sector and location and track the ecosystem as it develops. The Swiss Deep Tech Report is co-authored by Alexandre Meldem (Deep Tech Nation Switzerland Foundation), Alex Stöckl (Founderful), Wanja Humanes (Kickfund), Stefan Kyora (Startupticker.ch), and Lorenzo Chiavarini (Dealroom.co).
The full report is available for download here:
https://deeptechnation.ch/resources/swiss-deep-tech-report-2026
About Deep Tech Nation Switzerland
Deep Tech Nation Switzerland Foundation acts as a catalyst for the Swiss deep tech ecosystem. Backed by leading companies, associations, and universities, its mission is to mobilize CHF 50 billion in venture capital and create 100,000 jobs by 2033.
About Founderful
Founderful is Switzerland's leading pre-seed venture fund, investing first, fast and founder-friendly in the country's most ambitious technology entrepreneurs.
About Kickfund
Kickfund is a Swiss venture firm with the most diversified deep tech portfolio in the country, focusing on startups graduating from the Venture Kick program.
About Startupticker.ch
Startupticker.ch is Switzerland's leading national startup news platform and editor of the annual Swiss Venture Capital Report, providing daily reporting on the country's innovation scene.
About Dealroom.co
Dealroom.co is the leading global provider of data on startups, growth companies and tech ecosystems. Its European Deep Tech Report is a reference study for investors and policymakers.
For further information or to arrange an interview with the report's authors, please contact: Bilal Mahmood at Stockwood Strategy, on b.mahmood@stockwoodstrategy.com or +44 771 400 7257.
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