Swiss Venture Capital Report 2021 - Startupticker.ch
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Swiss
Venture
Capital
2021 Report
date
Up
In cooperation with Swiss Private Equity & Corporate Finance AssociationAuthors
Thomas Heimann Deputy General Secretary, SECA Summary
and analyst at HBM Partners AG
Stefan Kyora Partner, JNB Journalistenbüro GmbH,
Lucerne, and editor-in-chief startupticker.ch Investment in Swiss start-ups continued its strong growth
Specialist advisers Lukas André, Redstone Digital trajectory in the first half of 2021. The total invested sum
(Schweiz) GmbH; Maurice Pedergnana, SECA;
was CHF 1.7 billion, more than twice as high as in the same
Ulrich Geilinger, HBM Partners AG
period of the previous year. The high amount is due to the mega
Research collaborators Thomas Ankenbrand,
Marc Grau, Damian Lötscher (Institute of Financial round from insurtech wefox for almost CHF 600 million,
Services Zug IFZ at the Lucerne University of and also to four other rounds in the range of CHF 100 million
Applied Sciences and Arts) or more. The number of financing rounds also grew to 124.
In the sectors, it was again ICT start-ups – and in particular
Imprint
Publisher JNB Journalistenbüro GmbH, Lucerne
fintech companies – that ensured growth. Six IPOs were a
Partner startupticker.ch, news@startupticker.ch
special feature of the exits, with five biotech companies alone
Collaboration partner Swiss Private venturing on to the Nasdaq in the first half of the year.
Equity & Corporate Finance Association SECA
One of the most noticeable developments in recent years is
Editorial Stefan Kyora, Ritah Ayebare Nyakato,
Mirco Bazzani the increasing number of companies that have developed
Translation and editing Lynne Constable, corporate venture capital (CVC) activities. In collaboration with
www.englishedits.ch the Institute for Financial Services Zug (IFZ) at the Lucerne
Graphic design Schön & Berger, Zurich University of Applied Sciences and Arts, we conducted a survey
Contact JNB Journalistenbüro GmbH, among Swiss CVCS. They are still quite young, have set up pro-
Hirschmattstrasse 33, 6003 Lucerne,
fessional structures and invest heavily in early stage technology
info@jnb.ch; +41 41 226 20 80
start-ups. Strategic goals, such as access to new technology,
© July 2021 are more important than financial goals.
JNB Journalistenbüro GmbH,
Lucerne
VC Report Update 2021 | startupticker.ch 2/20Investments
Despite the continuing difficult environment, investment
Investments in Swiss start-ups in Swiss start-ups headed for a record in the first half of
in the first half of the year 2021, with companies generating more than CHF 1.7 billion
in 124 financing rounds. The amount invested is almost
Invested capital CHF m CHF 1 billion more than in the same period last year and the
1800
growth rate is more than 130%. Even compared with the
2 nd quarter previous record – achieved in the first half of 2019 – this equals
1600
growth of almost 50%. A comparison with the figures before
1400
2019 shows that the investment is now on a completely
1200
different level.
1000
800 The number of financing rounds has also increased further
600 and the long-term comparison is particularly remarkable,
400 with the number practically doubling in just four years.
200
1st quarter Even the 18 months of the corona crisis does not seem to
0
have had any affect on growth.
16 17 18 19 20 2021
As in the previous year, the first quarter was significantly
weaker than the second in terms of invested capital.
There seems to be a pattern here: apparently, attempts are
124 made to conclude financing rounds before the end
105 of a calendar year, so initially less happens at the beginning
85
of the following year.
82
Financing
rounds 63 64
VC Report Update 2021 | startupticker.ch 3/20The Top 10
Biotech companies comprise five of the start-ups with the 10 largest investments,
with also two classic medtech companies, two enterprise software companies
and the fintech wefox at the top of the ranking.
584.5 CHF m 161.7 108.35 100 96.05
wefox Nexthink CeQur Numab Bright Peak
Therapeutics
wefox is a fully Nexthink’s platform CeQur has developed Numab’s pipeline
licensed digital enables IT teams to a discreet and simple includes drug candi- Using chemical
insurance company discover, monitor and insulin delivery system dates for immuno- synthesis, ETH Zurich
that sells insurance proactively improve that can replace the therapies against spin-off Bright Peak
through interme- the digital services need for mealtime cancer and inflam Therapeutics produces
diaries rather than they provide to their injections for people matory diseases. proteins that have
directly to customers. employees. Its financ- with diabetes. A first multispecific never before existed,
In 2020, its sales ing round meant the LINK antibody is being which holds great
exceeded USD 140 Lausanne start-up tested on patients potential for cancer
million. became a unicorn. with advanced solid immunotherapy.
LINK LINK tumours. LINK
LINK
VC Report Update 2021 | startupticker.ch 4/20The Top 10
88 60 51.8 46.3 32.9
Monte Rosa Alentis Oculis MedAlliance Concordium
Therapeutics Therapeutics
Oculis develops inno- MedAlliance is Concordium’s
Monte Rosa Thera Basel-based Alentis vative ophthalmic commercialising a platform addresses
peutics focuses develops treatments treatments. Proceeds novel drug-eluting companies that
on discovering and for fibrotic diseases. from the round will balloon for patients want to use the
developing precision The funding will go be used to advance suffering from blockchain, but which
medicines that primarily into proof- late-stage drugs life-threatening also have to meet
degrade disease- of-concept clinical OCS-01 and OCS-02 coronary and periph- stringent regulatory
causing proteins trials of its lead candi- in phase 2 and 3 eral arterial disease. requirements.
LINK date for advanced liver clinical trials. LINK LINK
and kidney fibrosis. LINK
LINK
VC Report Update 2021 | startupticker.ch 5/20Sectors & Cantons
In recent years, the growth in the number of financings has
Rounds by sector in % Sum by sector in % been driven by ICT start-ups. This trend continued in the
8 first half of 2021. ICT rounds (including fintech) made up 54%
16
Others 11
Others 14 of investments compared with 50% in the first half of 2020.
29
7 ICT
Medtech ICT
The number has increased significantly, in particular among
Healthcare
IT fintech start-ups, more than doubling from 11 to 26. The mega
financing round from wefox meant that the share of invested
capital also increased significantly.
10
Medtech
24 In the second core sector for the Swiss start-up scene – biotech –
13
Biotech the development in the number of financing rounds is stable.
Biotech 25 43 Invested capital increased from almost CHF 230 million to
ICT (fintech) ICT (fintech)
more than CHF 414 million – a growth rate of more than 80%.
Rounds by canton in % Sum by canton in % In the cantons, the usual picture emerges with Zurich at the
9 Others
top, followed by Vaud and then Basel-Stadt, Zug and Geneva.
16
Others
1 BE
The most noticeable development can be observed in Vaud:
2 GE
46 ZH
3 ZG
50 ZH
after six months, the invested capital is already in the order of
3
BE magnitude of the entire previous year. At almost CHF 350
6 million, start-ups in the canton generated more than three
BS 15
BS times as much money in the first half of 2021 as in the same
7
ZG half year in 2020.
7
GE
20 VD
15 VD
VC Report Update 2021 | startupticker.ch 6/20Exits
With the exception of a few months during the first wave of
Number of exits in first half year the pandemic, the positive development in trade sales over
20 the past three years seems to have been unaffected by the
COVID-19 crisis. The increase in exits is being driven by buyers
15 from abroad. In the first half of 2021, more Swiss start-ups
were acquired by US companies alone than by companies
10 from Switzerland.
In terms of trade sales, the take-overs of biotech company
5
Arvelle Therapeutics and the Crypto Finance Group are
particularly noteworthy. An Italian pharmaceutical company
0
2019 2020 2021 paid about CHF 850 million for Arvelle and Deutsche Börse
acquired the Crypto Finance Group for an amount in the
Buyer based in Switzerland Buyer based abroad
three-digit million range.
The high number of IPOs is also impressive: after six months,
Number of IPOs per year
the number had already reached the level of the very
7 positive year of 2016 at six. Five of the six listings are from
6
biotech companies on the Nasdaq, with a smaller IPO on
5
Euronext’s Access segment. Some of the biotech companies
3 generated high inflows of funds from their initial public
2 2
offerings: Monte Rosa Therapeutics generated more than
CHF 200 million, Pharvaris just under CHF 150 million and
VectivBio a good CHF 130 million.
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
VC Report Update 2021 | startupticker.ch 7/20Survey Introduction
In recent years, corporates have gained in importance as
Industry investors in Switzerland, but an overview of their activities has
8 until now been missing. How many companies are actually
active? Do they pursue financial or strategic goals? Is the
6 engagement done systematically? What is the success rate?
To find the answers, we conducted a survey of corporate
4 venture capital investors (CVCs) at the end of June in collabo-
ration with the Institute of Financial Services Zug IFZ at
2
the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, which
supported us in the design, implementation and analysis
0
Insurance Trade & Banking & Energy & Other of the survey.
Consumption Finance Environment
We contacted a total of 50 Swiss companies that have invested
in start-ups over the past two years or have worked with
Number of employees
them. Of these, 24 completed the questionnaire. Companies
12 from all important sectors in Switzerland are represented.
10 CVC activities are particularly popular with financial services
8 and companies active in B2C or B2B bulk business. Companies
6
from the mechanical and electrical engineering industries
tend to be under-represented, but companies with more than
4
1,000 employees in particular are active.
2
0
< 250 250–999 1,000 –10,000 > 10,000
VC Report Update 2021 | startupticker.ch 8/20Professional approach
Most Swiss CVCS are very young, with only a quarter older
Year of first investment than five years. Establishment of investment units in existing
6
companies has taken place regularly only since 2016,
with the recent growth driven by corporates in the financial
5
services sector. And insurance companies in particular
4
have set up CVC units only since 2017; until then, no Swiss
3 insurance companies had a CVC.
2
Many CVCs are still young, not all are highly active and the
1
structures are still largely professional. The prevailing
0 model, which the less active and younger CVCs have also
05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
implemented, is a dedicated team, with more than half
of respondents following this approach. In addition, a sixth
Responsible organisational entity works with experienced external partners. Investors that
have only one person or no one at all are in the minority.
Team
responsible Hybrid corporate
for corporate venture team with
venture external partners
13 4 4 2 1
One responsible No specific Other
person for person
corporate venture
VC Report Update 2021 | startupticker.ch 9/20Investment activity
All levels of activity can be found at Swiss CVCs. Those with
Number of portfolio companies held in last 5 years more than 20 companies in their portfolio and an investment
12 volume of more than CHF 100 million over the past five years
are among the most active Swiss investors. However, the
10
majority of CVCs, although regular investors, are not highly
8
active. As a rule, CHF 2 million to CHF 4 million are invested
6 in one or two start-ups each year.
4
It should be remembered that many CVCs are less than five
2
years old. Portfolio construction takes time, as shown by
0 those investors with more than 20 start-ups in their portfolios.
1–5 6–10 11– 20 > 20
The youngest of these CVC units started investing in 2014,
the other three are more than 10 years old. So it is quite possi-
ble that the number of start-ups in the portfolios will increase.
Investment volume over the past 5 years (CHF m)
8 In the CVCs with the largest investment volume, on the other
hand, it is not the older investors but the larger companies
6 that are over-represented. They make up less than a third of
those surveyed, but 50% of CVCs with an investment of more
4
than CHF 51 million over the last five years. The two companies
with an investment of more than CHF 100 million both have
2
more than 10,000 employees.
0
Not stated 100
VC Report Update 2021 | startupticker.ch 10/20Regional preferences
When it comes to the proportion of Swiss start-ups in the
Share of Swiss companies in portfolio (%) portfolios, the broad diversification and extremes are
8 again noticeable. A third of CVCs invest almost exclusively
in Switzerland, while a quarter does only invest a small
6 amount or not invest at all. It is encouraging that the particu-
larly active CVCs tend to have more Swiss start-ups in
4 their portfolios than the average. Overall, the Swiss share is
likely to be higher than that of professional Swiss VCs.
2
The picture becomes a little clearer through the answers to
0 the question about preferred investment regions. Multiple
0 –20 21–40 41–60 61–80 81–100
answers were possible here. Swiss CVCs see themselves
as international investors, with only three of the respondents
or 10% stating that they invest exclusively in Switzerland.
Preferred investment region*
More than half cite the whole of Europe as a target region.
A third of CVCs say they are global investors. The relatively
Europe Worldwide
high proportion of Swiss start-ups in the portfolios is there-
fore unlikely to be due to a home bias that arises from a
15 14 11 9
search for investment opportunities limited to Switzerland,
but rather to rational reasons.
Switzerland DACH
(German-speaking
Europe)
*multiple answers possible
VC Report Update 2021 | startupticker.ch 11/20Deal sourcing
The professionalism of the CVCs surveyed is also evident
Methods to identify Preferred maturity level* when it comes to deal sourcing. Practically all are proactively
start-ups* looking for start-ups that are suitable as investment targets.
25 25
In addition, as with professional VCs, they rely on collaboration
with other investors from their network. Incubators and
20 20 accelerators also play an important role, with almost half
15 15 using them for deal sourcing. For a start-up, an accelerator
is thus a promising way to obtain a CVC investment, and
10 10
similarly for a CVC, it ensures it does not miss out on a good
5 5 opportunity to invest in a start-up that is an optimal fit
for its goals.
0 0
CVCs are more likely to look for start-ups in earlier stages,
Proactive deal sourcing
Opportunistically seizing opportunities
as they arise
Collaboration with other VCs
Via incubator and accelerator programmes
Collaboration with other companies
Scouting mandates
Pre-seed stage
Seed stage
Series-A stage
Series-B+ stage
Established companies
with nearly all investing in Series A rounds. For well over half
CVCs, the seed stage is also one of the preferred phases.
This proportion is surprisingly high, considering in particular
the large differences in the processes and culture of early-
stage start-ups and established companies.
*multiple answers possible
VC Report Update 2021 | startupticker.ch 12/20Strategic and financial goals
Those CVCs that act as pure financial investors are in the
Priorities in a start-up collaboration minority: strategic goals play no role for only one fifth.
For almost two thirds, strategic goals are very important when
Strategic goals
making investment decisions. This does not mean that
1 4 3 1 6 9
financial aspects do not matter – for practically all investors,
Financial goals financial goals are a priority – but they do not enjoy quite
1 1 7 3 3 3 1 5 as high a priority as the strategic fit.
no priority top priority The great importance of the strategic requirements for an
investment goal is also reflected in the desired exits. About half
Preferred exit strategy* of CVCs aim to either remain involved in the start-up over
the long term or to take it over themselves. However, although
16
the majority of CVCs give strategic goals a high priority,
14
this does not mean that they want to take over a start-up in
12
every case. Accordingly, trade sales are targeted by more
10
CVCs than their own acquisition and long-term participation.
8
The fact that IPOs are also mentioned by many CVCs shows
6
that the investments are associated with higher aspirations.
4
2
0
le IP
O le on it AC on
sa r) sa r) a ti up ex d) SP a ti
e e
ad uy
e e
ad uy
r
eg gr
o No hol li
s
Tr c b Tr l b I nt he n d i ta
i ia t a ap
eg nc to uy ec
at a i n b R
tr fin (
(s (
*multiple answers possible
VC Report Update 2021 | startupticker.ch 13/20Investment targets
The importance of the strategic agreement reappears when
Desired characteristics Desired results of asked about the desired characteristics of a start-up. It is more
of target* investments* important to CVCs than the typical investment goal qualities
20 20
looked for by financial investors; namely, a growing market,
technological lead and an experienced team. The significance
15 15 of the technology and the relatively low importance of an
established product in the investment decision are not self-
10 10 evident. In the past, Swiss corporates took over mainly those
start-ups that already had market-successful products rather
5 5 than traditional technology start-ups. These CVCs seem to
set their priorities differently with the goal to secure promis-
0 0
ing technologies at an early stage.
Strategic relevance for acquiring company
Growing overall market
Technological advantage
Experience of management team
Established service/product
Investment range and location
Observer rights of the Board of Directors
Profitability/low debt
Other
Access to new technology
Knowledge gain
Positive financial results
Product portfolio expansion/development
Integration into an ecosystem
Access to new markets
Exposure to start-up culture
PR & reputational gain
Efficiency gains
The answers to the question about the desired results enable
a precise definition of what the CVCs mean by strategic
relevance. The focus here is again on technological aspects:
first, access to new technology and, second, the knowledge
gain. The development of new products is also important,
but not quite as important as these two factors.
*multiple answers possible
VC Report Update 2021 | startupticker.ch 14/20Start-up support
CVCs are the epitome of smart investors: they not only support
Support for start-ups* Desired ownership share* a start-up with money, but practically all respondents stated
that they also provide it with industry expertise. Slightly fewer
25 25
CVCs also help with market access. The small minority of CVCs
20 20 that do not do this include organisations for which financial
goals have the highest priority and which are therefore largely
15 15
disconnected from the day-to-day business of the group.
10 10
As broad as the answers to some questions are, there is a
5 5
clear preference when it comes to ownership share. All CVCs
0 0 surveyed aim for minority stakes of less than 25%, which
means that they do not behave any differently than pure VCs.
Industry expertise
(executive contacts, consulting)
Market access
(suppliers, customers,marketing channels)
Provision of test laboratories or
other premises
Other
R&D or manufacturing capability
Minority (x < 25%)
Qualifying minority (25% < x < 50%)
Majority (x > 50%)
No shares
(financing exclusively via debt)
Only a minority – a total of four investors – aim for a higher
participation rate.
*multiple answers possible
VC Report Update 2021 | startupticker.ch 15/20Results
An assessment of the success of the investments varies widely.
Share of successful investments (%) The question was asked explicitly about success in terms of
8
the goals pursued in each case (page 14, right graph). A corre
lation between the age of the CVC and satisfaction cannot
6 be made. CVCs with strategic goals are no more satisfied or
dissatisfied than those with primarily financial goals.
4
The assessment shows that the investments are anything but
2 a sure-fire success. Almost half of the CVCs surveyed indicate
that less than 40% of the investments have had a positive
0 outcome. The group of more than 60% described as successful
0 –20 21–40 41–60 61–80 81–100
comprises a third of CVCs and is thus significantly smaller.
Although only a minority of investments have produced
Outlook positive results, the CVCs appear to be satisfied with the
success rate. Half want to continue investing at the previous
level and slightly less than half intend to increase the number
12 10 2 of investments.
Constant number More Fewer
of investments investments investments
VC Report Update 2021 | startupticker.ch 16/20Investments in Swiss start-ups
The increasing number of active CVCs in the past five years
Number of CVCs investing in Swiss startups is also reflected in a growing number of investments in
35
Swiss start-ups, as figures from Swiss Venture Capital Report
30
show. The number of financing rounds in which domestic
25
and foreign CVCs were involved more than doubled between
2016 and 2018, and since then has maintained this level.
20
It looks as though a new record will be set in 2021, going by the
15
figures for the first half of the year. However, foreign CVCs
10
contributed two thirds of the rounds during this period, while
5
Swiss CVCs invested in only eight Swiss start-ups.
0
16 17 18 19 20 2021
If one looks only at the investments made by CVCs in Swiss
Number of investments by Swiss CVCs and
start-ups, a positive trend can be seen, but these investments
other investors play a subordinate role in the total number of investments.
They may be increasing, but compared with the rapidly devel-
250
oping number of financing rounds by Swiss start-ups, the
200 proportion is still modest.
150
100
50
0
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 2021
CVC Non-CVC
Source: Swiss Venture Capital Report
VC Report Update 2021 | startupticker.ch 17/20International comparison
The share of domestic and foreign CVCs in the sum of total
Share of invested amount in US and European start-ups invested capital was estimated on the basis of data from
by type of investor (%) market research company Pitchbook. For Switzerland, a clear
100
increase can be seen between 2016 and 2018. Since then,
the proportion has remained at the same high level. As the
90 total amount invested in Swiss start-ups has increased
80 further since 2018, the capital invested by CVCs must have
CVC increased in order to maintain the same level.
70
other
investors
In an international comparison, since 2018 Swiss start-ups
60
have generated a similarly large share of the capital of
50 CVCs as European and US companies. In 2020 for example the
40
share in Switzerland was at 35% compared to 36% in the
USA and 31% in whole Europe. The share of invested capital
30 is significantly higher than the share in the financing rounds,
20 since CVCs tend to participate in larger financing rounds.
In Switzerland, this applies in particular to the important
10
group of foreign CVCs.
0
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Switzerland EU USA
Source: Pitchbook / Startupticker.ch
VC Report Update 2021 | startupticker.ch 18/20Methodology Contact
The analysis takes into account only Swiss start-ups – that is, Stefan Kyora
those companies that have their legal headquarters in this Email: stefan kyora@jnb.ch
country. In addition, a senior person with decision-making Tel: 041 226 20 80
authority, such as a C-level manager or a board member, must www.startupticker.ch
be based in Switzerland. Exceptions may be made if the deci-
sion makers are not active in the country of the legal head- Thomas Heimann
quarters outside Switzerland, but instead the top managers Email: thomas.heimann@seca.ch
and board members are based in Switzerland. Tel: 079 709 02 96
www.seca.ch
The report focuses exclusively on venture capital investments
of at least CHF 100,000. Pre-seed equity deals with accelerator
programmes are excluded. Buy-out financing and private
equity investment in established companies are also excluded;
this applies even if the established company is growing
strongly.
For the comparisons between the first half-year 2021 and
other half years, we took into account only those financing
rounds announced by the start-up in the respective time
period.
VC Report Update 2021 | startupticker.ch 19/20Erweitern der
FÜHRUNGSKOMPETENZ
PERSÖNLICHKEITSKOMPETENZ
SOZIALKOMPETENZ
Sich vorbereiten
CAS-Abschluss 22 Tage, DAS-Abschluss 42 Tage
Modularer Aufbau mit flexiblem Einstieg.
auf neue „Ein hervorragender Kurs: didaktisch,
fachlich, methodisch. Ich fand die
„Hoher Praxisbezug und Relevanz.
Interaktion zwischen Referenten
Herausforderungen Kursinhalte sehr bereichernd und
inspirierend. Die Ergebnisse der
Reflecting-Team-Workshops waren
und Teilnehmern sowie zwischen
Teilnehmern untereinander. Sehr
hohe Kompetenz und Erfahrung
für mich sehr wertvoll.“ der Referenten. Sehr gelungene
Dina Fostiropoulos, Stv. GL, Teambildung: Übungen, Peer Group,
Leadership Development Program alfatraining Bildungszentrum GmbH Social Event. Reibungslose
2022/2023 Koordination und Betreuung.“
Thilo Leineweber, Sales Manager
Framatome GmbH
MELDEN SIE SICH JETZT AN
Start: CAS am 20. Juni 2022, DAS am 9. Mai 2022
Ihr Kontakt: Nadja Barthel, Tel. +41 71 224 75 01,
Email: nadja.barthel@unisg.ch
www.unternehmerschule.unisg.chYou can also read
