Swiss crowdfunding market growing again
After three years of decline, the Swiss crowdfunding market will grow again by 14% to CHF 629 million in 2025. The main driver is real estate crowdlending, which is receiving an additional boost from new banking regulations. These are the findings of the «Crowdfunding Monitor Switzerland 2026» published by Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts.
After the Swiss crowdfunding market shrank continuously between 2022 and 2024, the latest edition of the «Crowdfunding Monitor Switzerland» published by Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts shows a clear trend reversal: In 2025, campaigns with a total volume of CHF 629 million were financed via crowdfunding platforms - an increase of 14% compared to the previous year. The market reached its previous peak in 2021 with 792 million francs.
Banking regulation gives crowdlending a new boost
Crowdlending made the biggest contribution to growth, accounting for around 75% of the total volume. Here, loans are arranged online for companies and private individuals. Real estate crowdlending - i.e. project financing for real estate - developed particularly dynamically: the volume rose by 38% to CHF 275 million in 2025.
A key driver of this development is of a regulatory nature. With the implementation of Basel III Final as of January 1, 2025, Swiss banks will have to deposit higher capital for riskier loans - particularly in the area of real estate development. «This makes corresponding bank financing more expensive and tends to lead to more cautious lending in the real estate development sector,» explains Prof. Dr. Andreas Dietrich, head of the study at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. «Crowdlending platforms are benefiting from this gap and positioning themselves as an alternative. We expect further growth of around 30 percent in this segment in 2026.»
New impetus in crowdsupporting and crowddonating
Crowdsupporting and crowddonating also increased for the first time since 2020 - by 30% compared to the previous year. A total of 9,288 projects worth CHF 35 million were financed. In terms of volume, the ’Sport & Health« category led the way with CHF 13 million. This success is partly due to specialized platforms for sports campaigns, but cross-thematic platforms also raise substantial volumes in the sports sector.
The development of Raiffeisen Switzerland's Lokalhelden platform is also noteworthy. Raiffeisen began using Lokalhelden to handle some of its own sponsorship activities in 2024. Members of 21 cooperative banks were able to vote to decide how their bank's sponsorship funds should be used and also had the opportunity to financially support selected crowdfunding projects, associations or foundations.
Clear market concentration on a few platforms
A distinct market structure has been established in the crowdsupporting and crowddonating sector: More than 80 percent of the market volume is accounted for by the three largest platforms. «The high concentration on just a few platforms is typical of crowdfunding markets, and not just in Switzerland,» says Prof. Dr. Andreas Dietrich. «The leading platforms benefit above all from network effects, trust, brand awareness and economies of scale.»
The «Crowdfunding Monitor Switzerland» has been conducted annually since 2014 by the Institute of Financial Services Zug IFZ at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts with the support of Swiss crowdfunding platforms. It aims to present market developments transparently, present existing platforms and identify the drivers of future developments.
WFurther information: https://www.hslu.ch
