The «Oscars of Swiss Startups»: The 2026 Winners

The 16th annual Top100 Swiss Startup Ranking 2026 was presented to investors, founders, industry representatives, and members of the media. For years, the event has been regarded as the «Oscar of Swiss startups» and is organized by Venturelab in collaboration with presenting partner UBS.

At the top of this year's ranking stands Corintis SA from Ecublens (Engineering), followed by DeepJudge AG from Zurich (ICT) in second place and PAVE Space SA from Villeneuve (Engineering) took third place. In addition, six special awards were presented, including one for the best newcomer placement (Dexterous Endoscopes), the largest completed financing round (Kandou Bus SA), and the largest exit (Memo Therapeutics AG).

Marc Nyffenegger, Head of Corporate & Real Estate Banking at UBS Switzerland, emphasized that by supporting ambitious entrepreneurs, the bank is investing in innovation, sustainable growth, and Switzerland’s long-term competitiveness.

16 Years of the Top 100: A Review with Impact

Since its launch in 2011, the Top100 Swiss Startup Award has evolved from a simple ranking into one of Switzerland’s most influential innovation platforms. The Award Night now also includes the Investor Summit, the Investor Dinner, satellite events, and the annual Startup Magazine.

The figures from the past 16 years speak for themselves:

• 677 award-winning startups
• 27,288 jobs created
• CHF 18.8 billion in raised capital
• 111 Exits
• 11 IPOs
• 11 Unicorns

Stefan Steiner, Program Director of Top100, sees this year's finalists as founders who are tackling some of the most important global challenges and building the next generation of global champions by leveraging the strengths of Swiss research and engineering.

Switzerland Remains the World's Leading Deep-Tech Nation

Switzerland invests a larger share of its venture capital in technology-driven innovation than any other country: 63 percent of all venture capital in Switzerland goes to deep tech—significantly more than in China (56 %), the U.S. (54 %), or the European average (34 %).

This leading position is based on several internationally recognized strengths:

• Innovation: According to WIPO's Global Innovation Index 2025, Switzerland has ranked first among 139 economies for the 15th consecutive year.
• Talent: In the IMD World Talent Ranking 2025, Switzerland tops the list of 69 countries for the tenth consecutive year.
• Patents: With more than 1,000 patent applications per million inhabitants, Switzerland ranks first in the world, according to the EPO.
• Spin-offs: ETH Zurich and EPFL rank first and second, respectively, among European universities in the creation of deep-tech spin-offs.

Stefan Kuentz, managing partner at Swisscom Ventures, sums it up: The Swiss deep-tech sector has evolved from an emerging ecosystem into a leading one.

Looking ahead, Jordi Montserrat, Managing Partner at Venturelab, urges vigilance: Switzerland must strengthen its own capacity to finance startups with Swiss and international capital, as well as Swiss decision-making authority. Initiatives such as the Deep Tech Nation AWI Fund and the Swiss Champions Fund are examples of this effort to finance Switzerland’s own champions.

Investment Climate: Deep Tech Sets Records, Capital Remains Selective

The optimism surrounding the award is supported by the latest investment figures—albeit with some nuances. According to the midyear update of the Swiss Venture Capital Report, Swiss startups raised a total of CHF 1.25 billion in venture capital in the first half of 2026. While this represents a 15 percent decline from the previous year, it is in line with the 2023–2024 range; the number of funding rounds remained stable at 123.

Deep-tech and hardware startups stood out in particular: their funding reached a record level, more than 60 percent higher than the previous half-year high. The engineering startup Kandou Bus secured the largest funding round, raising CHF 178 million from strategic investors. Significant amounts of growth capital also flowed into the healthcare sector, including to the two publicly traded Top 100 companies Sophia Genetics and ONWARD Medical.

At the cantonal level, Vaud leads the way with over CHF 330 million in invested capital—a level that builds on the record years of 2021 and 2022 and is largely attributable to the strength of the hardware sector. Zurich, on the other hand, saw a decline in the first half of 2026, driven by weaker activity in biotech and ICT.

Market observers expect things to look up in the coming months: Investor sentiment has improved, with expectations of better market conditions, higher deal flow, and increased exit activity. GetYourGuide’s expected initial public offering by the end of the year is likely to give the Swiss startup ecosystem an additional boost.

Sources and further information: www.venturelab.swiss / Top 100 Swiss Startup Award

This text was written with the assistance of AI (Claude Sonnet 5) and reviewed by the editorial team.