Zurich rises to 31st place worldwide as a start-up ecosystem

The Greater Zurich Area mentioned in the Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2024 Zurich has once again improved significantly. A year ago, the region made the biggest leap worldwide, climbing ten places to 36th place, and it is currently one of the two European start-up ecosystems that has made the biggest leap forward, climbing a further five places to 31st place. This makes the Greater Zurich Area the sixth most attractive environment for start-ups in Europe.

As the author, the global consultancy Startup Genome, writes in its report, Zurich recorded five major exits in the 30 months to the end of 2023. This means 8th place among European ecosystems. The fact that Zurich is a global financial center is also reflected in some of its most recent exits, including that of Crypto Finance, which was acquired by Deutsche Börse Group for 280 million dollars in 2021. SecurionPay, a start-up for mobile payments, was acquired in 2022 for 125 million dollars.

However, the report goes on to say that Zurich also has an up-and-coming life sciences ecosystem. This was demonstrated by the two Series A financings from 2023 for Schlieren-based LimmaTech Biologics AG(40 million dollars) and the artificial intelligence start-up Laza Medical(36 million dollars).

The value of the Zurich ecosystem for the period from 2021 to 2023 is estimated at 45.94 billion dollars. The report awarded it four out of ten possible points for this. In the start-up success category, Zurich receives six points and is only surpassed by significantly better-placed regions worldwide, and in Europe only by London (rank 2) and Stockholm (rank 23).

Silicon Valley remains in first place, ahead of London and New York City, which together occupy second place. Tel Aviv and Los Angeles share 4th place. The report is based on data from 4.5 million start-ups in 300 global ecosystems. ce/mm