Switzerland’s Crowdfunding Market Remains Stable – Without Growth

After the peak year of 2021, the crowdfunding market in Switzerland has settled at its currently achievable level.

Between 2015 and 2021, the crowdfunding market experienced massive year-on-year growth. The peak year of 2021 recorded a volume of almost 792 million Swiss francs—and the leap to a billion-dollar market seemed within reach. 

Things turned out differently: Two years of significant declines of more than 15 percent each brought the crowdfunding market back to just under CHF 559 million. The 2024 results establish this mark as a level apparently currently achievable; the market stabilized at CHF 550 million last year.

The authors of the annual “Crowdfunding Monitor Switzerland” study do not anticipate any major leaps or significant growth in the future. It appears that crowdfunding in Switzerland has reached the level that is feasible in Switzerland. 

The development of the individual segments in Switzerland’s crowdfunding sector

Crowdlending, which is loans to private individuals and companies, remains the largest area, although at CHF 406.1 million it only grew by 2 percent compared to the previous year.

Crowdinvesting has now developed into an alternative financing channel, increasingly used by startups and FinTech companies. Nevertheless, the volume in this segment fell by 11 percent year-on-year to CHF 117.1 million.

Even the smallest segment remains important: crowdfunding and crowddonating. These allow cultural projects, sporting events, or even clubs to be financed with crowd support, which experience shows works quite well. However, in 2024, the volume will be somewhat smaller, with a volume of €27.1 million, which is 7 percent less than in 2023.

The following graph shows the development of the crowdfunding market over the years and the shares of the various sectors.

Who keeps the Swiss crowdfunding market running?

Although there are numerous crowdfunding platforms on the market, a few platforms dominate the market.

There were a total of 38 active crowdfunding platforms in Switzerland at the end of 2024. However, only a few platforms are relevant for the individual sub-areas of crowdfunding.

In crowdsupporting/crowddonating, the four largest platforms achieved a market share of 84 percent.

In crowdlending, the five largest platforms share a market share of 90 percent, and in crowdinvesting, there are only three platforms that can combine a volume of 86 percent of the market.

Overall, more than 23 of the 38 platforms actually financed crowdfunding projects. The remaining platforms handled no projects or only a few.

Swiss crowdfudning sector is reaching limits

The crowdfunding market in Switzerland is reaching its limits relatively early on, and these limits are unlikely to shift significantly in the foreseeable future.

The current report from Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts remains interesting; it shows in detail the structures of the market, the individual market participants and the volumes achieved in the individual segments. 

After all, this is a market that fundamentally has much more potential, without being able to reach and exploit this potential at the moment.

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(Featured image by Gavin Li via Unsplash)

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