ETH spin-offs put to the test

ETH Zurich carried out the study in cooperation with the University of St Gallen. These are the main conclusions:

With its 429 spin-offs, ETH Zurich makes a significant contribution to Switzerland’s innovative strength by transforming scientific knowledge and new technologies into marketable innovations.

The majority (95.1 per cent) of ETH Zurich spin-offs still have their headquarters in Switzerland, with most of them in their home canton of Zurich (75.7 per cent). This has a direct impact on the local economy, as the spin-offs that were analysed have created a total of four and a half thousand jobs, or 31 jobs per spin-off on average. Almost half of the total number of jobs were created in the electrical engineering and electronics sector although they account for only one tenth of all companies. This sector also has the largest number of patents, thereby contributing the most to local innovation.

The equity value of close to CHF 5 billion that ETH spin-offs have generated to date demonstrate how successfully research has been transformed into business ideas. The biotech and pharmaceutical sector is by far the strongest fundraiser, which suggests that this sector has the highest need for venture capital and is attractive to investors.

The ETH Zurich spin-offs have a significantly higher five-year survival rate (93 per cent) than the Swiss average. It takes an average of 7.4 years for the founders to exit a start-up through a trade sale or IPO.

Another fact that stands out is that spin-offs funded by the ETH Pioneer Fellowship Programme were sold over three times more than other spin-offs. If you would like to learn more or support this programme, get in touch with ETH Industry Relations.

Overall, this study indicates that ETH spin-offs are based on fundamentally sound and innovative ideas, achieve substantial growth and contribute significantly to the economy.