Only 36.3% of 2,400 Swiss surveyed by Fribourg’s School of Management felt they were capable of creating a new company. This is the lowest level of confidence since 2012, say authors of the report which fed into the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2018/19External link. Only Italians were less confident among the 15 high-income countries surveyed, with Canadians and Americans at the top (little over 55%).
The fear of failure has also increased by 10 percentage points compared to 2017. Overall, only 7.4% of Swiss participated in entrepreneurial activities in 2018 compared to an average of 10.4% across all 15 countries surveyed. Among 18-24-year-olds only 2.2% were involved in entrepreneurial activity, the lowest among countries surveyed and well below the average of 9.5%.
The silver lining in the Swiss startup scene was the quality of the startups. The proportion of companies which were founded as a result of good opportunities was above average (67.6%), while those created out of necessity accounted for only 13.9%.
“This explains why founders tend to have high growth expectations: one-third would like to hire six or more people in the next five years,” says the report.
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First-half investment in Swiss start-ups doubles to more than CHF1 billion
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Venture capital investment in Swiss start-ups doubled during the first half of 2019 to exceed CHF1 billion ($1.01 billion).
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More Swiss soldiers involved in accidents during training in Austria
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The Swiss army has reported various accidents involving Swiss soldiers during the exercise “TRIAS 25” in Austria. Some have led to hospitalisations.
Swiss court rules vegan meat substitutes can’t use animal names
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Vegan meat substitutes may not bear animal names such as “planted.chicken” according to a ruling by the Swiss Federal Supreme Court.
Swiss cantons spared duty to create new traveller transit sites
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Swiss cantons will no longer be formally obliged by the government to create new transit sites for the travelling community.
Swiss politicians bemoan limited access to EU treaty details
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Protests that only a few Swiss parliamentarians will be able to read the contents of a new agreement negotiated with the EU.
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For the first time, most Swiss residents favour withdrawing their pension pot as a lump-sum over regular annuity payments.
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The cost of buying a home in Switzerland rose by 4.1% year-on-year in the last quarter and by 0.7% compared to the previous three months.
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Swiss start-ups to benefit from multi-million fund
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Start-ups and innovative small and medium-sized businesses are to be encouraged to stay in Switzerland thanks to a new fund.
Fintech and fake cannabis drive record number of Swiss start-ups
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The year 2017 saw a record number of businesses created in Switzerland, many of them centred in the booming ‘crypto valley’ region.
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