Part-time founders and low interest rates boost Swiss start-ups 

To balance risks against rewards, some Swiss company founders work part-time on their organisations before abandonding their day jobs. Keystone

Start-up creation is gaining momentum in Switzerland thanks to a low-interest rate environment and a spike in part-time company founders entering the market. 

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From January to the end of October this year, a total of 36,590 new companies were entered in the Swiss Commercial Register according to the startups.ch platform. 

The number of new entries in the commercial register had thus risen by 2.75 percent compared with the same period last year. 

The record numbers are attributed to the rise of part-time company founders: individuals who manage their company on a part-time basis while holding another job to guarantee a steady income.   

This approach allows founders to reduce or increase their conventional workload depending on the success of the start-up. This trend can be observed above all in the online trade business and increasingly also in the handicraft sector. 

Low interest rates 

Another reason for growth in the start-up sector is the low interest rate environment. This makes investors increasingly willing to put money into start-up companies. According to startup.ch, low interest rates will guarantee continued growth in the start-up scene in the coming years. 

Looking at the individual regions of Switzerland, it is also clear that the western canton of Vaud continues to enjoy great popularity among start-ups. Some 3,886 new entries had been registered there by the end of October, an increase of 6.9 percent compared with the same period last year.  

Eastern Switzerland has also become more attractive. The canton of St Gallen, for example, had 1,920 start-ups, an increase of almost 11 percent. 

Zug, otherwise known as Switzerland’s Crypto Valley, is suffering a reversal of fortunes. The western canton saw 10 percent fewer entries over the past ten months relative to the same period in 2018.