02  ·  CAPITAL SELECTION

The independent ranking
for Swiss investors.

Capital Selection evaluates and ranks Swiss investors — VCs, family offices, angels, and CVCs — based on portfolio quality, founder reputation, and ecosystem contribution.

Submit your investor profile  → 🔒  Ranking available from October 2026

Free Completely free of charge  ·  20 minutes  ·  pause at any time

600+ investors pre-listed · Founder-verified reputation scores · Published in NZZ environment · Editorially independent

Three concrete outcomes
for your investor brand.

Capital Selection gives Swiss investors a verified, independent quality signal — built on portfolio data, founder feedback, and ecosystem activity.

Investor Selection Badge

Silver, Gold, Platinum or Diamond — a verified quality signal for your LP presentations, co-investment pitches, and deal-flow communications. Issued only after independent review and founder verification.

See badge levels →
Founder-verified reputation

Your ranking incorporates anonymous feedback from founders you have backed — covering responsiveness, value-add, and follow-on behaviour. The most credible signal in the Swiss ecosystem.

How reputation scoring works →
Curated deal-flow access

Ranked investors receive priority access to the Startup Selection deal-flow pipeline — pre-screened, stage-matched, and sector-filtered. Published in the NZZ media environment and shared with co-investment partners.

View deal-flow details →

Four investor types.
One ranking.

Any investor active in the Swiss startup ecosystem can apply — regardless of AUM, fund size, or country of domicile. The ranking is structured into four investor categories so that comparison is always fair.

Angel Investor

Individual investors deploying personal capital into early-stage Swiss startups.

Min. 3 investments in Swiss startups
Cheque size CHF 10k – 250k
Active in the last 3 years
Venture Capital

Institutional VC funds with a Swiss mandate or significant Swiss portfolio exposure.

Fund size CHF 10M+
Min. 5 Swiss portfolio companies
Seed to Series B focus
Family Office

Single- or multi-family offices with a direct or fund-of-funds allocation to Swiss venture.

AUM CHF 50M+
Min. 3 direct or indirect investments
Swiss or Liechtenstein domicile
Corporate VC / CVC

Corporate venture arms investing strategically into Swiss or Swiss-relevant startups.

Parent company CHF 100M+ revenue
Dedicated investment mandate
Min. 3 portfolio companies

Not sure which category applies to you? The registration form includes a guided self-classification step.


The assessment model
at a glance.

From the first data point to the Selection Status, every evaluation passes through five transparent stages. Investor types are compared exclusively within their own category.

1 Data Collection
Self-Assessment
28 items  ·  Investor team
Weight: 70 %
Founder Feedback
Anonymous  ·  Portfolio founders
Weight: 30 %
Objective Data
Crunchbase  ·  Register  ·  Exits
Validation
2 Points per Item
0 – 10
points per item  ·  bucketed by defined categories
3 Five Sub-Indices
30%
Portfolio
B1.1 – B1.5
25%
Reputation
B2.1 – B2.5
20%
Activity
B3.1 – B3.5
15%
Network
B4.1 – B4.5
10%
Impact
B5.1 – B5.5
4 Overall Score
4 Investor Types
Angel  ·  VC
Family Office  ·  CVC
0 – 100
Overall Score
Weighted average  ·  Compared within investor type only
Focus Sectors
BizTech  ·  HealthTech
DeepTech  ·  Consumer  ·  …
5 Selection Status
Silver
70 – 79.9
Top 30 %
Gold
80 – 89.9
Top 15 %
Platinum
90 – 94.9
Top 5 %
Diamond
≥ 95.0
Top 1 %
Final Score = 0.7 × Self-Assessment + 0.3 × Founder Feedback Mean  (min. 3 verified responses)

Five scoring dimensions

Dimension
Weight
What is measured
Source
Portfolio Quality
30 %
Exit track record, portfolio valuation growth, stage progression of investments
Self + Data
Founder Reputation
25 %
Responsiveness, value-add beyond capital, follow-on behaviour, board conduct
Founder Feedback
Investment Activity
20 %
Deal frequency, cheque size range, co-investment openness, speed to term sheet
Self + Data
Ecosystem Network
15 %
Co-investor relationships, mentor network, accelerator partnerships, community contribution
Self + Expert
Impact & ESG
10 %
ESG policy, diversity of portfolio founders, SDG alignment, reporting transparency
Self + Expert

Four levels.
One clear signal.

Badges are awarded based on your normalised score within your investor category. Only the top performers receive a badge — ensuring the signal stays meaningful for founders and LPs alike.

Silver
Score 70 – 79
Top 30 % of category

Recognised quality — a credible signal for founder pitches and LP communications.

Gold
Score 80 – 89
Top 15 % of category

High-quality investor — actively featured in NZZ media and shared with deal-flow partners.

Platinum
Score 90 – 94
Top 5 % of category

Excellence tier — direct introduction to the Founders Hive co-investment network and ZHAW research programme.

Diamond
Score ≥ 95
Top 1 % of category

The highest investor recognition in the Swiss ecosystem — editorial feature and priority placement in the annual NZZ ranking publication.


Four steps.
20 minutes.

01
Create your free investor profile

Register with your work email. No subscription required. Your profile is private until you choose to publish it. You can represent yourself as an individual or your fund / family office.

02
Complete the self-assessment

Answer structured questions across the five dimensions — portfolio, reputation, activity, network, and impact. You can save your progress and return at any time. Sensitive fields (AUM, LP names) are never published.

03
Founder feedback collection

We invite a random sample of founders from your portfolio to provide anonymous feedback. A minimum of 3 verified responses is required for the reputation dimension to be scored. Founders are contacted directly — you do not select them.

04
Receive your score & badge

Your profile is submitted and reviewed now — your final score and badge will be issued in October 2026. You decide whether to publish your result. If your score is below the Silver threshold, nothing is published without your consent.


You share a lot.
We share nothing.

The assessment requires detailed information about your investment activity. Here is exactly what we do — and do not — do with it.

What we do
  • Store all data on Swiss servers (DSG- and GDPR-compliant)
  • Let you control per field what is visible publicly on your profile
  • Share anonymised aggregate statistics with ZHAW for research
  • Send you a detailed score breakdown for internal use
  • Delete your entire profile within 48 h upon request
What we never do
  • Publish AUM figures, LP names, or fund terms
  • Share raw founder feedback with the investor being rated
  • Sell or license your data to third parties
  • Publish a score below the Silver threshold without your consent
  • Use your data for advertising or profiling purposes

What investors
ask most often.

If your final score is below 70, nothing is published without your explicit consent. You will receive a detailed private breakdown of your score with specific improvement recommendations. You can resubmit after 12 months.
No. Founder feedback is collected anonymously and aggregated. You receive only your overall Founder Reputation sub-score and a thematic summary — never individual responses. This protects founders and ensures honest feedback.
A minimum of 3 verified founder responses is required for the Founder Reputation dimension to be scored. If fewer than 3 responses are received within 30 days, the dimension is weighted down and the remaining four dimensions are re-normalised accordingly.
Yes. You can update factual information (new investments, exits, team changes) at any time before the scoring deadline in September 2026. After scoring, updates are reflected in the next annual cycle.
Yes, if you have made at least 3 investments in startups operating in Switzerland in the last 5 years. The ranking covers the Swiss startup ecosystem, not just Swiss-domiciled investors. Foreign investors with significant Swiss exposure are explicitly included.

READY TO APPLY?

Get your investor profile ranked.
Free. In 20 minutes.

Create your profile, complete the assessment, and receive your Selection Badge. You decide whether the result goes public — no risk, no cost.

Submit your investor profile  →

Pause at any time  ·  DSG- & GDPR-compliant

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600+ Swiss investors already pre-listed