Startup Selection Switzerland
Ranking Categories › Startup Selection
01  ·  STARTUP SELECTION

Do you know where your startup
really stands?

The independent, scientifically grounded ranking for Swiss startups — benchmarked fairly within your stage and sector.

Submit my startup profile  → 🔒  Ranking available from October 2026

Free Completely free of charge  ·  15 minutes  ·  pause at any time

Scientific methodology (ZHAW) · Editorially independent · Published in NZZ environment · 5,000+ startups pre-listed

WHAT YOU GAIN

Three concrete outcomes
for your next phase.

Selection Badge

Silver, Gold, Platinum or Diamond — a verified quality signal for your pitch deck, website, and investor conversations. Issued only after independent expert review.

See badge levels →

Visibility for investors & partners

Your ranked profile is published in the NZZ media environment and actively used by Swiss investors, accelerators, and corporates as a curated deal-flow and scouting source.

View partner network →

Honest peer benchmark

Your score is calculated exclusively within your stage (Early / Growth / Scale) and sector. A Pre-Seed HealthTech is never compared to a Series B Fintech — ensuring a fair, actionable result.

How benchmarking works →

WHO CAN APPLY

Four stages.
One ranking.

Any startup operating and working in Switzerland can apply — regardless of where it was founded or incorporated. The ranking is structured into four cohorts so that comparison is always fair.

Pre-Seed
Idea validated, no or minimal revenue, team of 1–3 founders
Founded ≤ 2 years ago
Revenue < CHF 50k
No institutional funding
Early
First customers, product-market fit being validated, seed funding
Revenue CHF 50k – 500k
Seed or pre-Series A
Team 3–15 people
Growth
Proven model, scaling operations, Series A or B funding
Revenue CHF 500k – 5M
Series A / B
Team 15–75 people
Scale
Established market position, international expansion, Series C+
Revenue > CHF 5M
Series C or later
Team 75+ people

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

HOW THE RANKING WORKS

The assessment model
at a glance.

From the first item to the Selection Status, every evaluation passes through five transparent stages. Comparisons are made exclusively within the same cohort and sector.

1. DATA COLLECTION
Self-Assessment
32 Items  ·  Founders
Expert Assessment
11 Items  ·  Investors
Objective Data
Funding  ·  Awards  ·  Register
2. POINTS PER ITEM
Scoring 0 – 10 per Item
Bucketing by defined categories
3. FIVE SUB-INDICES
Traction
30 %
A3.1 – A3.5
Team
20 %
A4.1 – A4.5
Funding
20 %
A6.1 – A6.5
Technology
15 %
A5.1 – A5.5
Market
15 %
A2.1 – A2.5
4. OVERALL SCORE
4 Cohorts
by Age
0–2 / 3–5 / 6–10 / 10+
Overall Score (0 – 100)
Weighted average of the five sub-indices
Comparison only within Cohort × Sector
6 Sectors
BizTech  ·  Consumer
MedTech  ·  LifeSci  ·  …
5. SELECTION STATUS
Silver
70 – 79.9
Gold
80 – 89.9
Platinum
90 – 94.9
Diamond
≥ 95.0
— — — — — — — — — — Optional blending: Final Score = 0.7 × Self-Assessment + 0.3 × Expert Mean (from 3+ reviews)
Official assessment model  ·  Startup Selection Switzerland
Self-Assessment
70 %
Structured questionnaire completed by the founding team (approx. 15 min)
+
Expert Review
20 %
3 independent reviewers from the Swiss startup ecosystem (under NDA)
+
Public Data
10 %
Verified external signals: Crunchbase, LinkedIn, patent databases
=
Final Score
0 – 100
Cohort- and sector-normalised percentile rank

Five scoring dimensions

Dimension
Weight
What is measured
Source
Traction
30 %
Revenue growth, customer acquisition, retention, NPS
Self + Data
Team
20 %
Founder experience, domain expertise, team completeness, diversity
Self + Expert
Funding & Financials
20 %
Funding history, runway, burn rate efficiency, investor quality
Self + Data
Technology & IP
15 %
Defensibility, patents, technical differentiation, build vs. buy
Self + Expert + Data
Market & Impact
15 %
TAM/SAM/SOM, competitive positioning, ESG / SDG alignment
Self + Expert

SELECTION BADGES

Four levels.
One clear signal.

Badges are awarded based on your normalised cohort score. Only the top performers in each stage and sector receive a badge — ensuring the signal stays meaningful.

Silver
Score 70 – 79
Top 30 % of cohort

Recognised quality — a solid foundation for investor conversations and ecosystem visibility.

Gold
Score 80 – 89
Top 15 % of cohort

High-potential signal — actively featured in NZZ media and shared with capital partners.

Platinum
Score 90 – 94
Top 5 % of cohort

Excellence tier — direct introduction to Founders Hive investor network and ZHAW partnership programme.

Diamond
Score ≥ 95
Top 1 % of cohort

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

HOW TO APPLY

Four steps.
15 minutes.

01
Create your free profile

Register with your work email. No subscription required. Your profile is private until you choose to publish it.

02
Complete the self-assessment

Answer structured questions across the five dimensions. You can save your progress and return at any time. Sensitive fields (revenue, cap table) are never published.

03
Independent expert review

Three reviewers from the Swiss ecosystem evaluate your submission independently. They sign an NDA and have no access to your confidential financial data.

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.

YOUR DATA

You share a lot.
We share nothing.

The assessment requires detailed information about your startup. 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
  • 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 revenue figures, burn rate, or cap table data
  • Share your raw self-assessment with investors or partners
  • 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

FREQUENTLY ASKED

What founders
ask most often.

Nothing is published without your explicit consent. You receive a private, detailed breakdown showing exactly which dimensions to improve — and you can reapply after 6 months. Many founders use the first result as an internal roadmap before going public.
Reviewers are experienced Swiss startup practitioners — former founders, investors, and operators — selected and vetted by the editorial team. They sign a strict NDA and only see the non-confidential portions of your submission. Revenue figures, cap table, and burn rate are never shared with reviewers.
The self-assessment takes approximately 15 minutes if you have your key metrics at hand. You can save your progress at any point and return later — there is no time limit. Your draft is stored securely until you submit.
Yes. You can update non-scored profile fields (description, team, logo) at any time. To update scored data and trigger a re-evaluation, you can reapply after a 6-month waiting period. This ensures ranking integrity and prevents gaming.
The ranking focuses on the Swiss startup ecosystem. Startups with a Swiss legal entity, a Swiss co-founder, or significant Swiss operations (team, customers, or R&D) are eligible. If you are unsure, the application form includes an eligibility check.

READY TO APPLY?

Get your startup ranked.
Free. In 15 minutes.

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

Submit my startup profile  Pause at any time  ·  DSG- & GDPR-compliant

5,000+ Swiss startups already pre-listed