After two years of decline, the Swiss fintech market is rebounding, driven by larger and more mature fintech companies looking to scale their operations.

A new report by PwC reveals that Swiss fintech activity is returning to pre-2022 levels, with strong Q1 2025 numbers indicating a trend reversal.

In Q1 2025, Swiss fintech companies secured a total of US$156.6 million in equity funding, almost reaching the full-year 2024 level of US$197.8 million, and allowing for a positive outlook for this year. This amount was secured through just eight transactions, indicating that rounds were significantly larger in size during the first part of 2025 and mostly involved more established fintech companies.

Swiss fintechs embrace B2B models

The report shares results of an industry survey of approximately 50 of the most significant fintech companies in the Swiss fintech sector.

This study reveals that in Switzerland, business-to-business (B2B) fintech is becoming the dominant model, driven by growing demand from businesses for tailored financial solutions. Unlike business-to-consumer (B2C) models, which often rely on smaller profit margins and face higher customer acquisition costs, B2B fintech companies secure more valuable, long-term partnerships.

Furthermore, the Swiss B2C fintech sector, which includes digital wallets, payment apps and neobanks, has become highly competitive and saturated, further prompting new entrants to shift their focus to B2B opportunities.

Among surveyed firms, 52% focus exclusively on corporate clients, while 36% serve both businesses and consumers, reflecting B2B’s increasing dominance.

Strategic partnerships

Regardless of their preferred customer type, the study also shows that fintech companies place significant emphasis on strategic partnerships. These play a critical role in expanding the customer base by enhancing brand visibility and credibility through partners’ networks and reputations.

Referral programs and word-of-mouth marketing are also highly effective, with 57% of fintech companies recognizing their value. These incentivize existing customers to refer new ones, allowing fintech companies to capitalize on trust and personal recommendations.

Less common approaches include digital marketing campaigns (27%), content marketing and thought leadership (24%), and targeted advertising and audience segmentation (20%).

Expansion focused on EMEA and Asia

The study reveals that Swiss fintech companies mostly serve the domestic market, and the broader European continent. Currently, 92% of these fintech companies serve clients in Switzerland, and 66% in the broader Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.

To increase their client base and market share, three quarters of the Swiss fintech companies surveyed are planning to expand, with preferred regions being EMEA (67%) and Asia (56%). Only a minority aim to expand to the Americas (39%).

Reasons for lower appetite for American markets include the regulatory environment in the US, which requires substantial resources and compliance expertise. Moreover, interviews with fintech representatives revealed that the need to disclose confidential client data to US authorities discourages them from entering the market.

The US fintech market is also intensely competitive, with US-based companies frequently enjoying access to extensive funding, giving them a considerable advantage over new entrants from Europe. As a result, successfully entering the US market from Europe is challenging and deters many European players.

In contrast, growth opportunities in Asia appear more appealing. Countries like China and India offer vast potential due to their large, underbanked populations and rapid adoption of digital financial services. Furthermore, favorable regulatory environments and economic dynamism in Asia present more lucrative opportunities for Swiss fintech companies to expand their reach and impact.

Finally, the motivations for expanding to EMEA relate to convenience, and include geographic proximity, regulatory similarities, and shared cultural and linguistic ties.

Funding remains a priority

Since the survey sample focused on more mature fintech companies in the growth or expansion stage, a majority of respondents (67%) indicated looking for additional funding.

For 57% of these fintech companies, venture capital (VC) funds and private equity (PE) funds represent the preferred funding source. Corporate ventures, typically acting as strategic investors, represent another attractive funding source favored by 18% of participants.

According to 74% of the fintech representatives surveyed, the best way to attract and retain these investors is a strong value proposition combined with a competitive advantage. 70% also believe that demonstrated financial performance and growth potential are essential when seeking financial support.

Among the 33% of surveyed fintech companies that are currently not seeking investor support, some have already obtained funding recently, whereas others prefer to pursue steady growth by reinvesting their own profits to prevent share dilution. Moreover, some companies do not require further funding due to the limited scalability of their Swiss market-specific business model. This is the case, for example, of fintech companies offering solutions that relate to the Swiss pension system.

These findings suggest promising investment opportunities on the horizon as numerous Swiss fintech companies seek PE and VC for expansion.

Findings from PwC’s Swiss fintech survey align with this year’s IFZ Fintech Study by the Institute of Financial Services Zug (IFZ), which found that the Swiss fintech sector is reaching a point of saturation, prompting companies to shift their focus towards international expansion and B2B opportunities.

Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Switzerland, based on image by thanyakij-12 via Freepik