Switzerland is the world's most deep tech-focused economy. And we're part of it
The Swiss Deep Tech Report 2026 was launched on the 17th of June 2026 at VivaTech in Paris.
When Apheros was founded in Baden in 2023, we weren't just building a product. We were making a bet on Switzerland as the right place to build deep hardware for AI infrastructure. The Swiss Deep Tech Report 2026, released at VivaTech in Paris, validates that bet in numbers we find hard to argue with.
Switzerland directs more VC to deep tech than any country on Earth
63%. That's the share of all Swiss venture capital that goes into deep tech, the highest of any country in the world, ahead of China (56%) and the United States (54%). At $1,470 invested per capita, Switzerland ranks among the top three nations globally alongside Israel and the US, and nearly doubles the per capita rate of Germany and the UK.
Total deep tech funding reached a record $2.6 billion in 2025, up nearly 5x from a decade ago.
ETH Zürich leads Europe in deep tech spinouts
Apheros has its roots in ETH Zurich research, and the report puts that lineage in context. ETH and EPFL rank first among all European universities in deep tech spinout creation, outpacing Cambridge, Oxford, and every other institution on the continent. Since 2020, ETH has produced 192 alumni-founded European deep tech companies; EPFL 94.
"The companies that will define the coming decades are being built in Switzerland right now."
We think that's true of thermal management infrastructure for AI, a problem that's growing faster than the industry's ability to solve it.
Apheros is named in the Future of Compute section
We're glad to have a place in this year's report. Apheros is listed among the Future of Compute companies to watch, specifically under the description: "Metal foam cooling for AI data centers, Zurich."
The Future of Compute segment is one of the fastest-moving in the Swiss ecosystem, with over 60 VC-backed startups, $817M in funding since 2020, and 2026 already breaking records at $267M raised year-to-date.
The AI race is a thermal race
The report describes the current moment as an inflexion point. AI infrastructure demand is growing at a pace that makes energy and compute efficiency existential concerns.
We'd add one layer to that: it's also a thermal race. Metal foam-based liquid cooling delivers the thermal performance that next-generation AI hardware requires, at a density and efficiency that conventional cold plate designs can't match.
Switzerland, with its precision manufacturing heritage and world-class materials science base, is well placed to lead here. We intend to.
Momentum you can't manufacture
Beyond the numbers, the Swiss Deep Tech Report 2026 captures something harder to quantify: momentum. Global AI labs are opening research centers here. Top founders and operators are relocating. Foreign investors now supply 88% of Swiss deep tech funding for rounds above $100M.
For a three-year-old company building thermal infrastructure for the AI era, being named in this report is a meaningful marker. But we're more focused on what the ecosystem it describes makes possible: the talent, the research base, the investor community, and the credibility of building hard technology in one of the world's most deep tech-dense places.
The Swiss Deep Tech Report 2026 was produced by Deep Tech Nation Switzerland, Founderful, Kickfund, Startupticker.ch, and Dealroom.co. Read the full report at deeptechnation.ch. Apheros is mentioned on page 27.