Substantial Information about Investors, Start-up Valuation and Exits

The Swiss Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (SECA) is a successful organisation. SECA represents the vast majority of all Swiss private equity and venture capital firms and their advisors. According to a recent study by Boston Consulting Group SECA represents the sixth largest PE/VC association in the world.

The new Yearbook 2013 contains several interesting articles. Maurice Pedergnana, General Secretary of SECA, gives an overview about the VC investments in Switzerland in 2012 and the strength and weaknesses of the Swiss VC scene. A second article discussing those strength and weaknesses is written by Martin Haemmig, who knows several VC markets very well. In his article he compares the situation in Switzerland not only to the situation in the US but also to recent developments in Israel, India and Russia.

These two articles focus on the environment for ambitious start-ups. Two other texts provide insights to important aspects in the life of start-ups: the valuation and the exit.

Jost Renggli, COO and Partner of Venture Valuation, is dealing in his article with the valuation of soft factors. His text contains the assessment approach which Venture Valuation has utilized for more than 250 company valuations. It is a step by step approach including five focus areas: the company’s mission and conditions, the management, the market, the product and technology as well as the financing stage.

The article about exits was written by Peter Letter, Managing Partner of Paprico. He discusses in detail what it needs for a successful exit even if the start-up isn’t a highflyer. Especially interesting is his description of the exit of Swiss Medical System. The medtech company was successfully sold to the SCA Group from Sweden in 2012. Before the sale the development and product strategy was changed drastically to make the start-up more attractive for potential buyers.