Switzerland maps its sportstech sector – and uses Norway as a benchmark

22 October 2026

Swiss Olympic has released the first Swiss SportsTech Report: 402 companies, an estimated CHF 8 billion in revenue and around 17,000 full-time equivalents. Norway and Australia are its two international benchmarks, with NST Report 2026 providing the Norwegian reference.

Swiss Olympic has released the first Swiss SportsTech Report: 402 companies, an estimated CHF 8 billion in revenue and around 17,000 full-time equivalents. Norway and Australia are its two international benchmarks, with NST Report 2026 providing the Norwegian reference. Switzerland is home to global companies such as On and Sportradar, and to some of the world’s most influential sports organisations. Yet its sportstech sector has lacked a comprehensive national mapping. Swiss Olympic now describes a substantial industry – facing several of the same bottlenecks as Norway. <h2>402 companies – but a thin middle tier</h2> The <a href="https://www.swissolympic.ch/dam/jcr:3a5ce897-5f90-4c2c-8251-9ba66503cc8d/Swiss_Sports_Tech_Report_2026.18e63b327fec88ad558c7090c84834cf.pdf">Swiss SportsTech Report 2026</a> was prepared by Mike Kurt on behalf of Swiss Olympic, together with PwC Switzerland and generis. It draws on a mapping of companies across all 26 cantons, a survey with 162 responses and more than 30 expert interviews. Supporters include cantonal economic development agencies, FIFA, the Lausanne Olympic Capital Foundation, Infront Sports & Media and Swiss Venture Club. The report describes a sector whose estimated revenue is comparable in scale to Swiss biotechnology. The biggest names carry considerable weight: according to the report, On and Sportradar alone account for roughly half of sector revenue. Below them, the picture is different. Three quarters of survey respondents generate less than CHF 1 million in sport-related revenue. The middle tier between many small firms and a few global leaders is thin. The figures are not a complete census of the sector’s finances. Revenue and employment rely on estimates, extrapolation of survey data and analysis of the largest companies. For businesses headquartered and strategically managed in Switzerland, global sportstech revenue is included. The CHF 8 billion therefore does not describe sales in the Swiss domestic market alone. <h2>Norway is one of two benchmark countries</h2> The international comparison is limited to Australia and Norway. It uses published reports from the Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) and Norwegian Sport Tech. Norway’s reference is NST’s first national report, released in 2026; no separate Norwegian interviews were conducted for the Swiss study. Shared use of ASTN’s framework provides an interesting starting point. The report estimates 45 sportstech companies per million inhabitants in Switzerland, compared with 34 in Australia and 32 in Norway. This is not a precise league table. NST uses a broader definition than the Swiss mapping, and the underlying evidence and measurement periods also differ. The report stresses that the comparisons indicate direction and order of magnitude rather than fully comparable national statistics. <h2>A shared challenge: moving from start-up to international growth</h2> The maturity assessment is more interesting than company density. The report places Switzerland and Norway at the development-to-growth boundary in ASTN’s sector lifecycle framework. Switzerland’s position is the authors’ own estimate, not an independent assessment. Norway’s placement draws on NST’s comparison with Australia’s earlier development. Both countries are described as having access to grants and early-stage capital, but weaker access to the larger funding rounds needed for international scaling. The report also identifies visibility, coordination and research-to-market transfer as shared challenges. According to the report, Switzerland has no dedicated sportstech fund. The authors note that creating such a fund is a central Norwegian recommendation and contrast this with Australia’s AO Ventures, described as a USD 30 million fund launched in 2025. They also stress that Australia’s funding gap has not thereby been resolved. <h2>A Swiss advantage – and a familiar Norwegian experience</h2> Switzerland has a particular advantage: around 60 international sports federations and organisations, including major institutions such as the IOC, FIFA and UEFA. The report recommends a national sportstech organisation connecting regional ecosystems, research, sport and capital, while preparing a dedicated financing instrument. A possible Swiss Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2038 is presented as a catalyst for testing, demand and international visibility – not as an event already awarded. <blockquote>“It is encouraging to see NST Report 2026 used as a reference in such thorough work. The fact that Switzerland, with all its advantages, describes the same bottlenecks as us confirms that growth capital, visibility and the connection between research and the market are what we need to address in Norway too. It also strengthens the case for making this kind of mapping comparable across countries,” says Håvard Bjor, chair of Norwegian Sport Tech.</blockquote> NST is working with ASTN, Swiss Olympic and Nordic and Baltic sister organisations on a shared framework for sportstech mapping. Such an evidence base can make it easier to distinguish national characteristics from challenges that countries can tackle together. <a href="https://www.swissolympic.ch/verbaende/foerderung-unterstuetzung/Innovation-Hub">Read more and download the report from Swiss Olympic.</a> Hero image: Swiss SportsTech Report 2026. Swiss Olympic, PwC and generis. Photo: Keystone SDA.