How to Start a Crowdfunding Company in Switzerland

Define the funding model

A crowdfunding company should decide whether contributors donate, receive a product or reward, lend to a project or acquire an investment. The platform’s legal role matters as much as the project owner’s: it may introduce parties, arrange contracts, receive money, hold it pending a funding condition or decide how and when it is released.

Write down the user journey from campaign publication to final settlement. Identify the platform’s promises to contributors, the project owner’s obligations, how refunds work and who bears losses if a project fails. Our guides to FINMA licensing versus SRO supervision, Swiss financial licence categories and the FINMA authorisation process explain the regulatory distinctions that can matter once the model is clear.

Map money and responsibility

A crowdfunding company should map each movement of money and identify the account holder, beneficial owner, payment provider and party with authority to release funds. Record whether money goes directly from a contributor to a project owner or passes through an account controlled by the platform. The practical distinction can affect the banking and AML analysis.

Keep client money and company operating funds clearly distinguished in the platform’s records and contracts. Explain when a contribution becomes available to the project, how failed campaigns are refunded, how disputes are handled and what happens if the platform or a payment provider becomes unavailable.

Assess licensing and supervision by activity

A crowdfunding company should assess the actual services it provides rather than assume that a platform is unregulated because it uses a technology interface. Accepting deposits, arranging or granting loans, dealing in financial instruments, managing assets or providing payment services may raise different licensing questions. A platform may also have AML duties if its activity makes it a financial intermediary.

As of November 2026, the FinTech licence in Article 1b of the Banking Act permits a qualifying firm to accept public deposits up to CHF 100 million, provided the deposits are not invested and do not bear interest. This is a defined licence route, not a universal crowdfunding threshold or an exemption for every platform below that amount. The regulatory assessment should also consider any securities, collective-investment, payment and AML features of the service.

Make the assessment before launch and keep it current when products, contracts, payment paths or customer groups change. A platform that adds lending or investment functionality may change its legal perimeter even if its website still describes the service as crowdfunding.

Choose the company and operating structure

A Swiss crowdfunding company should select its legal form and seat around ownership, financing, governance and the place where the platform will actually be managed. The articles and company documents should describe the intended activity accurately without implying that registration itself grants a financial authorisation.

Assign responsibility for campaign approval, client onboarding, funds reconciliation, customer complaints, data security and regulatory reporting. The board should receive information that allows it to see whether the platform’s activities remain inside the assessed model and whether a change needs a fresh review.

Prepare the platform for launch

A crowdfunding platform’s launch file should include user and project-owner terms, campaign approval standards, a funds-flow diagram, payment-provider agreements, onboarding checks, accounting procedures, complaints handling and incident response. If the business is supervised, its policies and records should demonstrate how the platform follows the rules that apply to its model.

Test the process from both sides of a campaign. Confirm what information contributors receive, how project owners prove their identity and authority, how a campaign is paused, and how payments and refunds reconcile to the ledger. Keep a record of who approves exceptions and how the company resolves incomplete or inconsistent information.

When this does not apply

A crowdfunding platform operating in Switzerland falls within this guide’s scope. A project owner raising funds directly, a charity receiving donations, a bank distributing loans or an investment firm managing a collective scheme may have a different role and regulatory analysis. The platform should assess each service it actually performs before relying on a description used in marketing.

Complete the perimeter review before taking funds

A company should document its model, money flows, customer contracts and regulatory reasoning before it accepts contributions or arranges investments. The FINMA and financial-licensing guides provide the wider Swiss context; the specific route depends on the platform’s own activities.