ETH transfer — ETH Zurich's University-Wide Technology Transfer Office

ETH transfer is ETH Zurich's central technology-transfer office, responsible for clearing intellectual property, negotiating licences and supporting the creation of spin-off companies from research generated across the university's departments. It has operated continuously since 1973.

The office aims to move research generated across ETH Zurich's departments into the market by managing IP, negotiating licences and supporting founders through the spin-off process.

ETH transfer clears intellectual property and negotiates licences on behalf of the university, and supports spin-off creation across departments; the recent spin-off pipeline skews toward biotechnology/pharma and, increasingly, artificial intelligence (ten new AI spin-offs in 2024).

Since 1973, ETH Zurich has produced 620 spin-off companies, including a record-adjacent 37 new spin-offs in 2024 (after an all-time high of 43 in 2023). In 2024 alone, 42 ETH spin-offs raised CHF 425 million from private investors — a year-on-year increase of about 25% — and the cumulative valuation of all ETH spin-offs is estimated at roughly CHF 10 billion. Independent tracking puts the five-year survival rate of ETH spin-offs at 93%, well above the 68% benchmark reported for comparable US university spin-offs.

Founder diversity is only partly disclosed: 45% of founders are Swiss and 18% German, and women co-founded 11 of the 43 spin-offs launched in 2023. No public breakdown of aggregate patent-licensing royalty revenue was found, so the office's income model is less transparent than its output figures — a gap worth flagging for anyone using this as a full accountability benchmark.