CHF 40,000 for AI-driven SaaS for problem detection in industrial inspection processes, expert autonomous systems for expert information delivery, and reshoring
22.04.2025
Flycatcher, UTHEREAL.ai, and Xelerit were selected at Venture Kick's second financial and entrepreneurial support stage. Their projects disrupt the inspection and monitoring environments by providing high detection rates comparable to fine-tuned supervised detection AIs with no need for problems with prior knowledge and 50x less training time; empower experts to turn their content and processes into expert AI companions, "Co-Pilots" for the practitioners and consumers of this expert field; and enable reshoring by making automation faster and cheaper.
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 Flycatcher Co-Founders: Dr. Dario Mantegazza, Dr. Lorenzo Galli, and Elia Cereda
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 UTHEREAL.ai: João Carvalho
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 Xelerit: CEO Federico Martelli, CPO Camilla Mazzoleni, and CTO Riccardo Maggioni
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Flycatcher: AI-driven SaaS for problem detection in complex industrial and transport inspection processes
Traditional and modern inspection methods are expensive and inefficient, often requiring extensive data or expert oversight. In contrast, Flycatcher's solutions model what “normal” looks like for your systems and flag deviations in real-time, without the need for exhaustive historical data or defect knowledge.
Flycatcher was incorporated in 2024 by Co-Founders Dr. Dario Mantegazza, Dr. Lorenzo Galli, and Elia Cereda, now incubated at the USI Startup Centre. The proprietary AI technology is based on Dr. Mantegazza's 4-year research work at IDSIA (USI-SUPSI) on visual unsupervised anomaly detection in complex environments. Already optimized for running on low-power hardware, Flycatcher SaaS disrupts the inspection and monitoring environments by providing high detection rates comparable to fine-tuned supervised detection AIs with no need for problems with prior knowledge and 50x less training time. Flycatcher solutions have already been validated in POCs in the transportation sector for solving problems valued in millions of CHF/year.
The Venture Kick funds will be invested in further market exploration, fair participation, and customer reach. flycatcher.ai
UTHEREAL.ai: Expert Autonomous Systems for Expert Information Delivery
UTHEREAL.ai is on a mission to build intelligent systems that democratize access to expert knowledge and share it with the world. Expert knowledge will be essential in fueling tomorrow’s business processes and will be the foundation of building autonomous AI systems.
The platform empowers experts to turn their content and processes into expert AI companions, "Co-Pilots" for the practitioners and consumers of this expert field. It deploys state-of-the-art AI agents capable of searching, extracting knowledge, and guiding practitioners through complex processes with the ultimate goal of enhancing human productivity or enabling full automation.
UTHEREAL’s technology enables fully interpretable control over the agent design and empowers experts with end-to-end analytics through user engagement, conflicting content analysis, and anomaly reporting. All this is built with IP and privacy protection at its core, and tuned to work in highly specialized fields (e.g., legal and medical).
The Venture Kick funds will support the development of UTHEREAL’s platform scalability to meet the needs of a growing customer base.
Xelerit: Enabling reshoring by making automation faster and cheaper
For years, European firms relentlessly outsourced production, prioritizing cost reduction over strategy. A decade later, China absorbed know-how and outcompeted on price, leaving Western companies squeezed between a cheaper China and a more innovative US. Their only alternative is to reshore to restart innovation, yet both robots and labor remain cheaper in Asia.
Xelerit enables reshoring by making automation faster and cheaper. Its hardware & application-agnostic AI co-pilot for industrial automation firms accelerates robot programming 4x, slashing software costs. With 25% of manufacturers reinvested capital flowing into automation annually, the market exceeds USD 200 B. Behind Xelerit are Camilla Mazzoleni & Riccardo Maggioni (ETH Robotics) and Federico Martelli (HSG SIM).
Venture Kick funds will drive product development in tight iteration loops with clients and users.
Traditional and modern inspection methods are expensive and inefficient, often requiring extensive data or expert oversight. In contrast, Flycatcher's solutions model what “normal” looks like for your systems and flag deviations in real-time, without the need for exhaustive historical data or defect knowledge.
Flycatcher was incorporated in 2024 by Co-Founders Dr. Dario Mantegazza, Dr. Lorenzo Galli, and Elia Cereda, now incubated at the USI Startup Centre. The proprietary AI technology is based on Dr. Mantegazza's 4-year research work at IDSIA (USI-SUPSI) on visual unsupervised anomaly detection in complex environments. Already optimized for running on low-power hardware, Flycatcher SaaS disrupts the inspection and monitoring environments by providing high detection rates comparable to fine-tuned supervised detection AIs with no need for problems with prior knowledge and 50x less training time. Flycatcher solutions have already been validated in POCs in the transportation sector for solving problems valued in millions of CHF/year.
The Venture Kick funds will be invested in further market exploration, fair participation, and customer reach. flycatcher.ai
UTHEREAL.ai: Expert Autonomous Systems for Expert Information Delivery
UTHEREAL.ai is on a mission to build intelligent systems that democratize access to expert knowledge and share it with the world. Expert knowledge will be essential in fueling tomorrow’s business processes and will be the foundation of building autonomous AI systems.
The platform empowers experts to turn their content and processes into expert AI companions, "Co-Pilots" for the practitioners and consumers of this expert field. It deploys state-of-the-art AI agents capable of searching, extracting knowledge, and guiding practitioners through complex processes with the ultimate goal of enhancing human productivity or enabling full automation.
UTHEREAL’s technology enables fully interpretable control over the agent design and empowers experts with end-to-end analytics through user engagement, conflicting content analysis, and anomaly reporting. All this is built with IP and privacy protection at its core, and tuned to work in highly specialized fields (e.g., legal and medical).
The Venture Kick funds will support the development of UTHEREAL’s platform scalability to meet the needs of a growing customer base.
Xelerit: Enabling reshoring by making automation faster and cheaper
For years, European firms relentlessly outsourced production, prioritizing cost reduction over strategy. A decade later, China absorbed know-how and outcompeted on price, leaving Western companies squeezed between a cheaper China and a more innovative US. Their only alternative is to reshore to restart innovation, yet both robots and labor remain cheaper in Asia.
Xelerit enables reshoring by making automation faster and cheaper. Its hardware & application-agnostic AI co-pilot for industrial automation firms accelerates robot programming 4x, slashing software costs. With 25% of manufacturers reinvested capital flowing into automation annually, the market exceeds USD 200 B. Behind Xelerit are Camilla Mazzoleni & Riccardo Maggioni (ETH Robotics) and Federico Martelli (HSG SIM).
Venture Kick funds will drive product development in tight iteration loops with clients and users.