CHF 40,000 for an automated Aerosol InfraRed (AIR) Monitor, a novel heartbeat visualization, and an earth-timber floor slab

AeroSpec: Chemical composition & source analysis of aerosol air pollution
According to the WHO, air pollution is “the world’s largest single environmental health risk”. A key challenge lies in accurately measuring the different chemical components of aerosol air pollution, identifying emission sources, and understanding the potential health effects. Current methods, which are limited and focus on specific elements of pollution, are costly and require expert labor for operation and interpretation. This gap has created a pressing need for a comprehensive, automated monitoring tool.
AeroSpec’s automated Aerosol InfraRed (AIR) Monitor performs the chemical composition analysis and the source signature analysis using a novel aerosol collector and infrared spectroscopy. Additionally, it offers comprehensive and actionable information for data-driven policy-making. AeroSpec targets three primary markets: aerosol researchers, monitoring agencies, and various industries that need to measure emissions. Specifically, they aim to capture the 20% import fraction of the multi-billion-dollar air quality monitoring market, showing robust growth in emerging markets. Founders Dr. Nikunj Dudani, CEO, and Dr. Satoshi Takahama, Scientific Expert, are incubating AeroSpec at EPFL and plan to incorporate it soon.
With a pilot demonstration of the AIR Monitor scheduled for this year, AeroSpec is set to use the Venture Kick funds to conduct a broader customer feedback drive and to expand its team.

Pace Locator: Improving patient care with novel heartbeat visualization.
Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide. However, common diagnostic and treatment tools are limited in their ability to localize cardiac electrical signals in a 3-dimensional nature, leading to both inefficient and ineffective treatment. 
Pace Locator is a noninvasive system that provides real-time, 3D visualization of the origin of cardiac signals. The system is intended to be used during surgical treatment to provide real-time feedback on the effectiveness of the procedure, ensuring optimal treatment for the patient. Additionally, it can be used to diagnose arrhythmia prior to invasive corrective surgery, enabling better procedure planning and ultimately more effective surgery. 
The founding team consists of Emily Thompson, a biomedical engineer with expertise in MedTech QA/RA, and Bruno Stucki, an electrical engineer experienced in agile hardware & software development. Pace Locator is supported by advisors Dr. Marcel Jacomet and Dr. Reto Wildhaber, who provide expertise in electronics design and signal processing. In addition, Pace Locator is continually supported by collaboration with Dr. Med. Tilman Perrin and Dr. med. Udo Meyerfeldt at the Solothurner Bürgerspital. Together, Pace Locator aims to improve the safety of cardiovascular disease treatment by overcoming limitations in state-of-the-art cardiac imaging technology. 
Their participation in the Venture Kick program will play a crucial role in supporting market validation activities, further product development, and team expansion. 

Rematter earth-timber floor slabs: fully circular, lowest in carbon, and price-competitive
Construction accounts for 50% of global resource use and 37% of CO2 emissions. This is mainly due to reinforced concrete, with cement and steel being the world's number one CO2-emitting materials. In buildings, floors account for up to 65% of the structural mass. Floors are typically made of reinforced concrete, which is incredibly unsustainable, and not truly circular, but does perform well. Current timber alternatives are more sustainable but also much more expensive or underperform in terms of fire resistance, and sound insulation, and they lack thermal activation. Across Europe, there is a regulatory push towards sustainability in construction, with bio-based material quotas and carbon caps per square meter of building. Reinforced concrete floors are the biggest lever to achieve sustainability targets. Rematter helps building developers, architects, and civil engineers replace reinforced concrete floor slabs at scale with low-cost, high-performing, 80% less CO2, 60% less embodied energy, and circular and healthy earth-timber alternatives.
Rematter was founded in 2022. Founders and board members include Götz Hilber (Biz Dev), Tobias Bonwetsch (Tec Dev), and Nico Ros (Product Dev) together with the engineers Tobias Huber and Anna Hodel. The earth-timber floor slab is designed to combine the price and performance of reinforced concrete floors with unrivaled sustainability and room climate. Price competitiveness is achieved firstly because Rematter floors can use less timber. This is because the earth protects the timber from fire. Secondly, the earth is 10 times cheaper than concrete and 30 times cheaper than timber. Thirdly, Rematter uses robots to process the earth very efficiently. Performance is measured in fire resistance, sound protection, and payload. Rematter floors are even more sustainable than current timber alternatives because the solution uses less timber, reducing the pressure on the forest biosphere to provide material. Earth is fully circular, abundantly available, and creates a healthy room climate due to its thermal storage capacity and its unique odor-neutralizing and humidity-regulating properties. Rematter is targeting multi-residential buildings and office- and school buildings.  The multi-residential market alone is worth CHF 33 billion per year in selected EU countries. This is the equivalent of 21,000 football pitches annually. 
The Venture Kick stage 2 funds will contribute to boosting the business development and thereby rematter.earth.