CHF 40,000 for new liquid biopsy of cancer, next-gen systemic risk intelligence for pharma, and microsized-mediated healthcare
22.12.2025
CAPTAIM - Apheryon, deRISC, and Parabolis were selected at the second stage of Venture Kick, which provides financial and entrepreneurial support. Their projects enable full-scale tumor profiling for all patients, including those without tumor lesions accessible to classical biopsies or surgery; offer a new generation of systemic risk intelligence for pharmaceutical supply chains; and provide a novel solution towards improving deep vein thrombosis (DVT) treatments
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 CAPTAIM Apheyron: Massimo Saini (Pioneer fellow), Alexander Ring, Andreas Wicki and Nicola Aceto (Co-inventors)
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 deRISC: Giona Casiraghi, Georges Andres, and Luca Verginer
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 Parabolis: Co-founders Yimo Yan & Josh Mesfin
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CAPTAIM - Apheryon: Next-generation liquid biopsy of cancer
Most cancer patients still lack access to personalized vaccines because traditional biopsies are invasive, risky, or unfeasible. This exclusion limits precision oncology and leaves a large patient segment without tailored therapeutic options.
Founded by scientists and clinicians from ETH Zurich and University Hospital Zurich, Apheryon AG is developing CAPTAIM as its main product, a next-generation liquid biopsy using cytapheresis and microfluidics to isolate millions of circulating tumor cells (CTCs). CAPTAIM enables full-scale tumor profiling for all patients, including those without tumor lesions accessible to classical biopsies or surgery. Targeting the USD 12B liquid biopsy market, it expands eligibility for cancer vaccines and precision therapies, offering a breakthrough diagnostic bridge between oncology clinics and pharma.
The Venture Kick funds will cover incorporation costs for Apheryon AG, including expert legal support from a leading Swiss firm to draft the shareholders’ agreement, along with notary fees and overhead—securing cofounder alignment and a solid launch framework.
deRISC: Systemic risk intelligence for pharmaceutical supply chains
Pharmaceutical supply chains are fragile and opaque. Local shocks such as factory shutdowns, transport bottlenecks, or trade restrictions cascade globally, leading to medicine shortages and costly disruptions. Yet today’s tools overlook the systemic interdependencies that determine how risks spread.
Founded by ETH Zurich researchers Dr. Georges Andres, Dr. Giona Casiraghi, and Dr. Luca Verginer, deRISC provides a new generation of systemic risk intelligence for pharmaceutical supply chains. Its innovation lies in combining a global map of medicines, manufacturers, and production pathways with proprietary systemic risk models. This enables the simulation of disruption cascades, the detection of hidden risks, and the quantification of systemic vulnerabilities. By focusing on pharma-specific interdependencies and enabling decentralized, federated resilience estimation, deRISC offers the industry a collaborative platform to anticipate shortages and strengthen supply security. Positioned within the rapidly growing supply chain risk management and digital intelligence market (>CHF 10B), deRISC aims to become the new standard for resilience in pharma.
The Venture Kick funds will support the development of deRISC’s business model and the advancement of pilot projects with industry partners.
Parabolis: Pioneering Microsized-Mediated, Smart Healthcare
Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) affects 10 million individuals worldwide each year, with a global treatment market of up to USD 2.03 billion in 2034. Given that DVT treatments, thrombolytics, are given frequently and in high doses, we have engineered a novel solution to enhance DVT treatment. Starting with DVT, we plan to expand to other cardiovascular diseases to target the global thrombosis market.
Parabolis has two co-founders: Yimo Yan and Josh Mesfin. Yimo has microfluidics and microsized materials experience. Josh has biomaterial design and cardiovascular translational research experience. Here, we have made a novel solution towards improving DVT treatments.
The Venture Kick funds will contribute towards preclinical trials and reiterating our business plan formulations.
Most cancer patients still lack access to personalized vaccines because traditional biopsies are invasive, risky, or unfeasible. This exclusion limits precision oncology and leaves a large patient segment without tailored therapeutic options.
Founded by scientists and clinicians from ETH Zurich and University Hospital Zurich, Apheryon AG is developing CAPTAIM as its main product, a next-generation liquid biopsy using cytapheresis and microfluidics to isolate millions of circulating tumor cells (CTCs). CAPTAIM enables full-scale tumor profiling for all patients, including those without tumor lesions accessible to classical biopsies or surgery. Targeting the USD 12B liquid biopsy market, it expands eligibility for cancer vaccines and precision therapies, offering a breakthrough diagnostic bridge between oncology clinics and pharma.
The Venture Kick funds will cover incorporation costs for Apheryon AG, including expert legal support from a leading Swiss firm to draft the shareholders’ agreement, along with notary fees and overhead—securing cofounder alignment and a solid launch framework.
deRISC: Systemic risk intelligence for pharmaceutical supply chains
Pharmaceutical supply chains are fragile and opaque. Local shocks such as factory shutdowns, transport bottlenecks, or trade restrictions cascade globally, leading to medicine shortages and costly disruptions. Yet today’s tools overlook the systemic interdependencies that determine how risks spread.
Founded by ETH Zurich researchers Dr. Georges Andres, Dr. Giona Casiraghi, and Dr. Luca Verginer, deRISC provides a new generation of systemic risk intelligence for pharmaceutical supply chains. Its innovation lies in combining a global map of medicines, manufacturers, and production pathways with proprietary systemic risk models. This enables the simulation of disruption cascades, the detection of hidden risks, and the quantification of systemic vulnerabilities. By focusing on pharma-specific interdependencies and enabling decentralized, federated resilience estimation, deRISC offers the industry a collaborative platform to anticipate shortages and strengthen supply security. Positioned within the rapidly growing supply chain risk management and digital intelligence market (>CHF 10B), deRISC aims to become the new standard for resilience in pharma.
The Venture Kick funds will support the development of deRISC’s business model and the advancement of pilot projects with industry partners.
Parabolis: Pioneering Microsized-Mediated, Smart Healthcare
Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) affects 10 million individuals worldwide each year, with a global treatment market of up to USD 2.03 billion in 2034. Given that DVT treatments, thrombolytics, are given frequently and in high doses, we have engineered a novel solution to enhance DVT treatment. Starting with DVT, we plan to expand to other cardiovascular diseases to target the global thrombosis market.
Parabolis has two co-founders: Yimo Yan and Josh Mesfin. Yimo has microfluidics and microsized materials experience. Josh has biomaterial design and cardiovascular translational research experience. Here, we have made a novel solution towards improving DVT treatments.
The Venture Kick funds will contribute towards preclinical trials and reiterating our business plan formulations.