CHF 40,000 for simple aerial transportation, recyclable electronics, and miniaturized hardware for quantum computing
24.06.2025
Avientus, Circelec, and YQuantum were selected at Venture Kick's second financial and entrepreneurial support stage. Their projects build fully electric VTOL drones and autonomous ground stations; manufacture recyclable electronics for the circular economy; and develop compact, integrated cryogenic hardware essential for scaling quantum systems.
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 Avientus: CEO Johannes Aicher
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 Circelec: CTO Nicolas Fumeaux & CEO James Bourely
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 YQuantum: CEO Christian Jünger, CTO Johannes Herrmann, & Scientific Advisor Christian Schönenberger
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Avientus: Making Aerial Transportation Simple
Current logistics solutions for urgent deliveries rely on costly, slow, or infrastructure-heavy methods like express couriers or helicopters. These are inefficient for smaller payloads, leading to high costs, CO2 emissions, and significant downtime in critical industries.
Four ETH Zurich alumni tackle this problem with Avientus, a same-hour aerial delivery network. They build fully electric VTOL drones and autonomous ground stations. Their system offers an unmatched payload-to-weight ratio and gives their customers the flexibility to drop off/pick up packages without the drone present. The patent-pending design enables flexible, sustainable logistics for industries and remote regions, as well as air bridges in disaster zones. With their solution, Avientus addresses a USD 17.6B market covering industrial, emergency, and offshore logistics.
Avientus will use Venture Kick funding to validate its value proposition and improve its business model.
Circelec: Manufacturing recyclable electronics for the circular economy
More than 4 million tons of printed circuit boards (PCBs) will become electronic waste globally this year, with only 22% properly recycled. Current PCB production relies on harmful chemicals and non-biodegradable materials, contributing to severe environmental challenges. Circelec addresses this issue by creating recyclable circuit boards, fostering a sustainable circular economy.
Circelec was co-founded by EPFL alumni Dr. Nicolas Fumeaux (CTO) and Dr. James Bourely (CEO). With its patent-pending technology, Circelec uses innovative additive manufacturing to print zinc onto eco-friendly substrates like paper, wood, or biopolymer, producing cost-effective, RFID tags and low-complexity PCBs. Initially targeting the $10B RFID market (11% CAGR), Circelec plans to expand to the USD 100B PCB industry.
The Venture Kick funds will contribute to validating the technology and ideally position Circelec for pilot projects with industrial partners.
YQuantum: Miniaturizing Hardware for Quantum Computing
YQuantum is solving a critical bottleneck in quantum computing: the lack of scalable cryogenic hardware. Without miniaturized, high-performance components, today’s quantum computers cannot scale into powerful, commercially viable systems for pharma, finance, and beyond.
Founded by Dr. Christian Jünger, Dr. Johannes Herrmann, and Prof. Christian Schönenberger, YQuantum brings deep expertise from UC Berkeley, ETH Zurich, and the University of Basel. The company develops compact, integrated cryogenic hardware essential for scaling quantum systems. YQuantum recently submitted its first patent, protecting a key breakthrough in the integration of microwave filters. Backed by early traction and partnerships, YQuantum is targeting a CHF 250M obtainable market within a global sector projected to reach CHF 5B by 2035.
The Venture Kick funds will help refine YQuantum’s B2B market strategy while supporting IP development and customer acquisition to solidify its position in the quantum hardware market. www.yquantum.ch
Current logistics solutions for urgent deliveries rely on costly, slow, or infrastructure-heavy methods like express couriers or helicopters. These are inefficient for smaller payloads, leading to high costs, CO2 emissions, and significant downtime in critical industries.
Four ETH Zurich alumni tackle this problem with Avientus, a same-hour aerial delivery network. They build fully electric VTOL drones and autonomous ground stations. Their system offers an unmatched payload-to-weight ratio and gives their customers the flexibility to drop off/pick up packages without the drone present. The patent-pending design enables flexible, sustainable logistics for industries and remote regions, as well as air bridges in disaster zones. With their solution, Avientus addresses a USD 17.6B market covering industrial, emergency, and offshore logistics.
Avientus will use Venture Kick funding to validate its value proposition and improve its business model.
Circelec: Manufacturing recyclable electronics for the circular economy
More than 4 million tons of printed circuit boards (PCBs) will become electronic waste globally this year, with only 22% properly recycled. Current PCB production relies on harmful chemicals and non-biodegradable materials, contributing to severe environmental challenges. Circelec addresses this issue by creating recyclable circuit boards, fostering a sustainable circular economy.
Circelec was co-founded by EPFL alumni Dr. Nicolas Fumeaux (CTO) and Dr. James Bourely (CEO). With its patent-pending technology, Circelec uses innovative additive manufacturing to print zinc onto eco-friendly substrates like paper, wood, or biopolymer, producing cost-effective, RFID tags and low-complexity PCBs. Initially targeting the $10B RFID market (11% CAGR), Circelec plans to expand to the USD 100B PCB industry.
The Venture Kick funds will contribute to validating the technology and ideally position Circelec for pilot projects with industrial partners.
YQuantum: Miniaturizing Hardware for Quantum Computing
YQuantum is solving a critical bottleneck in quantum computing: the lack of scalable cryogenic hardware. Without miniaturized, high-performance components, today’s quantum computers cannot scale into powerful, commercially viable systems for pharma, finance, and beyond.
Founded by Dr. Christian Jünger, Dr. Johannes Herrmann, and Prof. Christian Schönenberger, YQuantum brings deep expertise from UC Berkeley, ETH Zurich, and the University of Basel. The company develops compact, integrated cryogenic hardware essential for scaling quantum systems. YQuantum recently submitted its first patent, protecting a key breakthrough in the integration of microwave filters. Backed by early traction and partnerships, YQuantum is targeting a CHF 250M obtainable market within a global sector projected to reach CHF 5B by 2035.
The Venture Kick funds will help refine YQuantum’s B2B market strategy while supporting IP development and customer acquisition to solidify its position in the quantum hardware market. www.yquantum.ch