CHF 40,000 for soft robot manipulators, automated gentle organoid sorting, and smart wind energy
26.08.2024
Helix Robotics, Visienco, and Windworks were selected at Venture Kick's second financial and entrepreneurial support stage. Their projects build a robotic arm platform with cost-effective manufacturing methods and weight-to-payload ratio; develop the Orgadroid to simplify the inspection, sorting, and individualization of large 3D cell models, while keeping those precious samples safe and sound; and offer smart wind energy as a service to help farmers, SMEs, and local authorities achieve energetic independence.
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 Helix Robotics, from left to right: CEO Francesco Stella, CTO-Software Max Polzin, CTO-Hardware Kai Junge, and CSOs Prof. Josie Hughes and Prof. Cosimo Della Santina
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 Visienco: COO Lucie Jandet and CEO Jonas Goldowsky
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 Windworks: Daniel Fernex (CTO) and Sebastien Le Fouest (CEO)
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Helix Robotics: building the first commercial soft robot manipulator
Traditional robotic arms offer precision but falter in safety, particularly for human interaction. Soft robots have long promised safety but have been lacking the precision and reliability necessary to match industrial standards. To bring this technology to the market, the soon-to-be-incorporated company will focus on developing the first commercial soft manipulator, targeting applications such as collaborative food handling and lab automation.
In comparison to the currently available technologies, on top of unmatched safety standards, Helix Robotics’s platform is already uniquely positioned for its cost-effective manufacturing methods and weight-to-payload ratio. The founders have extensive scientific expertise in robotic design and control algorithms- the core competence of Helix Robotics. Francesco Stella, Prof. Josie Hughes (EPFL), and Prof. Della Santina (TU Delft) are the inventors of Helix Robotcs proprietary technology - published in Nature npj Robotics and protected by a European patent. Kai Junge and Max Polzin have recently joined the team to bring experience in industrial-level manufacturing and scale-up.
The Helix Robotics team plans to use the Venture Kick financing to boost their business development and elevate the technology to TRL 5.
Visienco: Bringing automated, gentle organoid sorting to your lab
A newly developed drug today creates costs of USD 1.5 B. To reduce this cost, 3D cell culture models have been established, more relevant in their physiological response than easier structures. Such 3D cell models often come in bulk and mixed quality, thus requiring sorting before being used for drug screening. Visienco offers a sorting device, the Orgadroid, that automates this labor-intensive, tiring task.
The company Visienco, a CSEM spin-off, is currently supported by the CSEMs Accelerator program. The founders Lucie Jandet and Jonas Goldowsky are long-term employees of CSEM and have been working on organoid sorting technologies since 2021. In cooperation with their partners, they developed the Orgadroid to simplify the inspection, sorting, and individualization of large 3D cell models, while keeping those precious samples safe and sound. AI models are used to automatically assess the quality of each organoid based on the brightfield microscope images acquired by the Orgadroid.
With the support of Venture Kick, they will now expand their network of pilot users, scientific advisors, and technology providers to bring the Orgadroid to market. visienco.ch
Windworks: smart wind energy as a service to help farmers, SMEs, and local authorities achieve energetic independence.
Wind power offers the lowest cost of electricity but wind turbines suffer from low social acceptance and the scarcity of exploitable land. PitchMe develops a 30-metre tall vertical-axis wind turbine with orientable wings and 100kW rated power. These turbines are quiet in operation, fauna-friendly, and require only a third of the space compared to traditional turbines.
Windworks is an EPFL spin-off project that launched in October 2023 with a BRIDGE PoC grant, led by Sebastien Le Fouest (CEO) and Daniel Fernex (CTO). Our unique selling proposition is an under-patenting control software that orients the turbine wings in real time to optimize performance and extend the turbine's lifetime in all wind conditions. This control software enables a competitive cost of electricity (~6.5cts/kWh) and a wind turbine payback time of 6.5 years. There is a 12.2 GW yearly demand for new commercial-scale power applications, opening a CHF 17.2 B market size.
The Venture Kick funds will help accelerate our technical development at an industrial scale with wind tunnel testing and improve our visibility and traction.
Traditional robotic arms offer precision but falter in safety, particularly for human interaction. Soft robots have long promised safety but have been lacking the precision and reliability necessary to match industrial standards. To bring this technology to the market, the soon-to-be-incorporated company will focus on developing the first commercial soft manipulator, targeting applications such as collaborative food handling and lab automation.
In comparison to the currently available technologies, on top of unmatched safety standards, Helix Robotics’s platform is already uniquely positioned for its cost-effective manufacturing methods and weight-to-payload ratio. The founders have extensive scientific expertise in robotic design and control algorithms- the core competence of Helix Robotics. Francesco Stella, Prof. Josie Hughes (EPFL), and Prof. Della Santina (TU Delft) are the inventors of Helix Robotcs proprietary technology - published in Nature npj Robotics and protected by a European patent. Kai Junge and Max Polzin have recently joined the team to bring experience in industrial-level manufacturing and scale-up.
The Helix Robotics team plans to use the Venture Kick financing to boost their business development and elevate the technology to TRL 5.
Visienco: Bringing automated, gentle organoid sorting to your lab
A newly developed drug today creates costs of USD 1.5 B. To reduce this cost, 3D cell culture models have been established, more relevant in their physiological response than easier structures. Such 3D cell models often come in bulk and mixed quality, thus requiring sorting before being used for drug screening. Visienco offers a sorting device, the Orgadroid, that automates this labor-intensive, tiring task.
The company Visienco, a CSEM spin-off, is currently supported by the CSEMs Accelerator program. The founders Lucie Jandet and Jonas Goldowsky are long-term employees of CSEM and have been working on organoid sorting technologies since 2021. In cooperation with their partners, they developed the Orgadroid to simplify the inspection, sorting, and individualization of large 3D cell models, while keeping those precious samples safe and sound. AI models are used to automatically assess the quality of each organoid based on the brightfield microscope images acquired by the Orgadroid.
With the support of Venture Kick, they will now expand their network of pilot users, scientific advisors, and technology providers to bring the Orgadroid to market. visienco.ch
Windworks: smart wind energy as a service to help farmers, SMEs, and local authorities achieve energetic independence.
Wind power offers the lowest cost of electricity but wind turbines suffer from low social acceptance and the scarcity of exploitable land. PitchMe develops a 30-metre tall vertical-axis wind turbine with orientable wings and 100kW rated power. These turbines are quiet in operation, fauna-friendly, and require only a third of the space compared to traditional turbines.
Windworks is an EPFL spin-off project that launched in October 2023 with a BRIDGE PoC grant, led by Sebastien Le Fouest (CEO) and Daniel Fernex (CTO). Our unique selling proposition is an under-patenting control software that orients the turbine wings in real time to optimize performance and extend the turbine's lifetime in all wind conditions. This control software enables a competitive cost of electricity (~6.5cts/kWh) and a wind turbine payback time of 6.5 years. There is a 12.2 GW yearly demand for new commercial-scale power applications, opening a CHF 17.2 B market size.
The Venture Kick funds will help accelerate our technical development at an industrial scale with wind tunnel testing and improve our visibility and traction.