CHF 40,000 for thermotherapy devices for Cutaneous Leishmaniasis, optimal platforms to democratize access to space, and a nurse staffing platform
19.10.2023
DermatoTherma, DPhi Space, and WeNurse win Venture Kick's second stage of financial and entrepreneurial support. Their projects make medical-grade thermotherapy devices for health organizations in developing nations worldwide; provide a plug-and-play solution for customers willing to fly their instruments to space; and empower nurses to self-organize on their self-owned staffing platform.
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 DermatoTherma: From left to right CEO Davide Paparo, and CTO Ian Häusler
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 DPhi Space: CTO Michael Linder & CEO Aziz Belkhiria
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 WeNurse: Co-Founders Simon Hodel and Alessia Schrepfer
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DermatoTherma: Medical-grade thermotherapy devices for Cutaneous Leishmaniasis
DermatoTherma aims to solve a failing treatment system for the neglected skin disease Cutaneous Leishmaniasis. A flesh-eating parasite causes the disease, resulting in skin lesions that leave disfiguring, life-long scars that bring severe social stigma, particularly for women and children. Available treatment requires patients to undergo 21 days of painful injections with drugs developed over 70 years ago and commonly compared to chemotherapy.
The startup was founded by CEO Davide Paparo and CTO Ian Häusler at the ZHAW School of Engineering. They developed a new thermotherapy device that enables a 1-time treatment using electromagnetic waves to deliver local heat applications. The heat burns away the parasite, and once the entire lesion has been treated, the natural regeneration system of the human body can take over. The disease is endemic in over 90 nations worldwide, with 12 million currently affected and yearly incidences of 1 million. Their vision is to transform the outdated treatment system and make safer treatment accessible to the 350 million people at risk.
The Venture Kick grant will be used to onboard new team members and support the business and marketing developments.
DPhi Space: Optimal platforms to democratize access to space
DPhi's main focus is to solve the challenge of high costs and complexities associated with deploying payloads into space. The advent of off-the-shelf small satellites represented a pivotal leap in democratizing access to space. The startup leverages the proliferation of this technology to create an even more cost-effective solution with enhanced capabilities. This enables smaller entities to deploy their assets into space within record times and at a lower cost. DPhi's long-term vision is to project Earth's technological achievements into space, transforming the orbit into a direct extension of our planet.
The startup is a spinoff from the Swiss Institute EPFL with Founders including CEO Aziz Belkhiria and CTO Michael Linder. During their tenure at the EPFL Spacecraft Team, they managed to launch and operate a computer from space, marking the return of EPFL to orbit for more than a decade. Together with a team of engineers; Joaquim Silveira and Saverio Nasturzio, they are developing the ridesharing platform built on the heritage of their first mission. This platform is designed to provide a plug-and-play solution for customers willing to fly their instruments to space. Moreover, it strives to introduce technologies previously deemed unsuitable for space applications, thereby contributing to the foundational phase of Earth's extension: launch and operations.
The Venture Kick funds will help the team in the preparation of the maiden flight that will accommodate the first riders to low earth orbit.
WeNurse: Staffing agency owned by the working nurses
Due to the shortage of qualified nursing staff, not all departments of hospitals or nursing homes can be operated at the moment. The danger of medical underuse is increasing. WeNurse has set itself the goal of keeping nursing professionals in the profession or bringing back dropouts with a new form of work.
WeNurse is a temporary staffing agency to hire nurses for the Swiss healthcare sector co-founded by Simon Hodel and Alessia Schrepfer. WeNurse empowers nurses to self-organize on its self-owned staffing platform. They want to accelerate a paradigm shift towards a more democratized body leasing industry in a high-quality healthcare system. The uniqueness of WeNurse is the fact that the employees are also majority shareholders of the company and define its strategy. WeNurse is a modern cooperative and employee movement and an answer to poorly paid wages for nurses.
The Venture Kick Stage 2 funds will allow them to start preparing for the pre-IND meeting with the FDA and initiate fundraising.
DermatoTherma aims to solve a failing treatment system for the neglected skin disease Cutaneous Leishmaniasis. A flesh-eating parasite causes the disease, resulting in skin lesions that leave disfiguring, life-long scars that bring severe social stigma, particularly for women and children. Available treatment requires patients to undergo 21 days of painful injections with drugs developed over 70 years ago and commonly compared to chemotherapy.
The startup was founded by CEO Davide Paparo and CTO Ian Häusler at the ZHAW School of Engineering. They developed a new thermotherapy device that enables a 1-time treatment using electromagnetic waves to deliver local heat applications. The heat burns away the parasite, and once the entire lesion has been treated, the natural regeneration system of the human body can take over. The disease is endemic in over 90 nations worldwide, with 12 million currently affected and yearly incidences of 1 million. Their vision is to transform the outdated treatment system and make safer treatment accessible to the 350 million people at risk.
The Venture Kick grant will be used to onboard new team members and support the business and marketing developments.
DPhi Space: Optimal platforms to democratize access to space
DPhi's main focus is to solve the challenge of high costs and complexities associated with deploying payloads into space. The advent of off-the-shelf small satellites represented a pivotal leap in democratizing access to space. The startup leverages the proliferation of this technology to create an even more cost-effective solution with enhanced capabilities. This enables smaller entities to deploy their assets into space within record times and at a lower cost. DPhi's long-term vision is to project Earth's technological achievements into space, transforming the orbit into a direct extension of our planet.
The startup is a spinoff from the Swiss Institute EPFL with Founders including CEO Aziz Belkhiria and CTO Michael Linder. During their tenure at the EPFL Spacecraft Team, they managed to launch and operate a computer from space, marking the return of EPFL to orbit for more than a decade. Together with a team of engineers; Joaquim Silveira and Saverio Nasturzio, they are developing the ridesharing platform built on the heritage of their first mission. This platform is designed to provide a plug-and-play solution for customers willing to fly their instruments to space. Moreover, it strives to introduce technologies previously deemed unsuitable for space applications, thereby contributing to the foundational phase of Earth's extension: launch and operations.
The Venture Kick funds will help the team in the preparation of the maiden flight that will accommodate the first riders to low earth orbit.
WeNurse: Staffing agency owned by the working nurses
Due to the shortage of qualified nursing staff, not all departments of hospitals or nursing homes can be operated at the moment. The danger of medical underuse is increasing. WeNurse has set itself the goal of keeping nursing professionals in the profession or bringing back dropouts with a new form of work.
WeNurse is a temporary staffing agency to hire nurses for the Swiss healthcare sector co-founded by Simon Hodel and Alessia Schrepfer. WeNurse empowers nurses to self-organize on its self-owned staffing platform. They want to accelerate a paradigm shift towards a more democratized body leasing industry in a high-quality healthcare system. The uniqueness of WeNurse is the fact that the employees are also majority shareholders of the company and define its strategy. WeNurse is a modern cooperative and employee movement and an answer to poorly paid wages for nurses.
The Venture Kick Stage 2 funds will allow them to start preparing for the pre-IND meeting with the FDA and initiate fundraising.