Fighting drug overdoses and climate change: Two ETH spin-offs kicked by CHF 130.000 each
04.02.2015
The ETH Zurich spin-offs Versantis and Adaptricity are starting a new era in the treatment of drug overdoses and the management of power systems – two burning issues in today’s society. By winning VENTURE KICK, both startups have secured the total funding amount of CHF 130.000 each.
 The team of ETH spin-off Versantis
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 The team of the ETH spin-off Adaptricity
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Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse and Heath Ledger, to name but a few, are celebrities who died of drug overdoses. Deaths from drug overdose have been rising over the past two decades to become the leading cause of accidental death in industrialized countries. Every day in Europe alone, 260 people die as a result of drug overdose. Until today, no simple and efficient methods are available for the detoxification. Just like drugs, the wastes your body produces can also become life-threatening in case of liver failure (affecting 450 million people worldwide).
Revolutionizing dialysis to save lives from overdoses and liver failures
The team around Dr. Vincent Forster from the ETH spin-off Versantis is developing a ground-breaking dialysis approach to remove these toxins from your organism. Versantis uses small hollow spheres (i.e. liposomes) to efficiently and rapidly extract the toxic compounds from the blood. Thanks to its technical simplicity, this new dialysis approach presents a great opportunity to save patients’ lives, even in developing countries, where expensive detoxification therapies are rarely available. Dr. Vincent Forster expressed his enthusiasm about the program: “VENTURE KICK has been extremely kind at opening its large network within the biotech and pharma ecosystem. This bridge towards Switzerland-based advisors and investors is the most valuable support Versantis could profit from at a startup phase. In addition, the business acceleration programs, the online visibility, and obviously, the financial supports were very helpful.”
ETH spin-off makes electricity systems smart
One of the goals of Switzerland`s Energy Strategy 2050 is the expansion of the renewable energy sector. But the energy transition towards renewable energy creates entirely new challenges for grid operators who are in charge of ensuring a stable system operation. Adaptricity helps operators through innovative simulation tools to prepare for these new challenges in network planning and network operation. The first product, the simulation software “DPG.sim”, provides a comprehensive simulation environment for active distribution grids. It allows distribution system operators to integrate SmartGrid features into their grid planning processes. This enables optimal decision-making in costly grid upgrade projects and the improved utilization of the existing grid infrastructure. "The power sector is changing rapidly due to the expansion of renewable energy, market liberalization and increasing fusion of energy and information technology. Thanks to VENTURE KICK we now have even more power to bring our software solutions to our customers to help them in the improvement and the expansion of their power grids," explains Stephan Koch, co-founder of Adaptricity.
Revolutionizing dialysis to save lives from overdoses and liver failures
The team around Dr. Vincent Forster from the ETH spin-off Versantis is developing a ground-breaking dialysis approach to remove these toxins from your organism. Versantis uses small hollow spheres (i.e. liposomes) to efficiently and rapidly extract the toxic compounds from the blood. Thanks to its technical simplicity, this new dialysis approach presents a great opportunity to save patients’ lives, even in developing countries, where expensive detoxification therapies are rarely available. Dr. Vincent Forster expressed his enthusiasm about the program: “VENTURE KICK has been extremely kind at opening its large network within the biotech and pharma ecosystem. This bridge towards Switzerland-based advisors and investors is the most valuable support Versantis could profit from at a startup phase. In addition, the business acceleration programs, the online visibility, and obviously, the financial supports were very helpful.”
ETH spin-off makes electricity systems smart
One of the goals of Switzerland`s Energy Strategy 2050 is the expansion of the renewable energy sector. But the energy transition towards renewable energy creates entirely new challenges for grid operators who are in charge of ensuring a stable system operation. Adaptricity helps operators through innovative simulation tools to prepare for these new challenges in network planning and network operation. The first product, the simulation software “DPG.sim”, provides a comprehensive simulation environment for active distribution grids. It allows distribution system operators to integrate SmartGrid features into their grid planning processes. This enables optimal decision-making in costly grid upgrade projects and the improved utilization of the existing grid infrastructure. "The power sector is changing rapidly due to the expansion of renewable energy, market liberalization and increasing fusion of energy and information technology. Thanks to VENTURE KICK we now have even more power to bring our software solutions to our customers to help them in the improvement and the expansion of their power grids," explains Stephan Koch, co-founder of Adaptricity.