Improved IVF Screening and Ultra-fast Aerodynamic Simulation Software Startups win CHF 130,000
29.04.2019
The latest Venture Kick final awarded 130,000 francs to entrepreneurs developing a device that may help millions of people have children, and software that can analyze the aerodynamics of car and airplane designs 1,000 times more quickly than the current state-of-the-art.
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 Gaurasundar Conley, CEO and Marco Grisi, CTO of Annaida Technologies
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 Pierre Baqué, CEO of Neural Concept
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Annaida Technologies Sàrl: Improved IVF Screening
About 1 in 10 couples in developed countries use in-vitro fertilization when trying to conceive and Europe's clinics perform 660,000 IVF cycles every year. Globally IVF will be a $20 billion industry by 2020, with patients spending over $1 billion on screening embryos to identify which may be most viable. Current methods, by examination under microscope or by taking a biopsy of as much as 15 percent of the embryos cells, are slow and result in successful pregnancies 35 percent of the time on average.
Annaida's CTO Marco Grisi, who studied microengineering and magnetic resonance at Lausanne's Institute of Microengineering EPFL, developed a faster, more-accurate technology that's delicate enough to use on a human embryo. The startup's device -- like an MRI scanner shrunk to suit embryos about one-fifth of a millimeter in size -- will allow IVF clinics to perform their analysis on-site and within an hour.
Grisi and co-founder and CEO, Gaurasundar Conley, used Venture Kick's support to meet industry players and opinion leaders at conferences and institutes worldwide, and develop their expertise in embryology.
"It's thanks to those opportunities that we're now collaborating with our partner for the next medical studies, so Venture Kick was crucial for the development of our spin-off," says Grisi. "Without Venture Kick it wouldn't have been possible to assemble so many players around the project."
2019 should see the startup (named after the founders' grandmothers) close a seed round and start a human embryo study with an IVF clinic in canton Vaud. "Kickers Camp are essential to help you focus your priorities on key business elements. You put technology aside and make customer need and willingness-to-pay central," says Conley.
Annaida Technologies’ profile on startup.ch
Neural Concept Sàrl
Carmakers each spend about $10 million annually on software to digitally simulate the aerodynamic performance of their designs. Overall about $3 billion is spent on digital simulation by all industrial R&D companies especially global car and plane-makers. The current technology is slow, taking between 6 and 24 hours to analyze a design, which limits the number of designs engineers can test.
Neural Concept's co-founders Pierre Baqué, Timur Bagautdinov, Francois Fleuret and Pascal Fua, apply deep learning technology developed for 3D models at EPF Lausanne's Computer Vision Lab. Their simulations can be performed in 100 milliseconds, allowing engineers to speed-up their R&D cycles, and make better products more cheaply. The spin-off's technology will also accelerate aircraft designers' work.
Since passing the previous Venture Kick jury and training, the startup has won Bridge and Innogrant grants. "The Kickers Camp was really a key element for us, in terms of how we structure our message and talk about our company. Now we pitch to focus more on the benefits we bring, not the technology and how we bring it" said Pierre Baqué. "The trainer’s feedback is very critical, but always in a positive manner."
The startup already has on-going product validation with six customers in Europe and the U.S., and currently closing a seed round.
Neural Concept’s profile on startup.ch
About 1 in 10 couples in developed countries use in-vitro fertilization when trying to conceive and Europe's clinics perform 660,000 IVF cycles every year. Globally IVF will be a $20 billion industry by 2020, with patients spending over $1 billion on screening embryos to identify which may be most viable. Current methods, by examination under microscope or by taking a biopsy of as much as 15 percent of the embryos cells, are slow and result in successful pregnancies 35 percent of the time on average.
Annaida's CTO Marco Grisi, who studied microengineering and magnetic resonance at Lausanne's Institute of Microengineering EPFL, developed a faster, more-accurate technology that's delicate enough to use on a human embryo. The startup's device -- like an MRI scanner shrunk to suit embryos about one-fifth of a millimeter in size -- will allow IVF clinics to perform their analysis on-site and within an hour.
Grisi and co-founder and CEO, Gaurasundar Conley, used Venture Kick's support to meet industry players and opinion leaders at conferences and institutes worldwide, and develop their expertise in embryology.
"It's thanks to those opportunities that we're now collaborating with our partner for the next medical studies, so Venture Kick was crucial for the development of our spin-off," says Grisi. "Without Venture Kick it wouldn't have been possible to assemble so many players around the project."
2019 should see the startup (named after the founders' grandmothers) close a seed round and start a human embryo study with an IVF clinic in canton Vaud. "Kickers Camp are essential to help you focus your priorities on key business elements. You put technology aside and make customer need and willingness-to-pay central," says Conley.
Annaida Technologies’ profile on startup.ch
Neural Concept Sàrl
Carmakers each spend about $10 million annually on software to digitally simulate the aerodynamic performance of their designs. Overall about $3 billion is spent on digital simulation by all industrial R&D companies especially global car and plane-makers. The current technology is slow, taking between 6 and 24 hours to analyze a design, which limits the number of designs engineers can test.
Neural Concept's co-founders Pierre Baqué, Timur Bagautdinov, Francois Fleuret and Pascal Fua, apply deep learning technology developed for 3D models at EPF Lausanne's Computer Vision Lab. Their simulations can be performed in 100 milliseconds, allowing engineers to speed-up their R&D cycles, and make better products more cheaply. The spin-off's technology will also accelerate aircraft designers' work.
Since passing the previous Venture Kick jury and training, the startup has won Bridge and Innogrant grants. "The Kickers Camp was really a key element for us, in terms of how we structure our message and talk about our company. Now we pitch to focus more on the benefits we bring, not the technology and how we bring it" said Pierre Baqué. "The trainer’s feedback is very critical, but always in a positive manner."
The startup already has on-going product validation with six customers in Europe and the U.S., and currently closing a seed round.
Neural Concept’s profile on startup.ch