Insulation-Maker FenX and Dronemaker Flybotix Win CHF40,000 Each
29.03.2019
These two Venture Kick winners are developing B2B products and services outside the general public's attention. The impact on their industries could be huge: optimistic entrepreneur Etienne Jeoffroy's technology may reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, and serial entrepreneur Samir Bouabdallah is developing drones to undertake dangerous work.
 Venture Kick winners from Fenx and Flybotix
|
 |
 Fenx co-founder Etienne Jeoffroy
|
|
 Flybotix CTO Alexandre Cherpillod and CEO Samir Bouabdallah
|
|
FenX
The modern building industry faces challenges to reduce its energy consumption and carbon footprint, while also ensuring fire-protection. Today's insulation has either a relatively high CO2-footprint or is highly flammable. FenX, a spin-off from ETH Zurich, is transforming industrial mineral waste into safe, sustainable and high-performance insulation foam panels for the building industry.
"Our fully-recyclable product minimizes CO2 emissions and maximizes fire-protection. This combination is new in the market and it is made from 'waste'," says co-founder Etienne Jeoffroy. "Venture Kick has really helped us a lot to focus and refine our business model. In particular, the Kickers' Camp showed how to identify our path-to-market better."
The spin-off plans to fundraise later this year, before certifying the project's prototypes and starting pilot studies. The entrepreneur, who co-founded FenX with Michele Zanini, is very optimistic about the future:
"We have a generation who is aware of climate change issues and now startups are not only business-orientated, they're also impact-orientated. I think our generation has great chances to improve current conditions and set new standards in entrepreneurship."
Flybotix SA
Mandatory inspections of oil and gas industry infrastructure are expensive: closing a facility can cost as much as $5 million a day. For humans it can be dangerous task, and the facilities' complex and compact structures make it difficult for today's large-rotor drones to perform full inspections.
To tackle these challenges Flybotix chief executive Samir Bouabdallah (founder of Skybotix, acquired in 2015), is developing an innovative drone that balances the flight-time of larger quadcopters, with the maneuverability of smaller drones, and will be able to fly inside narrow shafts and ducts.
The start-up used Venture Kick's financial support at stage 1 to develop its market approach and secure IP, and the training to hone it pitch narrative. "I got so much very relevant feedback and could really improve the story of our pitch," says Flybotix's chief technology officer Alexandre Cherpillod, who previously worked at Venture Kick alums senseFly and Foldaway Haptics.
That focus will serve the entrepreneurs this year as they plan to more than double the number of industrial partners, and focus on the U.S. and Chinese drone-inspection markets.
www.venturekick.ch/flybotix
www.venturekick.ch/flybotix