Startups Developing Tech to Keep Aircrafts Flying and for Solar Panel Health Win CHF 40,000 Each
11.03.2020
Discover the two winning projects IMITec and SmartHelio that each receives 40,000 francs and entrepreneurial training from Venture Kick.
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 IMITec, Ceo Christian Dürager
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 SmartHelio, Ceo Govinda Upadhyay
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IMITec: keeping aircrafts flying
Christian Dürager, researched automated aircraft structure inspection for his doctoral thesis, is developing a remote-controlled inspection device that can be operated at every airport. His startup, IMItec, provides turnkey solutions for aircraft inspection, which help airlines avoid costs of as much as $500,000 when a flight is cancelled due to the lack of a certified airplane engineer to inspect potential damage. IMItec's device, which allows this to be performed remotely, should be certified in 2020 to allow for industrial production. venturekick.ch/imitec
SmartHelio: a simple, remote check on the health of solar panels
A typical Indian household could meet its electricity demand with less than 2 kW of solar panels installed on the roof. To make the decision to invest in solar easier, it's vital for homeowners to have a simple and low-cost way to monitor the health of their system -- a flaw in any single rooftop panel often reduces the output of the entire system. SmartHelio's graduates from EPFL and the universities of Lausanne and Geneva have built a device to monitor small-scale solar installation remotely, detecting faults and suggesting predictive maintenance via SMS. Teammates Frédéric de Goumoëns, Naomi Savioz and Govinda Upadhyay will focus on developing its modular technology for fast-growing solar markets such as in India, which plans to deploy 40 GW of distributed solar over the next 5 years, where existing remote monitors are too expensive for small-scale systems. venturekick.ch/HelioHealth