Startups developing data-driven for better pregnancy outcomes, sustainable and personalized beverages, CAR-T cell product with enhanced quality, and a dual-comb laser technology each win CHF 10,000

Adira-Health: data-driven, blended care for better pregnancy outcomes

More than 18 million women suffer worldwide from high blood pressure during pregnancy and postpartum. This is the leading cause of maternal and fetal mortality, morbidity, and atraumatic events for families, with a multi-billion cost impact on our society. Affected women have a 7-fold risk of heart disease and 4 out of 5 related deaths are preventable.
 

Adira builds a digital health intervention platform providing personalized data-driven blended care for hypertensive pregnancy disorders. We combine the power of Artificial Intelligence with a personal perinatal coach to fight for healthy moms, and stronger babies, and improve patient-doctor interaction.
 

Stephanie Nemec and Mary Villalaz met at MIT Innovation Bootcamp where they developed the idea. Mary brings more than 15 years of bridging business and engineering in IT in different leadership roles and industries. She holds an Exec MBA in Business Engineering from the University of St. Gallen. Stephanie completed her Master in Translational medicine and coordinated one of the fastest FDA submissions in a start-up in the US. She holds a patent from her PhD at UNSW in Sydney, Australia where she supported 3 university spinouts.

The Venture Kick funds will contribute to further sharpening the use of artificial intelligence to create awareness of pre-eclampsia for moms and improve doctor-patient relations early in pregnancy.

 

Fountain: sustainable, personalized beverages

Every day, a staggering number of 1.6 billion PET bottles are manufactured globally to meet the beverage demands of our society. Unfortunately, this mass production contributes to the generation of excessive plastic waste and CO2 emissions. Until now, there hasn't been a viable alternative to enjoying flavored drinks without creating this waste. This is where Fountain comes into play. Fountain develops a revolutionary beverage dispenser that utilizes locally sourced and filtered water to create a variety of delicious, flavored drinks. The best part is that these drinks can be dispensed directly into reusable glasses or bottles, significantly reducing the amount of waste produced. Recognizing that everyone has unique tastes and preferences, the startup empowers customers to personalize their drinks by offering a wide range of flavors and supplements. From vitamins to minerals, Fountain provides the opportunity to craft the perfect beverage that caters to everyone’s specific needs.
 

The founder team comprises CEO Alexander Pfyffer, COO Merle Zur, and CTO Luca Pfyffer. In addition, Fountain assembled a diverse advisory board consisting of industry experts such as Claudia Hirsig, an expert in beverage technology, Stefan Escher a successful sales advisor and Corinna Baumgartner and Tilo Hühn, with expertise in sustainability and Food &Beverage innovation. Together, Fountain is committed to revolutionizing the way people consume beverages, reducing plastic waste, and mitigating the environmental impact caused by the CHF 880 Bn global soda beverage industry.
 

The Venture Kick funding will contribute to further developing its product, particularly in enhancing its personalization feature.

 

immUni: Revolutionizing CAR-T cell therapy production-enhancing efficacy and efficiency

CAR-T cell therapy has emerged as a groundbreaking approach in the treatment of various cancers. This personalized cancer therapy involves reprogramming the patient's own immune cells to recognize and target cancer cells. Despite the remarkable success of treating blood cancers, the widespread adoption of CAR-T cell therapies has been hindered by production challenges: complex and lengthy processes, high costs, and suboptimal therapeutic efficacy due to low cell fitness.

immUni disruptive technology overcomes the limitations of the traditional approaches, by achieving a simultaneous reduction of production time and delivering a final CAR-T cell product with increased quality and enhanced therapeutic potency. Leading this advancement is a dedicated team based at ETH Zürich, with co-founders, Lina Aires, PhD (CEO) and Prof. Enrico Klotzsch (CTO) supported by a team of scientists hosted by the laboratory of Prof. Viola Vogel (Advisor). Together with their clinical collaborators, Inselspital (Bern) and Charité (Berlin), they aim to bring this unique technology from the bench to the bedside.
 

Their access to the Venture Kick program plays a crucial role in supporting the transition from a prototype to the first available commercial product.