Startups developing neuron regeneration, waste-to-energy plants, physics-driven AI, and audit copilot for medical devices each get CHF 10,000
18.12.2024
Azure Cell Therapies, Jaipur Robotics, Lemna Bio, and RegCheck were selected at Venture Kick's first financial and entrepreneurial support stage. Their projects push the boundaries of regenerative medicine by developing next-generation cell therapies for Parkinson’s disease; offer a SaaS solution for waste-to-energy plants to monitor waste piles using AI-driven cameras; transform biomolecule design with physics-driven AI models that are uniquely efficient, capable of representing any biomolecule, and adaptable to diverse challenges and contexts in drug development; and offers an automated regulation conformity assessment tool for medical devices.
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 Azure Cell Therapies: CEO Dr. Bilal Fares & CSO Prof. Karl-Heinz Krause
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 Jaipur Robotics: CEO Ermes Zamboni & CTO Nikhil Prakash
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 Lemna Bio: CSO Lucien Krapp & CEO Moustafa Houmani
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 RegCheck: CEO Anna-Marie Makarova & CTO Lanzelot Moll
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Azure Cell Therapies: Regenerating Neurons to Defeat Parkinson’s Disease
Parkinson’s disease, an incurable and increasingly prevalent condition, continues to challenge modern medicine. Regenerative cell therapies promise to restore brain function by replacing the neurons lost during the progression of Parkinson’s disease, thereby directly addressing its root cause. However, critical challenges — such as ensuring safety, scalability, and sustained efficacy — must be overcome to unlock the full potential of this groundbreaking therapeutic approach.
Backed by two decades of pioneering research at the University of Geneva, Azure Cell Therapies is pushing the boundaries of regenerative medicine by developing next-generation cell therapies for Parkinson’s disease. The company leverages patented cell- and genetic-engineering platforms to generate neurons from stem cells in the lab, creating regenerative cell therapies designed to be safe (minimizing the risk of tumor formation), scalable (allogeneic with streamlined manufacturing), and capable of delivering long-lasting, disease-modifying outcomes.
Azure Cell Therapies is led by a world-class team of distinguished scientists and seasoned biotech entrepreneurs, including CEO Dr. Bilal Fares, a second-time biotech founder and expert in Parkinson’s R&D, and CSO Prof. Karl-Heinz Krause, a serial biotech entrepreneur and renowned leader in stem cell biology.
With support from Venture Kick, the company is accelerating its early business development efforts and collaborating with regulatory experts to fast-track its journey toward first-in-human clinical trials.
Jaipur Robotics: AI-powered waste recognition technology for Waste-to-Energy plants
Waste-to-energy (WtE) plants transform non-recyclable waste into electricity and heat. These plants face inefficiencies due to manual waste handling, leading to losses of up to USD 4.3M per plant annually. These losses result from unplanned downtime, electricity loss due to inefficient waste mixing, and labor shortages.
Jaipur Robotics offers a SaaS solution for waste-to-energy plants to monitor waste piles using AI-driven cameras. The system detects oversized and hazardous items, maps calorific value for optimal mixing, and provides real-time alerts to assist crane operators, enhancing operational efficiency and reducing costs. The founding team, Ermes Zamboni and Dr. Nikhil Prakash, brings an ETH Zurich educational background, combining engineering and machine learning expertise with extensive experience building automation technologies. The startup targets to tap into the USD 50 billion WtE industry.
With the Venture Kick Stage 1 grant, they plan to develop an upgraded sensor box with additional functionality and an improved website to attract potential clients.
Lemna Bio: Physics-Driven AI for Solving Biology’s Grand Challenges
Drug development faces soaring costs, regulatory hurdles, and a 90% failure rate. Despite the promise of AI, current models fail to deliver complex biomolecular solutions with context and efficiency, limiting their ability to accelerate breakthroughs in drug development.
Lemna Bio transforms biomolecule design with physics-driven AI models that are uniquely efficient, capable of representing any biomolecule, and adaptable to diverse challenges and contexts in drug development. Dr. Lucien Krapp, Co-founder and CSO, developed the core technology during his PhD at Professor Matteo Dal Peraro’s lab, now Lemna’s Scientific Co-founder. Moustafa Houmani, Co-founder and CEO, is a biochemical engineer and second-time biotech founder with expertise in protein engineering. Their innovation has attracted interest from top pharmaceutical companies, positioning Lemna to drive biomedicine’s golden age through high-value partnerships in a trillion-dollar market.
The Venture Kick funds will contribute to enhancing Lemna’s branding, communication, and outreach efforts, strengthening its presence and accelerating partnerships with industry leaders.
RegCheck: The audit copilot for medical devices
The medical device industry struggles with the new European certification process, where manual review of complex documentation leads to frequent errors and lengthy certification timelines. This creates a significant barrier for manufacturers, especially SMEs, in bringing their products to market and the patients.
Led by ETH students Anna-Marie Makarova, bringing extensive MedTech certification expertise, and Lanzelot Moll, a computer scientist with a strong software engineering background, RegCheck offers an automated regulation conformity assessment tool. Their solution serves a market of 35,000 MedTech companies with over 500,000 medical devices requiring certification by 2028, addressing the urgent need for faster, more accurate regulatory compliance.
The Venture Kick funding will support stakeholder engagement through industry events and enable collaboration with regulatory experts enhancing the solution's capability in handling complex certification scenarios.
Parkinson’s disease, an incurable and increasingly prevalent condition, continues to challenge modern medicine. Regenerative cell therapies promise to restore brain function by replacing the neurons lost during the progression of Parkinson’s disease, thereby directly addressing its root cause. However, critical challenges — such as ensuring safety, scalability, and sustained efficacy — must be overcome to unlock the full potential of this groundbreaking therapeutic approach.
Backed by two decades of pioneering research at the University of Geneva, Azure Cell Therapies is pushing the boundaries of regenerative medicine by developing next-generation cell therapies for Parkinson’s disease. The company leverages patented cell- and genetic-engineering platforms to generate neurons from stem cells in the lab, creating regenerative cell therapies designed to be safe (minimizing the risk of tumor formation), scalable (allogeneic with streamlined manufacturing), and capable of delivering long-lasting, disease-modifying outcomes.
Azure Cell Therapies is led by a world-class team of distinguished scientists and seasoned biotech entrepreneurs, including CEO Dr. Bilal Fares, a second-time biotech founder and expert in Parkinson’s R&D, and CSO Prof. Karl-Heinz Krause, a serial biotech entrepreneur and renowned leader in stem cell biology.
With support from Venture Kick, the company is accelerating its early business development efforts and collaborating with regulatory experts to fast-track its journey toward first-in-human clinical trials.
Jaipur Robotics: AI-powered waste recognition technology for Waste-to-Energy plants
Waste-to-energy (WtE) plants transform non-recyclable waste into electricity and heat. These plants face inefficiencies due to manual waste handling, leading to losses of up to USD 4.3M per plant annually. These losses result from unplanned downtime, electricity loss due to inefficient waste mixing, and labor shortages.
Jaipur Robotics offers a SaaS solution for waste-to-energy plants to monitor waste piles using AI-driven cameras. The system detects oversized and hazardous items, maps calorific value for optimal mixing, and provides real-time alerts to assist crane operators, enhancing operational efficiency and reducing costs. The founding team, Ermes Zamboni and Dr. Nikhil Prakash, brings an ETH Zurich educational background, combining engineering and machine learning expertise with extensive experience building automation technologies. The startup targets to tap into the USD 50 billion WtE industry.
With the Venture Kick Stage 1 grant, they plan to develop an upgraded sensor box with additional functionality and an improved website to attract potential clients.
Lemna Bio: Physics-Driven AI for Solving Biology’s Grand Challenges
Drug development faces soaring costs, regulatory hurdles, and a 90% failure rate. Despite the promise of AI, current models fail to deliver complex biomolecular solutions with context and efficiency, limiting their ability to accelerate breakthroughs in drug development.
Lemna Bio transforms biomolecule design with physics-driven AI models that are uniquely efficient, capable of representing any biomolecule, and adaptable to diverse challenges and contexts in drug development. Dr. Lucien Krapp, Co-founder and CSO, developed the core technology during his PhD at Professor Matteo Dal Peraro’s lab, now Lemna’s Scientific Co-founder. Moustafa Houmani, Co-founder and CEO, is a biochemical engineer and second-time biotech founder with expertise in protein engineering. Their innovation has attracted interest from top pharmaceutical companies, positioning Lemna to drive biomedicine’s golden age through high-value partnerships in a trillion-dollar market.
The Venture Kick funds will contribute to enhancing Lemna’s branding, communication, and outreach efforts, strengthening its presence and accelerating partnerships with industry leaders.
RegCheck: The audit copilot for medical devices
The medical device industry struggles with the new European certification process, where manual review of complex documentation leads to frequent errors and lengthy certification timelines. This creates a significant barrier for manufacturers, especially SMEs, in bringing their products to market and the patients.
Led by ETH students Anna-Marie Makarova, bringing extensive MedTech certification expertise, and Lanzelot Moll, a computer scientist with a strong software engineering background, RegCheck offers an automated regulation conformity assessment tool. Their solution serves a market of 35,000 MedTech companies with over 500,000 medical devices requiring certification by 2028, addressing the urgent need for faster, more accurate regulatory compliance.
The Venture Kick funding will support stakeholder engagement through industry events and enable collaboration with regulatory experts enhancing the solution's capability in handling complex certification scenarios.