Startups developing recycling with light-powered material recovery, next-gen photonic devices, real-time fracture monitoring, an adaptive power distribution solution, and direct-to-consumer health risk assessment each recevie CHF 10,000
23.04.2024
Grensol, Lightium, SIMORGH, SurroundPower, and TrueYouOmics were selected at Venture Kick's first financial and entrepreneurial support stage. Their projects recover emissions-free hydrogen and carbon black from mixed plastic waste in mere seconds; address the complex challenges faced by photonic device manufacturers, offering them unmatched photonic performance; enhance the effectiveness of fracture monitoring without the prohibitive costs and delays often associated with manual expert analysis, develop a two-component system comprising a power track that distributes electricity room-wide and designated adapters, enabling users to draw power from any point on the power track; and offer a comprehensive multi-omic health risk assessment by integrating DNA, RNA, and Protein data from a blood sample, going beyond just predisposition.
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 Grensol: CEO Rajiv Singhal and Chief Scientist Dr. Bhawna Nagar
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 Lightium: CRO Frédéric Loizeau & CEO Amir Ghadimi
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 SIMORGH: CEO Maalek Momeni
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 Surround Power: CEO Flavio Guadagnini & CIO Pitt-Alexander Wibawa
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 TrueYouOmics: from left to right, Dominic Mehr (CCO), Kevin Yar (CEO), Andres Lanzos (CSO)
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Grensol: Revolutionizing recycling with light-powered material recovery
In the wake of today’s recycling processes, vast amounts of mixed plastic waste remain unrecyclable, often disposed of by expensive incineration or landfilling. This practice also wastes valuable resources and necessitates the production of new materials from virgin sources, causing carbon emissions and pollution.
Harnessing light generated by renewable energy, Grensol recovers emissions-free hydrogen and carbon black from mixed plastic waste in mere seconds, all facilitated by a proprietary, cost-effective, and emissions-free solution. Residual metals are reclaimed for further recycling. This transformative approach to recycling holds the potential to convert 100 million tons of unrecyclable waste annually into new materials crucial for our society's clean energy transition. It opens a global market of over USD 85 billion. Moreover, it stands to avoid over 500 million tons of carbon emissions each year.
Grensol will use the Venture Kick funds to improve the marketing of the solution at tradeshows and online, and for collaborating with experts for deployment issues and authorizations.
Lightium – Enabling the next generation of photonic devices
Like silicon chips decades ago, Photonic Integrated Circuits (PIC) are poised to play a central and long-lasting role in several industries, from Telecom to AI, Datacom, and Space. Yet, no single photonic platform can provide all essential photonic functions on a single chip, creating significant assembly complexity and cost for manufacturers of photonic devices.
Incorporated in 2023, Lightium is a pioneering Swiss startup offering PIC foundry and design services based on its proprietary Thin-Film Lithium Niobate (TFLN) platform. Lightium's solution addresses the complex challenges faced by photonic device manufacturers, offering them unmatched photonic performance, a simplified and cost-effective supply chain, and rapid scale-up capabilities. Today, PICs represent a 13B USD market fueled by our exponential need for higher bandwidth, with TFLN being the fastest-growing platform at 49% CAGR.
Lightium will use the Venture Kick funds to attend relevant tradeshows, improve its online visibility, and strengthen its IP portfolio. www.lightium.co
SIMORGH: Real-time fracture monitoring for industrial applications
SurroundPower: Adaptive power distribution solution
Traditional power sockets, fixed and immovable, impose significant limitations in modern living and working environments. They dictate room layouts, restrict device placement, and often necessitate unsightly extension cords and power strips. This inflexibility fails to meet the dynamic needs of contemporary interiors, leading to practical and aesthetic challenges in both residential and commercial settings.
surroundPower's founding team, consisting of three technically and economically skilled industrial engineers with backgrounds in the electrical industry, developed a two-component system comprising a power track that distributes electricity room-wide and designated adapters, enabling users to draw power from any point on the power track. Only considering units suitable for the solution is a CHF 312M annual market opportunity in Switzerland which expands to CHF 3.6B if the whole DACH region is considered.
The funds from Venturekick will be used to help finance manufacturing tools and certification.
TrueYouOmics: The most comprehensive Direct-to-Consumer health risk assessment
Today’s healthcare systems focus on treating diseases rather than preventing them leading to late detection, unnecessary suffering, and early deaths. Existing solutions have limitations in terms of scope and often ignore highly relevant lifestyle & environmental factors.
TrueYouOmics offers a comprehensive multi-omic health risk assessment by integrating DNA, RNA, and Protein data from a blood sample, going beyond just predisposition. Its approach combines biomedical knowledge graphs, network models, and medical LLMs for disease risk predictions and preventive planning. The startup empowers individuals with health control and saves MDs time in screening and diagnostics. The team combines 25 years of experience in Biotech, AI, Pharma, and Startups to tackle this multi-billion market.
The Venture Kick 1 will be used in reaching the next milestones, including the pilot, go-to-market strategy, and building the foundation for the MVP launch in early 2025.
In the wake of today’s recycling processes, vast amounts of mixed plastic waste remain unrecyclable, often disposed of by expensive incineration or landfilling. This practice also wastes valuable resources and necessitates the production of new materials from virgin sources, causing carbon emissions and pollution.
Harnessing light generated by renewable energy, Grensol recovers emissions-free hydrogen and carbon black from mixed plastic waste in mere seconds, all facilitated by a proprietary, cost-effective, and emissions-free solution. Residual metals are reclaimed for further recycling. This transformative approach to recycling holds the potential to convert 100 million tons of unrecyclable waste annually into new materials crucial for our society's clean energy transition. It opens a global market of over USD 85 billion. Moreover, it stands to avoid over 500 million tons of carbon emissions each year.
Grensol will use the Venture Kick funds to improve the marketing of the solution at tradeshows and online, and for collaborating with experts for deployment issues and authorizations.
Lightium – Enabling the next generation of photonic devices
Like silicon chips decades ago, Photonic Integrated Circuits (PIC) are poised to play a central and long-lasting role in several industries, from Telecom to AI, Datacom, and Space. Yet, no single photonic platform can provide all essential photonic functions on a single chip, creating significant assembly complexity and cost for manufacturers of photonic devices.
Incorporated in 2023, Lightium is a pioneering Swiss startup offering PIC foundry and design services based on its proprietary Thin-Film Lithium Niobate (TFLN) platform. Lightium's solution addresses the complex challenges faced by photonic device manufacturers, offering them unmatched photonic performance, a simplified and cost-effective supply chain, and rapid scale-up capabilities. Today, PICs represent a 13B USD market fueled by our exponential need for higher bandwidth, with TFLN being the fastest-growing platform at 49% CAGR.
Lightium will use the Venture Kick funds to attend relevant tradeshows, improve its online visibility, and strengthen its IP portfolio. www.lightium.co
SIMORGH: Real-time fracture monitoring for industrial applications
Fracture monitoring is a process to assess and analyse the growth of fractures and cracks in solid material, crucial for the integrity of structures and risk management in various sectors, including geo-energy, civil engineering, and natural hazard assessment. The capability to continuously record and analyze these waves is key for imaging the spatio-temporal development of fractures, which is important for operational safety and efficiency. With increasing sensor deployment leading to large data volumes, the challenge lies in processing high-frequency waves accurately and swiftly.
SIMORGH is an automated system designed to address this, providing real-time, precise fracture imaging to support timely decision-making across industrial applications. The ultimate goal is to enhance the effectiveness of fracture monitoring without the prohibitive costs and delays often associated with manual expert analysis. The team is composed of CEO Maalek Momeni, Mathematician and HPC expert Nesrine Yousfi, Engineering seismologist Reza Ebrahimi, and Structural Engineer Masoud Poul.
SIMORGH is an automated system designed to address this, providing real-time, precise fracture imaging to support timely decision-making across industrial applications. The ultimate goal is to enhance the effectiveness of fracture monitoring without the prohibitive costs and delays often associated with manual expert analysis. The team is composed of CEO Maalek Momeni, Mathematician and HPC expert Nesrine Yousfi, Engineering seismologist Reza Ebrahimi, and Structural Engineer Masoud Poul.
SIMORGH plans to channel Venture Kick funds into enhancing its marketing outreach, targeting trade shows and digital platforms for greater solution visibility.
Traditional power sockets, fixed and immovable, impose significant limitations in modern living and working environments. They dictate room layouts, restrict device placement, and often necessitate unsightly extension cords and power strips. This inflexibility fails to meet the dynamic needs of contemporary interiors, leading to practical and aesthetic challenges in both residential and commercial settings.
surroundPower's founding team, consisting of three technically and economically skilled industrial engineers with backgrounds in the electrical industry, developed a two-component system comprising a power track that distributes electricity room-wide and designated adapters, enabling users to draw power from any point on the power track. Only considering units suitable for the solution is a CHF 312M annual market opportunity in Switzerland which expands to CHF 3.6B if the whole DACH region is considered.
The funds from Venturekick will be used to help finance manufacturing tools and certification.
TrueYouOmics: The most comprehensive Direct-to-Consumer health risk assessment
Today’s healthcare systems focus on treating diseases rather than preventing them leading to late detection, unnecessary suffering, and early deaths. Existing solutions have limitations in terms of scope and often ignore highly relevant lifestyle & environmental factors.
TrueYouOmics offers a comprehensive multi-omic health risk assessment by integrating DNA, RNA, and Protein data from a blood sample, going beyond just predisposition. Its approach combines biomedical knowledge graphs, network models, and medical LLMs for disease risk predictions and preventive planning. The startup empowers individuals with health control and saves MDs time in screening and diagnostics. The team combines 25 years of experience in Biotech, AI, Pharma, and Startups to tackle this multi-billion market.
The Venture Kick 1 will be used in reaching the next milestones, including the pilot, go-to-market strategy, and building the foundation for the MVP launch in early 2025.