Startups unlocking semi-conductor performance, developing next-gen breeding for aquaculture, a novel treatment eliminating endometriosis tissue, rapid home self-tests, and a robotic fabrication cell for the construction industry each win CHF 10,000

Corintis: Unlocking semi-conductor performance
For decades, chipmakers relied on Moore's law to achieve more powerful and efficient chips. However, as transistors are approaching the size of a few atoms, the industry is turning to alternatives, such as vertically stacking chips, which leads to heat densities that surpass the capabilities of current cooling methods. In addition, the cooling of chips accounts for around 40% of electricity consumption in data centers, causing an enormous environmental footprint. Sustainable and high-performance heat extraction is key to satisfy our ever-increasing demand for computational power. It is a major bottleneck in the 200 billion USD high-performance IC market in data centers, and current cooling methods have an enormous environmental impact.
Corintis team is Remco van Erp, a final year Ph.D. student at the EPFL POWERLab and author of a published Nature paper on this research topic; Pirouz Sohi, Ph.D. from EPFL, developed a new patented gas sensing technology which is now being commercialized, and Scientific Advisors Prof. Elison Matioli running the POWERLab at EPFL  and Prof. Nicolas Grandjean. Corintis has developed a patent-pending cooling technology, based on liquid cooling directly inside chips which enable the future of computing in a sustainable manner and satisfies the growing demands for computational power. The Corintis solution that can be integrated within the supply chain with minimal disruption: A new wafer technology with integrated micro-cooling channels which can be a drop-in replacement enabling 10x better cooling with a 50x efficient increase, combined with a low-cost packaging solution that provides the fluidic connection between the micro-scale cooling in the chip and the system infrastructure. Their primary and largest market is focused on the semiconductor chips used in GPUs/CPUs for data center applications. Additional applications can also be found in RF power amplifiers used in 5/6G base stations and power electronics applications such as the traction inverters used in EVs.
Funding from Venture Kick would give them enough runway to ensure that they secure the best-specialized investors and partners within the semiconductor industry for their planned follow-on Seed Round. They have already received inbound interest from investors interested in a later-stage investment. corintis.com

e-Fishency: next-gen breeding and conservation for aquaculture
Each year, trillions of fish are produced through artificial breeding. They are primarily used for aquaculture and for fish stocking (releasing fish in the wild to support ecosystems or local fisheries). Yet, genetic is seldom taken into account although it is recommended by the FAO and the federal office of the environment.
e-Fishency's co-founders are Dr. David Nusbaumer, PhD in Life Sciences at UNIL with 10 years' experience in fish research, an expert in cryopreservation and reproductive biology of fishes, and Dr. Christian de Guttry PhD in Life Sciences at UNIL, with 10 years' experience in molecular genetics, an expert in genomics and bioinformatics. Together, they offer state-of-the-art tools for aquaculture facilities and conservation authorities to manage and conserve genetic resources. On one hand, they provide NGS genotyping and bioinformatics analysis to assess genetic diversity in stocks and provide optimal reproduction schemes. On the other hand, they offer sperm cryopreservation which allows saving precious genetic resources forever, may they be needed for year-round reproduction or population restoration. Aquaculture is the fastest-growing agribusiness, currently valued at 263 Billion USD. The fish segment is 62 %, and they estimated that 1-10 % of companies in this segment are willing to invest in sustainable practices that preserve genetic diversity. Fish stocking is currently practiced by 94 countries. In CH only, 300 M fishes are released yearly with an estimated cost of 0.5-1 CHF/fish, yet with little efficiency.
With the first Venture Kick step, they want to acquire the material for their sperm bank. Indeed, they have a fish farm that is willing to mandate them to cryopreserve the sperm of their genitors. This will also allow them to start their collaborative project for the reintroduction of Atlantic salmon, for which they are in discussion with the canton BL.e-fishency.ch

FimmCyte: first-in-class treatment eliminating endometriosis tissue
One in 10 women suffers from Endometriosis: a painful, chronic, infertility-causing, and recurrent disease. Endometriosis has a physical health burden comparable to cancer, yet only one new treatment was approved for it in the past decade. An unacceptable state given the inadequacy of current treatments which are only palliative, with countless side effects. Endometriosis burden reverberates through the healthcare system, economy, and society with millions of women suffering and billions of direct and indirect costs.
To address this unmet medical need, FimmCyte engineered a first-in-class treatment that has shown efficacy in eliminating endometriosis tissue in the lab and animal models which we aim to bring to the clinic in the next few years and give women back control of their bodies. FimmCyte team is composed of Co-founders Valentina Vongrad, Ph.D. with 12+ years experience in immunology, gene therapy, oncology; and CMO Maureen Cronin, MD-PhD with 20+ years in the industry, ex-VP Bayer & Vifor, medical advisor, Brigitte Leeners, Prof Dr.Head of the Department of Reproductive Endocrinology at the USZ. This novel class of treatments directly destroys the diseased tissue. The treatment is safe by design, only initiating the immune response against endometriosis after multiple layers of safety mechanisms to ensure high safety and efficacy. This non-hormonal treatment shall overcome the current limitations of hormonal therapies by being applicable to resistant tissues and supplement/replace surgeries in advanced cases.
The 10K from the Venture Kick phase I will be used for preliminary regulatory and clinical strategy setting.

Hemetron: rapid home self-test
When you last had a fever, a cough, or other infection symptoms, how did you decide whether you should visit a doctor or not? In fact, there is no standardized system and there are no home tests to inform this decision. Therefore, severe bacterial infections are not recognized early enough. By the time patients develop severe symptoms, antibiotic treatments already deliver sub-optimal outcomes. The affected patients may develop so-called sepsis. Sepsis is responsible for 20% of global mortality and is one of the most expensive medical conditions.
Hemetron will help improve people's health by introducing a new technology that will lead to a telemedical revolution. Telemedical companies are treating and diagnosing patients in their homes. However, in many cases, they send patients to a centralized healthcare facility because correct diagnoses require high-quality medical tests. Hemetron's breakthrough hand-held rapid test platform allows us to send laboratory-grade tests directly to the patient's home for self-testing. Co-founders are CEO Alexander Tanno, Ph.D., CTO Yves Blickenstorfer, MSc, and Head assay development Vlastimil Jirasko, Ph.D.
Hemetron's solution is more convenient, cheaper, faster, and enables better and cheaper healthcare. Their first test will allow telemedical doctors to early diagnose bacterial infections and thus allows targeted antibiotic treatments and help save millions of lives. The ETH spin-off Hemetron will be incorporated in Q4 2021. They will implement a quality management system and a performance evaluation and risk management plan before finalizing their minimum viable product including all markers end of 2022 for initiating the clinical validation.
The Venture Kick funding would help them reach this important value inflection point. hemetron.com

Saeki Robotics: robotic fabrication cell for the construction industry
Concrete is the most used material on the planet - a trillion-dollar market - and is responsible for 8% of global CO2 emissions. The way in which concrete is shaped (formwork) generates large amounts of waste and is expensive for anything but simple shapes. The technologies to fabricate concrete structures are a century old and are holding back their designs and uses.
The three Saeki Robotics co-founders, Andrea Perissinotto, Oliver Harley, and Matthias Leschok, are a highly interdisciplinary team who have accumulated 20+ years of experience in digital manufacturing technologies. Their diverse background spans from electronics/hardware design, robotics, design for manufacture, to architecture and 3D printed formwork creation. They are advised by Prof. Dr. Benjamin Dillenburger, whose research focuses on the potential of additive manufacturing for building construction.
They are hosted at the ETH NCCR Dfab, one of the leading research institutions investigating the digitalization of concrete, where optimizing the way concrete is shaped can lead to 70% material savings (ETH Smart Slab, Dfab house). However, the techniques used are too costly for commercial use, and only seen in research. 
Saeki Robotics is bridging this gap through a process they are developing called robotic digital manufacturing (RDM). By combining robotics, 3D printing, milling, post-processing, and 3D scanning in one solution they can create complex, large-scale components (eg. formwork)  on-demand, cost-effectively, and with minimal material usage and wastage.
They will provide the full hardware and software automation stack consisting of the tools and materials needed for RDM, control, and design software. Their focus is building a turnkey package that is easy to use and cuts lead times by streamlining the design-to-part process.
Saeki Robotics has the potential to capture a significant share of the 65B€ European formwork market by providing their RDM platform to both construction companies and architectural firms.
Venture Kick funding will enable them to connect to potential customers, test their concept, and accelerate their entry into the market. saeki.ch