TechTransfer

EPFL spin-off Leman Biotech has developed a protein that can improve the effectiveness of immunotherapy drugs used to treat some types of cancer. The firm has just completed its first funding round, in the amount of $11 million.

No sooner had David Shapira and Kordian Caplazi finished their studies than they set about creating a start-up. Rimon develops virtual user manuals for industrial companies, enabling users to quickly and intuitively learn how to operate complex machines with the aid of AR glasses.

EPFL startup SwissInspect has developed a novel bridge-inspection system that combines structural engineering with drone technology, artificial intelligence and computer vision. SwissInspect is the result of research at Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics Laboratory (EESD) in collaboration with Swiss Data Science Center (SDSC) on the image-based inspection and monitoring of structural elements.The company plans to test its system, which offers major advantages over visual inspection methods, on around 50 bridges in Switzerland.

EPFL spin-off nu glass has successfully tested a portable system that makes the window panes on railcars permeable to mobile communications. This can bring significant environmental and cost benefits to railway companies and mobile-phone operators, since they’ll no longer have to install signal boosters to provide wireless connectivity for passengers.

An Indo-Swiss research team led by Empa researchers is developing an ecological and solidarity-based business model that reduces the environmental impact of e-waste recycling. In this way, micro-entrepreneurs without investment capital are to be integrated into the value chain.

As businesses grow increasingly reliant on data to make strategic decisions, more and more companies and organizations decide to collaborate and share information with each other. EPFL spin-off Tune Insight has developed a software program that allows users to process and analyze encrypted data from multiple sources, while keeping sensitive and confidential information protected against theft.

The Empa spin-off viboo has developed a self-learning algorithm for controlling the indoor climate. This enables predictive cooling or heating of buildings, thus saving around one third of energy. Following successful experiments at NEST, Empa's and Eawag's research and innovation building, the first pilot projects are now being implemented with industrial partners.

Whether for squats or sit-ups, the software created by the start-up VAY alerts exercisers about incorrect movements via a smartphone screen. Now the ETH spin-off has been acquired by connected fitness equipment manufacturer Nautilus.

The breakdown for spin-offs in 2021: 25 new start-ups and about CHF 390 million in capital raised. Faster coronavirus tests, artificial coral reefs and automated insect breeding have found their place in the economy. The proportion of female entrepreneurs has increased significantly.

Three EPFL startups – Sophia Genetics, Astrocast and Onward Medical – went public in 2021, the same number as in the previous three decades combined. This record-breaking year reflects the drive of our local entrepreneurs as well as the bullish stock-market environment and fertile startup ecosystem in our region.

ETH researchers Michele Gregorini and Philippe Bechtold have developed a PCR testing device that can easily be used outside the lab – and that takes less than 30 minutes to deliver results. Now the two young entrepreneurs are focusing their efforts on getting the device approved for medical use.

Thirty startups have raised CHF 60 million in funding through Tech4Eva, continental Europe’s first program designed specifically for entrepreneurs in the field of femtech, or technology for women’s health. On 7 December, Switzerland’s first femtech conference will mark the end of Tech4Eva’s inaugural year – and kick off the next funding round.

Switzerland Innovation, a nationwide network of technology parks, continues to grow: Park Innovaare located next to PSI is flourishing as it pursues its mission to help cutting-edge Swiss research transition to concrete applications and profitable companies.

In partnership with Roche, PSI scientists are developing new, potentially more efficient catalysts for manufacturing active substances for drug therapies.

25 November 1996: a world first for PSI’s Center for Proton Therapy in treating a cancer patient using the spot-scanning technique. Meanwhile this technique has become a standard procedure worldwide and since 1996 has been used to treat around 2000 cancer patients at PSI alone – over a third of them children and young people. The fact that the success story started at PSI was more than just a coincidence.