Four start-ups awarded with the CTI start-up label

As always the companies awarded with the CTI Start-up label are very different. However two things stand out: The companies are based in Basel and Lucerne which shows that ambitious and promising start-ups are today founded everywhere in Switzerland. And all four start-ups were founded not by young students but by experienced entrepreneurs or an experienced physician in the case of Koring. It is obvious that the CTI Start-up programme is useful for this group of people too.

Bluetector AG
Bluetector is a clean-tech company that has developed a new patented treatment system for difficult and sludgy waste water. The start-up, founded in 2012 and based at Technopark Lucerne, is dedicated on offering waste collection companies an environmentally friendly and low-cost solution to clean and re-use their water instead of having to dump it, simply by cleaning it with the BlueBox, its container treatment system. The BlueBox offers an easy way to clean and re-use very dirty liquid waste. The young company has sold the first systems to a big corporate customer. 

CELLEC BIOTEK AG
CELLEC BIOTEK AG, active in the world of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, was founded in 2011 as a spin-off of a lab of University Hospital Basel, Switzerland, by an experienced team of engineers, biotechnologists and clinicians. The start-up develops and commercializes bioreactors for 3D cell culture and tissue generation. The products allow growing 3D living tissues, as advanced model systems for tissue development and drug testing, applied to life sciences and pharmaceutical research, and potentially as biological grafts for tissue and organ regeneration, applied to clinical translation in regenerative medicine.

KORING AG
300’000 patients annually require a colostomy. A third of these patients suffer from subsequent expansion of their abdominal wall with a loss of stability and bulging of the abdomen (Hernia). This leads to pain, cosmetic issues and often re-intervention. To prevent such complications, Philipp Kirchhoff, a surgeon at the University of Basel, has developed a ring implant that prevents Hernias. Koring is already available on the market.

NBE-Therapeutics AG
NBE-Therapeutics AG is a biotechnology company located in Basel, Switzerland. The company was founded in 2012 by serial entrepreneur Ulf Grawunder. NBE-Therapeutics is focusing on the development of antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) for the therapy of cancer. ADCs are a new type of targeted therapy, in which highly potent cellular toxins (toxic payloads) are conjugated to cancer-specific antibodies allowing the targeted destruction of cancer cells without affecting healthy cells or tissue. The company has developed Transpo-mAb, a fully human therapeutic antibody discovery platform, as well as the SMAC-Technology, an enzymatic payload conjugation platform, for the generation of homogeneous next-generation ADCs. The SMAC-Technology was validated in proof-of-concept studies.

CTI Start-up enables creative entrepreneurs to realize their innovative business ideas quickly and professionally. Through a three-phase, firmly guided process lasting 6 to 24 months, a dedicated expert will help the venture’s project evolve sufficiently to apply for the CTI Start-up Label. The Start-up Label is a seal of quality, a certificate of achievement, and a sign of credibility and readiness for sustainable growth. It is awarded by the CTI Certification Board that is composed of seasoned entrepreneurs and experts.