A leap into the growth phase

Two years after joining the Innosuisse coaching programme, Vincent Martinez and his team made a major turnaround with their company – moving from providing robust and 100x more durable cables for electronic devices and robots to providing electrodes and stretchable cables for smart textiles. The transformation came after revaluating their business idea and learning about the dynamics and slow development in the cables market they intended to reach – thus causing a mismatch in the product market fit. Meanwhile, there was growing demand from textile industry companies requesting electronics for textile products. Identifying itself as the Gore-Tex for smart wearables, Nanoleq now enables these companies to embed wires and electrodes in their products for various applications. Only one year after its launch at the end of 2020, the company produces up to 5’000 units per week in-house to serve its more than 15 customers in six European countries, the US, and Canada. Applications range from monitoring and stimulation to protecting workers from electric shocks.

For the B2C segment, the ETH Zurich Spinoff is developing an intelligent lounge-wear (Oxa shirt) with Oxa sensors (an electrocardiogram, a skin temperature sensor and a breathing band) to measure heart activity, stress levels, temperature and support users with breathing activities. The product is anticipated to launch by the end of 2022. Nanoleq has 35 employees, an office in Berlin, and it has raised CHF 13.1 million in the latest financing round. With the receipt of the Innosuisse Certificate, the start-up is now recognised ready for sustainable growth.

Komed Health – from zero to 10 customers

“When we joined the Innosuisse programme we had nothing but a great vision and a plan. The network created through Innosuisse helped us secure our first pilot project with Inselspital. It also gave us exposure in various industry and start-up events,” said Luiza Dobre, Founder and CEO of Komed Health. The start-up built a SaaS healthcare collaboration platform that streamlines clinical workflows and systems. The tool has the potential to replace any other communication system gradually currently in use in healthcare – such as e.g. pagers, wired phones, legacy portable phones, faxes and unsecure WhatsApp with one single modern and secured messaging platform integrated with the care flows.

Since joining the programme several developments have occurred. The platform reached a robust and marketable level in 2020 resulting in eight pilot projects, including some with two of the largest hospitals and private hospital networks - the Insel University Hospital of Bern (which named the Komed platform “a quick win for digitalization”), and the Swiss Medical Network, respectively. The platform is now deployed at 10 Swiss hospitals (both private and public) based on 5-year SaaS contracts and has an active funnel with more than 400 accounts. Through these accounts, Komed Health has gained access to over 6’000 users. The team is gaining rapidly traction growing over existing and new accounts, as well as a multitude of integrations which increase the value of the product and reduce sales cycle by up to 80%. “Now that we are moving towards our Series A, we are looking to add the right investor to join us in our journey to transform an industry ripe for disruption and ultimately save lives.” said Luiza. The start-up is currently raising additional funding to push integrations, increase market traction and implement their first project in Germany.

Haelixa – tracing in 30 textile supply chains

Based in Zurich, Haelixa developed a DNA traceability solution based on patented DNA technology for total textile supply chain transparency from source to retail. Initially, the company focused on a range of industries; however, after assessing its business, the team decided to adapt the business strategy to focus on the textile supply chain industry. “This is where we see the most traction in business, especially since the political, social, and environmental climates are pushing for change across the majority of the supply chain”, explains Michela Paddu, CEO of Haelixa. Subject to regulatory clearance, next game changing opportunity to tackle will be the traceability of food, where the company is currently performing regulatory work.

The company has onboarded established textile manufacturers and partnered with renowned players such as Rieter and Reinhart. The solution has been implemented in over 30 supply chains across Europe, Asia (China, Pakistan, India), and Africa. Plans to enter the US market are underway. Completing the Innosuisse coaching programme marks a new journey for the company, and the certificate recognizes its readiness for further growth. Haelixa is seeking CHF 5 million for its Series A financing round to support its next steps. Besides the technological enhancements, the funds will be used to grow the sales and marketing team, and expand the client base and the scale of existing projects and to enter the food market.

(SK/RAN)

Picture: Nanoleq