InnoBooster to accelerate novel solutions with high potential

Organised by the Gebert Rüf Stiftung, the InnoBooster program enables entrepreneurs with university-based, high-potential business cases from the Venture Kick to take their projects to the next level.  During 18 months, each selected pro-CHF obtains CHF 150’000 and benefits from a range of services, including expert training and mentoring.

The new cohort comprises four projects. These are:

Apheros | Julia Carpenter
By 2030, a staggering 6 % of the entire global energy consumption will be used for the cooling of electronic devices. Considering the energy shortages caused by the current political situation and the ambitious emission reduction targets necessary to combat climate change, the world is in dire need of more efficient cooling systems. This is where Apheros comes into play. The startup has developed a new, patented technology for the production of metal foams for cooling solutions. These foams combine the features necessary for effective cooling: extremely high surface area - 1000 times larger than the gold standard - and great thermal conductivity. Apheros’ foams have already proven three times more efficient than current cooling solutions and are already in testing with a number of academic and industrial partners. The foams also display robust mechanical properties that make them interesting for a variety of other applications, such as electrodes and catalysis substrates.

ASTRA Therapeutics | Natacha Gaillard
Incorporated in 2019, ASTRA Therapeutics is dedicated to developing frontline Parasiticides, with a mission to bring anti-parasitic cures wherever they are needed. Using precision-drug engineering and its ParaX technology platform, the startup has developed and patented its flagship anti-parasites called Parabulins®, species-specific parasite inhibitors that target Tubulin, a key protein in all living cells and can be used to fight various types of parasites that cause diseases in humans, animals, and crops. Tubulin is required for the universal process of cell division, for maintaining cell shape and for intracellular transport. Inhibiting tubulin by using small-molecule drugs is usually cytotoxic for any living cell. Parabulins® have a very large scope, with more than 30 targetable parasitic diseases.

Breath | Thomas Lumpe
Low- and Middle-Income countries lack a sufficient supply of ventilators leading to millions of preventable deaths and poor patient outcomes each year. To address this problem, Breath is developing the low-cost ventilator "breathe" for emergency use, transport, and short-term critical care. To introduce the solution into the market while enabling sustainable use in low-resource settings, the startup takes a holistic, user-centred approach to design a ventilator that is intuitive to use, robust, and easy to maintain, even in harsh environments. In collaboration with medical partners, breath focuses on safe patient care by integrating the ventilator into a training platform to promote medical and technical knowledge in low-resource settings and make the use of our ventilator more accessible. In the long run, the startup plans to co-produce the ventilator locally to promote knowledge exchange, strengthen local economies, and build capacity.

Intelligent Reliable Monitoring for Structures (irmos) | Panagiotis Martakis
Irmos Technologies is developing an intelligent monitoring platform that translates vibrations of buildings and bridges – caused by wind or traffic – into structural condition metrics for predictive maintenance planning. By customizing maintenance to the actual condition of the assets, the startup enables infrastructure owners to get the most out of their assets and profit from extended amortization and reduced downtimes. Additionally, its solution minimises the environmental impact of structures and improves the resilience of our society in response to unpredictable disasters. The solution relies on commercial vibration sensors and has already been successfully applied in multiple projects with key infrastructure owners. Gebert Rüf Stiftung’s InnoBooster funding will enable the startup to develop its technology platform by automating data acquisition and building its online user platform. This will scale its impact and enable the team to bridge the gap between research and practice for more resilient, safe and sustainable infrastructures.

(RAN)
Photo: Aphros' cooling metal foams & breath ventilator