Three Medtech start-ups awarded at >>venture>>

Yesterday the >>venture>> award ceremony took place at ETH Zurich. It was a remarkable event with a humorous keynote by Federal Councillor Johann Schneider Ammann and important remarks by ETH Zurich President Lino Guzella, >>venture>> founder Thomas Knecht and EPFL President Martin Vetterli. Johann Schneider Ammann pointed out that the innovative and successful Swiss economy is internationally very well recognized. On the other hand, he stressed that the digitisation brings new challenges and opportunities which Switzerland should not miss. The other speakers also stressed that the Swiss startup scene – although it has evolved over the last 20 years - could and should improve further. In addition it was announced that the award ceremony of the next >>venture>> competition will take place in Lausanne at the EPFL.

The three winners demonstrated in which industry the Swiss startup scene is already very strong: All three projects are from the medtech field.

Lumigbo won the prize for the best business plan worth CHF60’000. The team has developed a technology to build up implants inside the body using an access channel of less than half a millimetre in diameter. Corinne John, member of the Jury Committee comments: “Lumigbo is an innovative medtech platform offering significant potential in multiple markets such as dental, orthopedic and neurovascular. The initial focus is on the dental market, which is the fastest to reach. Dentists' projected value is the significantly faster and more convenient solution compared to state-of-the-art products. The technology is covered by multiple patents originating from both ETH and EPFL and backed by a technically strong team.

The prize for the best business idea went to reflectUS. ReflectUS is developing an ultrasound device for women of all ages to receive a reliable breast cancer diagnosis without radiation and discomfort. The aim is to provide a portable, low-cost, and easy-to-use digital healthcare solution for each gynaecological practice.

Twiice is the winner of the first audience award which was organised together with SRF /RTS. Twiice develops and builds a customizable exoskeleton that enables paraplegics to regain independence in daily activities such as standing, walking, and climbing stairs. The device is designed to meet a variety of pathologies, symptoms, morphologies, and expectations.

Business Plan: Second to fifth ranked teams

2^nd: Haelixa
Current assessment methods for the structure of geothermal or oil reservoirs are unreliable, expensive and toxic. Haelixa developed a DNA-tracer methodology that helps generating a high-resolution map of a geothermal or oil reservoir to track and monitor fluids in various environmental and industrial settings.

3^rd: Rainbow Biosystem
Current methods to measure water pollution either raise ethical concerns of animal welfare or require considerable amount of manual intervention. Rainbow Biosystems developed an automated, portable fish cell impedance-based biosensing system for detecting water toxicity.

4^th: Vibwife
In developed countries midwifes rarely undertake the repositioning of birth, although it is proven to have positive effects. Vibwife develops the world's first active mobilization system for women giving birth. It replaces the normal mattress of existing birth beds.

5^th: ASTROCAST
While in urban areas there are communication networks for Machine to Machine communication (M2M) and the Internet of Things (loT), there is no global network available to cover remote areas. ASTROCAST aims to provide a global M2M/loT network for remote monitoring, predictive maintenance, intelligent data, and geolocation Services.

Business Ideas: Second to fifth ranked teams

2^nd: Struckd
Struckd is a platform that doses the gap between gamiflcation and user generated content. It enables gamers from around the world to build, share and play their own game and turn advertisement into an experience.

3^rd: PeakProfiling
Diagnosis of mental disorders is currently based on subjective data and strongly depends on the individual physician. There is no early warning device for patients and no systematic tracking of successful treatments. PeakProfiling's Solution: an algorithm to diagnose depression from the voice using quantitative musicology.

4^th: TWIICE

5^th: Komp-ACT
Today's electro-mechanical Solutions are not responsive enough, too heavy and produce significant heat and noise. Komp-ACT designed two types of light-weight electro-mechanical actuators that could potentially reduce up to 40% of the energy burnt for the actuation System during a flight.