IMAGINE IF! Swiss winners revealed

The global IMAGINE IF! programme helps early-stage startups that aim to transform the future of healthcare and the environment get to the next level by providing them with tailored mentorship, access to leading professional service companies,  rapid networking across the Innovation Forum’s platform and the potential to secure non-dilutive capital.

The Swiss chapter in Lausanne, which saw the participation of eleven startups, has just closed with the selection of the two most outstanding projects that will proceed to the global competition taking place in Barcelona in October 2021. A judging panel of industry leaders will award a non-dilutive cash prize to the best pitch.

The local winners from Switzerland are:

MyLeg
Because lower limb amputees use prostheses that do not restore sensory feedback during walking, they risk falls and overuse the healthy leg causing fatigue and reduced mobility. MyLeg is a unique add-on to commercially available prostheses that restores sensory feedback to amputees by gently stimulating with pulses of current the skin of their remaining leg. The optimal placement of the electrodes on the skin and the algorithms that control the stimulation makes the elicited sensations very clear for the amputee. Thus, the overall system is easy to use.

Limula Biotech
The number of approved cell-based personalised therapies will explode in the coming years, with the potential to treat over 3 million cancer patients annually, but are currently difficult and expensive to produce. Limula develops a ‘GMP-in-a-box’ platform for the automated, rapid and safe manufacturing of CGT from patients’ own cells, directly at the bedside.  By carrying out all steps of CGT production in a single device, Limula’s technology removes the need for large sterile facilities and superfluous manual interventions, saves time, cuts costs, simplifies logistics and increases the safety and accessibility of these personalised treatments. 

The Audience Award goes to Flowbone
Alongside the jury nomination, the Swiss audience also had the chance to vote for their favourite startup. Renens based Flowbone emerged as the winner. The startup develops an injectable gel that strengthens the bone through a unique “local bone seeding” process, triggered by a smart combination of a hydrogel matrix and hydroxyapatite nanoparticles. It allows for at least 3 times more bone in 3 times less time than the most potent drug, without the negative impact of surgical intervention.

(RAN)