Grand finale of the AIT program episode 4

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03.05.2018
AIT winners 2018

The 2017/18 Academia-Industry Training Program supportis scientists in transforming their high-level research into market application.The program has ended last week in Switzerland. Two Swiss startups in the Indian and Brazilian delegation received each a grant of CHF 10’000.

The Academia Industry training program an initiative of the Leading House ZHAW, University of St. Gallen in collaboration with swissnex Brazil, swissnex India run by Venturelab. Nearly 40 academics and aspiring entrepreneurs, known as “Scientrenpreneurs”from Brazil, India and Switzerland spent a week assessing the marketability of their innovation, developing a business network with peers and consolidating their business flair.

In Switzerland, the delegation explored the Swiss innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem through business development workshops. They received insights on starting a business in Switzerland covering topics such as IP, innovation and internationalization, finances, law and business strategy. The delegation also visited local innovation and entrepreneurship hubs like Biopôle and Gotham co-working space in Lausanne, the Makerspace lab, Startfeld in St. Gallen and the startup space in Schlieren. The journey culminated with a Pitch Battle followed by the allocation of five grants worth the equivalent of CHF 10,000 in each of the local currencies.

From Switzerland, one participant in the India and Brazil delegation received the grant. These include:

Noris Gallandat (Brazil) – Gallandat is the founder of GRZ Technologies. The startup developed hydrogen related technologies based on metal hydride to provide safe, efficient and compact hydrogen storage solutions. Two of its products have already been released: a Hydrogen Compressor (HyCo) and an Advanced Gas Analysing System (AGAS).

"The highlight of the AIT experience was the possibility to be on the spot in Rio de Janeiro and meet with potential partners and customers found through the network of the Swissnex Brazil. The participation in the camp eventually led to a strategic partnership and representation agreement with a Brazilian company", said Gallandat..

“The grant money will be used to further develop our activities in Brazil and in other countries. It will also finance a study encompassing legal and commercial aspects of hydrogen technologies in Brazil. Further efforts to develop our business - especially in Asia – will also be financed through the grant”, he concludes.

The second awarded winner is Ajay Patil, a Postdoctoral Researcher at Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI). Patil is working on the project REMRETEch, which deals with the recycling of rare earth elements from magnet e-wastes. The endproduct is a portable recycling unit for e-waste and resource management. Patil will use his CHF10’000 grant to accelerate the development of his products.

Other winners include, Denise Endringer (Brazil), Adarsha Kachappilly (India), Wishwas Goel (India).

The program has also left a positive impact on the visiting sciencepreneurs. For example, Endringer commented; “The experience at AIT proved to me that a scholar can be an entrepreneur, I learnt, among many others, how to create a pitch, the importance of a brand and I expanded my network.” Other peers from Brazil and India shared the same opinion with startupticker during the AIT pitch battle.

“Welcoming the high quality projects from Indian and Brazil in Switzerland and mixing them with great Swiss “sciencepreneurs” for a deep dive in the Swiss innovation scene has been a success for the past 4 years. This is seen in the progress made by the participants and the recognition from the international top governmental partners. We’re already looking forward to the next edition”, said Jordi Montserrat, managing partner Venturelab.

Additional information can be found on the Venturelab website.

(Ritah Ayebare Nyakato)

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