Two Zürich based start-up are the new beneficiaries of the final kick, receiving the 130,000 Swiss Francs support. The ETHZ spinoff SwissLitho can produce the smallest nanostructures in the world with its NanoFrazor product. The young company Flatev develops a new capsule machine to make fresh tortillas at the push ofa button.
Felix Holzner, co-founder of SwissLitho, is not only the new venture kick winner, he is also holder of a world record listed int the Guinness World Record book with his IBM colleagues: with their innovation, they have already built the smallest Matterhorn and the smallest 3D world map. The technique is so accurate, that a thousand of those maps could fit on a grain of salt. The IBM researchers achieve this unique sculpting technique with a silicon point a million times thinner than an ant, in order to create patterns and structures about ten nanometres in size.
World-class innovation for nanotechnology
The multiple times patented NanoFrazor is highly superior to the rival techniques. Research institutions or future clients, for instance chipmakers and companies from the domain of electronics, life sciences or optics, can this way work faster, cheaper and easier. Furthermore, the unique 3D functions will open new perspectives and applications for the creation of nanoscaled objects. The first commercial application of NanoFrazor should be ready next summer. The new financing capital will be entirely invested in marketing, in order to demonstrate the technique in real time. The NanoFrazor should also receive a trendy design.
Fresh Tortillas in seconds
Get some fresh flat bread in 35 seconds, as easily as one gets an espresso from a capsule: that’s the idea of Mexican born Carlos Ruiz, who developed a fully automatic tortilla machine with his team and CTO Jonas Müller. Other types of flat bread, like Nan or pita, should be created in different flavours with a single finger pressure. The machine scores many points on the “fresh” theme: one can rarely find homemade tortillas at the restaurant, and may lack the time or skills to make them at home.
Aside from the traditional flavour and the chic design of the apparatus, a social component can be seen in the background: like in a raclette or a fondue, people sit together to prepare the meal. Finally, a functional prototype will be presented on a market in San Francisco. The management team of Flatev has already contacts with big supermarkets chains in America and wants to enter the Californian market with the investors’ money before spring 2014.
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