Six startups selected to explore Israel

According to a report by Israel’s Startup Nation Central, 2021 was a bumper year for the Israeli tech industry, with companies raising $25.6 billion in capital, shattering 2020’s previous record of $10.3 billion. Life sciences start-ups attracted more than $3 billion in 2021. The success is based on a thriving ecosystem which includes start-ups, serial entrepreneurs, universities, hospitals, investors and support organisations. For Swiss startups, the country offers immense opportunities to boost their businesses.

Innosuisse and the innovation team at the Embassy of Switzerland in Israel are hosting the next Start-up exchange programme with Israel. The start-ups will have access to Israeli entrepreneurs, have live conversations with some of the leading figures of the industry and fully immerse themselves into the vibrant start-up ecosystem in Israel. Along with networking and one-on-one mentorship, the program also offers seminars in marketing, storytelling and more.

The Israeli - Swiss Lean Launchpad Program 2022 started on 1 February and ends on 7 April 2022. These are the six startups selected by Innosuisse:

b-rayZ
Early diagnosis of breast cancer in patients with dense breast tissue is difficult and requires a profound understanding of the diagnostic procedures and the pathological features. MedTech software company developed and obtained a CE-Mark for their b-box, a novel artificial Intelligence platform that supports technicians in their daily work by assessing breast density and mammographic image quality. The AI algorithms allow for mimicking doctor’s decisions to provide real-time feedback with high clinical accuracy.

Healthy-Longer
The Zurich based startup founded in 2021 is developing products to help people prevent and maintain their health through preventive nutrition. It does so by using individuals’ genetic variants (biomarkers) to provide nutritional recommendations to incorporate into their daily nutrition. The startup is focusing on five critical areas: mental health, cardiovascular health, cancer defence, healthy lungs and kidneys. Balanced MIND Bio & Gen, the company’s first product for mental health is already in the market. Until 2023, it will have launched products for all focus areas.

Limula
Aiming to catalyse the transition towards the widespread adoption of highly personalised cancer treatments, and radically broaden their accessibility, Limula offers a platform technology that enables scale-out of cell therapy manufacturing directly at the point of care. Thanks to this approach, the startup can increase the overall safety and reproducibility of the process by automating unnecessary manual steps. It eliminates the need for large and expensive to maintain sterile facilities, long-distance cryogenic transport of fragile human samples, and lowers the number of human operators, resulting in an estimated $50k per patient compared to current $500k per cure.

Mirrakoi
The EPFL spinoff based in Ecublens (VD) developed an intuitive and accessible 3D CAD tool that enables designers, architects and engineers to create complex surfaces much faster and more intuitively. Its product, Rhino3DMedical for Orthopaedics and CMF Surgery enables users to create 3D printable patient-specific anatomical models directly from their DICOM files with only a few steps. Benefiting from the software requires no learning curve: a self-explanatory workflow and user interface guides you through the steps to create anatomical 3D prints.

NIMBLE
Nimble is a device that can improve examinations of how scars heal. Previously, dermatologists examined the skin using a technique called palpation, which however only works well depending on the examiner’s experience, and it is impossible to measure small changes. Nimble makes the changes measurable for the first time. A round suction head pulls at the skin with a vacuum, lifting it by a few millimetres. The stiffer the skin, the more negative pressure this requires. In a clinical study involving burn patients at the Children’s Hospital Zurich, the measuring device reliably distinguished between healthy skin and scar tissue on different parts of the body. In a second study, NIMBLE showed that the measuring device is also suitable for diagnosing the rare autoimmune disease scleroderma.

Plusbiome
The Swiss microbiome start-up aiming to make microbiome knowledge accessible to everyone is designing and marketing customised probiotics that support customers and their well-being. The startup was established in 2021.

(Press release / RAN)