Lausanne-based startup Virtuosis developed a privacy-focused Al tool that identifies early signs of stress, anxiety, and communication issues by analysing the voice during calls. Following its recent launch and integration in Microsoft Teams, the startup has won the 2023 Microsoft Switzerland Startup of the Year Award.
Employees’ well-being fosters effective team collaboration and subsequently results in higher performance. Current solutions assessing well-being or communication are often costly and standardised. With the launch of Virtuosis, a new privacy-focused Artificial Intelligence-based tool was introduced to equip organisations and individuals with personalised data to support their decision-making and strategies for better communication.
The AI tool analyses a speaker’s voice to create a scientifically valid and de-biased profile and recommendations for improving communication skills. By quantifying behaviour, tracking stress levels, and detecting team conflicts, the tool creates a context for health and collaboration. Virtuosis emerged from the master’s degree research of Virtuosis co-founder Lara Gervaise and has since undergone improvement with support from co-fonder Edoardo Giudice. The startup launched the solution on Microsoft Teams in May this year and has since become operational. The tool is also GDPR compliant and ISO 27001 certified, an international standard for information security management, providing requirements and best practices to protect sensitive information.
Vituosis joined the Microsoft for Startups Program Founders Hub 1.5 years ago and was crowned the Startup of the Year yesterday during the Microsoft Inspire event. For this year’s call, 39 startups submitted their applications, and only three made it to the finalists round, namely Virtuosis, ORamaVR, the startup offering health care education VR simulations, and Unique AG, a Swiss-based AI-driven client intelligence platform.
“I want to congratulate Virtuosis for winning the Swiss Startup of the Year Award. Their pioneering solution, which harnesses Microsoft technology to enhance employee well-being through personalised, confidential insights, is truly driving value for some of our large enterprise customers,” says Andrew Reid, Global Partner Solutions Director at Microsoft Switzerland. “This was an incredibly tough decision, with strong competition from all finalists, notably Unique and ORamaVR. These startups embody the entrepreneurial spirit in Switzerland. We at Microsoft Switzerland look forward to continued collaboration, leveraging technology’s potential to drive business and societal impact in our country and beyond.”
“We are very honoured to receive this award”, expressed the co-founders, who look forward to strengthening their partnership with Microsoft as they pursue their ambition of promoting well-being in work environments using AI.
The Microsoft for Startups Program offers up to $150,000 in Microsoft Azure credits, development and productivity tools and mentorship from technical and business leaders to help startups enhance their solutions. There are currently around 500 startups in the Microsoft for Startups program in Switzerland, of which almost 200 joined this year, with solutions across all industries, including ICT, healthcare, financial services and manufacturing. The program is open to startups at every stage, from ideation to scaleups.
Startup of the Year alumni wins category award
Another winner from yesterday's awards ceremony was the previous Startup of the Year award bearer Decentriq, recognised as the Most Innovative Solution in Swiss DC. Decentriq is a Saas platform revolutionising data collaboration with its state-of-the-art data clean rooms. Its solution enables secure and privacy-centric data analysis without exposing the actual data. Tailored for healthcare, Decentriq makes it easy to collaborate across boundaries and organisations.
(Ritah Ayebare Nyakato)
0Comments
Please login or sign up to comment.
Commenting guidelines