Wingman Ventures leads CyanoGuard's seed round

Established in 2016 by Benedikt Kirchgässler (CEO) and Mathias Cherbuin (CTO), CyanoGuard is developing next-generation solutions that allow for safe and efficient cyanide detection, monitoring and optimization for industrial process control and toxicological analyses. Application areas include mines which rely on CyanoGuard’s data-driven and connected solutions to extract more gold while reducing their operating costs and environmental footprint. The solution is also ideal for food safety testing and healthcare.

The startup has now completed its seed round led by Wingman Ventures with participation from BlueOcean Ventures, a Geneva-based Medtech and life sciences venture firm. The startup has also obtained additional funds from the European Union's Horizon 2020 SME Instrument. The capital will enable CyanoGuard to accelerate its go-to-market strategy in the global mining industry and to further expedite the development of its product offering for food safety and healthcare applications.

Benedikt Kirchgässler comments, “I am excited about the positive impact that our digital, AI-based technology has on the global gold mining industry as well as the local communities and the environment. I believe that we will benefit from both the experience of leading venture funds, Wingman and BlueOcean, as well as the support of the European Union to speed up market penetration and develop further applications for our technology.”

As part of the deal, Alex Stöckl, Founding Partner at Wingman Ventures, joined CyanoGuard’s Board of Directors. He states that: “With its current offering, CyanoGuard has a unique value proposition for its mining clients that is beyond improved cyanide testing. This encompasses efficiency-enhancing digitization of process control and a more sustainable usage of cyanide in mining operations. We are convinced that Benedikt, Mathias and their team will drive CyanoGuard to become a globally leading provider of digital mining solutions.”

(Press release/RAN)