The ACCELERATE program, an initiative dedicated to supporting and stimulating entrepreneurial innovation in Switzerland, has announced the winners of its 2024 edition. Among the start-up ideas competing this year, four stood out for their potential to transform the Swiss medical, technological, and watchmaking landscape.
The new participants in CSEM’s start-up program ACCELERATE have been announced. This year, inspiring women are taking the reins.
One of these innovative projects is led by CSEM’s internal engineers, while the other three are proposed by external entrepreneurs engaged with CSEM. All these projects offer high-impact solutions for our society.
The next submission cycle, open until January 2025, offers entrepreneurs the opportunity to join this wave of innovation.
The news is in: Visienco, Protonica, Watchibia and TrueYouOmics are the four start-ups set to develop within CSEM by 2026. Here is a rundown of these four ideas high-impact ideas:
Imagine a future where organoids - mini replica of organs - are used to speed up the development of new drugs and significantly reduce the need for animal testing. That is the vision of Visienco, developed by Lucie Jandet and Jonas Goldowsky. Their automated sorting technology, developed in collaboration with CSEM experts will allow to standardize drug development research and promote further the use of these microtissues.
«The support from CSEM is crucial for us, not only for their technological expertise but also for their network of potential partners and clients,» explains Lucie Jandet.
Proton therapy is considered the future of cancer care. Its benefits are undeniable: it not only significantly reduces side effects compared to conventional treatments but also opens the possibility for a single session treatment. Protonica, a start-up idea developed by Veronica Leccese at CSEM and her colleagues Benoit Truc and Michele Caldara from EPFL, is a tool that aims to make proton therapy even more effective and accessible for everyone.
«Our goal is to improve the precision of proton therapy beams to ensure optimal treatment,» reveals Leccese.
Watchibia, an innovative start-up led by Olga Nijpels-Tishurova, imagines a smart strap that perfectly fits classical watch. This unique strap allows you to monitor your health without sacrificing the classic and elegant style of your watch. By offering interchangeable smart straps, Watchibia meets the growing market demand for smartwatches.
«My goal is to enable watchmakers to combine the timeless elegance of classical watchmaking with the modern functionalities of smartwatches. With CSEM's expertise and reputation in the field, I am well-equipped to tackle this challenge,» exclaims Olga Nijpels-Tishurova.
Unlike traditional blood tests, which focus on a limited number of markers, Andres Lanzos and his colleagues Kevin Yar and Dominic Mehr aim to offer every citizen a more precise view of their current and future health. By measuring thousands of proteins and billions of potential mutations, their goal is to predict disease risks with unprecedented accuracy and correlate them with the patient’s current state.
«By combining DNA, RNA and protein analysis with our powerful algorithms, we are on the verge of developing one of the sharpest solutions for disease risk predictions. We call it: TrueYouOmics,» discloses Andres.
Since its creation, CSEM has given rise to over 50 start-ups. Among them, several have achieved significant market success, such as Matis and Aktiia, demonstrating the added value and growth potential of these emerging companies.
This year, CSEM is particularly proud to note that one of the selected projects is led by engineers already within the organization. Additionally, three of the four projects are led or co-led by women, reflecting their commitment to excellence and diversity.
The next submissions cycle will be open until the end of January 2025. Interested entrepreneurs are invited to submit their applications online for a chance to join the next cohort of promising start-ups supported by CSEM.
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