Founded as a preclinical-stage spin-off from ETH Zürich and Universitätsspital Zürich (USZ), OBaris has concentrated on solving a key challenge in medicine: improving the stability and absorption of biologics and other complex drugs when taken orally. Its approach could widen treatment options and improve convenience for patients.

By acquiring OBaris, Johnson & Johnson strengthens its focus on innovative delivery technologies. The move aligns with the company’s longstanding goal of improving health worldwide and expanding patient access to novel therapies.

OBaris participated in Venture Leaders Biotech and won Venture Kick.


OBaris Co-Founders: CTO Nevena Paunovic and CEO David Klein Cerrejon

Additional Links
OBaris obtains the CHF 150,000 Kick to enable the painless delivery of injectable drugs

SBB has launched a collaboration with the Engineering company CompPair to improve durability and reduce maintenance needs on critical train components, starting with the cowcatchers of the ICN locomotives. These front parts, often exposed to impacts, have until now required frequent interventions and costly replacements.

CompPair was ranked among the TOP 100 Swiss Startups, won Venture Kick, and participated in Venture Leaders Cleantech.
 

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By integrating CompPair’s HealTech™ technology into the ICN refit programme beginning in 2025, SBB aims to extend the lifetime of these components and reduce downtime. The repairable composite solution allows in-situ healing of damage within minutes, lowering maintenance costs and cutting resource use.

The adoption of CompPair's technology through existing SBB suppliers ensures a smooth transition within current maintenance processes while advancing SBB’s long-term sustainability strategy. This collaboration highlights the potential of next-generation repairable composites for broader use across the fleet, supporting both operational efficiency and environmental responsibility in the rail industry.

"In autumn 2022, we were fortunate to be selected for the Venture Leaders roadshow, which was invaluable for CompPair's expansion goals and investment rounds thanks to the high-quality contacts we made," commented Marketing Manager Emilie Malek. "The experience was complemented by excellent entrepreneurship training and guidance on tackling business challenges. Finally, access to various funding opportunities through Venture Kick truly accelerated our journey."


CompPair team

Additional Links
CompPair's profile on Venture Kick CompPair Technologies secures funding to advance global growth in composites industry

4xSleep: On a mission to build the world’s best mattress
Poor sleep is a major health and productivity issue. Up to 80% of people report difficulties with sleep duration and/or quality. Yet most still spend one?third of their lives on static foam or innerspring mattresses – technologies invented more than a century ago – that cannot adapt to each sleeper’s changing needs, including those driven by a warming climate.
4xSleep is a Swiss healthtech startup developing a patent-pending mattress that actively adjusts firmness and temperature in real time, learning each sleeper’s preferences to enhance comfort and recovery. The interdisciplinary founding team from HSG, ETH Zurich, and HKB brings together expertise in engineering, data science, design, and business, supported by advisors in longevity and sleep research. 4xSleep targets the fast-growing, multibillion?Swiss?franc smart?mattress market – serving consumers today and regulated healthcare tomorrow.
The Venture Kick funds will support the completion of a pilot-ready prototype.

Billoba: High-performance sustainable sportswear materials
Traditional rubber materials like neoprene are derived from petroleum or limestone, contributing heavily to environmental degradation. Today, sportswear brands are forced to choose between sustainability and performance.
Founded by Jonathann Magne (CEO), Ashley Reese (CPO), and Benoit Schnell (CTO), Billoba is developing high-performance, plant-based rubber alternatives tailored for the sportswear industry. The first innovation is a proprietary, plant-based alternative to neoprene that delivers on both sustainability and technical performance without compromise. The elastomer market exceeds USD 100B globally, with a USD10B serviceable market in sportswear alone. Billoba is positioned to become the premium sustainable material partner for forward-thinking brands.
The Venture Kick funds will be used to scale production from lab to industry, including the first large-scale foam sheet samples and end-product prototypes. Funds will also support marketing and customer engagement to validate product-market fit. billoba.com

ChessLine: Your personal AI chess coach
600 million chess players face an overload of generic tools and content and struggle to improve efficiently. Current platforms fail to provide personalized, explainable training.
Founded by Stefan Rau and Carl von Burg, ChessLine combines AI and business expertise with deep chess knowledge. Leveraging data from millions of real games, the startup applies cutting-edge AI methods to power an app that delivers personalized training with explainable AI, opponent-specific preparation, and tailored improvement plans. The USD 1.2B chess market is just the beginning: the technology is designed to scale into trading card games (USD 5.0B), fantasy sports (USD 8.9B), and poker (USD 86.2B).
Venture Kick funds will be used to expand user testing and continuously improve the product with real customer feedback, paving the way toward product–market fit.

DeltaSpark: From CO2 removal to clean H2 production
Record-high CO2 emissions are driving rapidly rising global temperatures, creating an urgent need for large-scale reductions.
Recognizing that waste consists of compounds that cannot be harvested or reused, DeltaSpark tackles this challenge by transforming CO2 into valuable social and economic opportunities.
DeltaSpark is a spinoff from EPFL, founded by CEO Dr. Luc Bondaz and CTO Dr. Suhas Nuggehalli Sampathkumar, who met during the PhD Excellence Programme. The team is supported by a group of expert advisors: Prof. Jan Van Herle, a scale-up specialist; Prof. François Maréchal, our process engineering specialist; and Dr. Rafael Castro Amoedo, our business mentor.
DeltaSpark’s compact, multi-patented electrocatalytic process enables the local and economic removal of CO2 emissions while simultaneously producing affordable, clean H2 and building materials.
Venture Kick Funds will support the demonstration of DeltaSpark’s solution at scale, with an initial target of removing 1 kg of CO2 per day.

Melior: Making museums enjoyable for everyone through personalized AI-powered experiences
Museums often present the same information to all visitors, which can be boring, confusing, or too time-consuming. This one-size-fits-all approach leaves many visitors disengaged and cultural institutions struggling to connect with diverse audiences.
Melior transforms smartphones into intelligent museum guides that adapt to each visitor's interests and knowledge level. Founded by ETH Zurich graduates, the startup creates interactive voice conversations that preserve curatorial vision while making exhibits accessible to everyone. The museum market alone represents USD 1.2 billion in total addressable market across 57,208 institutions worldwide, with expansion potential to cultural institutions, historical sites, and art galleries.
The Venture Kick Stage 1 funds will enable Melior to test and iterate on their MVP with pilot partners and prepare their platform for scale. This investment allows the team to validate their museum-first approach and establish the technical foundation for broader market expansion.

NARRAE: Uniting Generative AI Tools for Collaborative Filmmaking
Users can convert voice notes into personally styled films via the company's innovative "Voice Shorts" technology, embedded in WhatsApp, without any prompts, scripts, or filmmaking knowledge. 
Founded by CEO Pierre Esparsa, CTO David Souto, and CFO Mauro Riggio, NARRAE is currently being accelerated by EHL's Innovation Hub. The platform focuses on solving the Video Paradox: 70% of mobile traffic is video, yet it's created by only 12% of users. NARRAE makes filmmaking accessible to the remaining 88%, tapping into the 7 billion WhatsApp voice notes shared daily—a number that has doubled every year since 2020. A prepaid system charges CHF 2 per minute of film, with 50% profit margins. Built on proprietary AI models, NARRAE prioritizes mobile optimization, encryption, and data privacy. To drive growth, the platform will distribute free credits to influencers and community leaders, leveraging built-in virality.
Venture Kick funds will help connect the prototype with storytellers, artists, and community leaders who would otherwise not have been able to create films from their important but unheard stories, paving the way to build an ultra-specialized Small Language Model at the service of global stories.

Under Industries: An efficient and cost-effective way of laying underground pipes.
Under Industries addresses the growing need for efficient, sustainable, and non-disruptive methods to install underground utility pipes. Conventional open-trench construction is costly, space-intensive, and often impractical in dense urban environments.
Founders and board members of Under Industries include CEO Mr. Eugenio Valli, CTO Mr. Philippe Kientsch, CFO Mr. Stefan Kaspar, and COO Mr. Doré de Morsier. The startup is developing a novel Micro Tunnel Boring Robot (MTBR) capable of autonomously building and lining boreholes using in-situ pipe extrusion. This innovation eliminates the need for prefabricated pipes and reduces surface disruption. The solution targets the multibillion-dollar underground utilities market spanning water, gas, power, and telecom sectors.
With the funding from Venture Kick, Under Industries will conduct targeted customer interviews and validate key market assumptions to strengthen its business case ahead of pilot deployment.

Swiss MedTech startup Rhovica Neuroimaging has raised CHF 2.3 million (EUR 2.5 million) in a round led by M2care, with Kickfund, Valuemaker, and business angels participating. The funding will advance SoNav, Rhovica’s bedside navigation system for extraventricular drainage (EVD) catheters in emergency neurosurgery.

EVD catheters are often placed blindly to relieve intracranial pressure after trauma or bleeding, posing clinical risks. SoNav provides real-time bedside visualization and guidance to improve accuracy, speed, and monitoring in intensive care.

To support its growth, Rhovica has appointed Carsten Laue, Managing Director at M2care, to its Board of Directors. Investors bring strong medtech expertise and networks to guide SoNav toward clinical adoption in a neurosurgical device market environment projected to grow 4.5%–14.2% in the coming years.

The Medtech startup won Venture Kick in 2022. "Venture Kick was far more than initial funding – their early support and feedback laid the foundation for our growth and achievements, and set us on the path to today’s investor trust," highlighted Co-Founder Martin Hlavica.


rhovica Co-Founders Thomas Rhomberg and Martin Hlavica

Additional Links
rhovica's profile on Venture Kick Rhovica Neuroimaging wins CHF 150,000 to develop catheter that reduces risk in lifesaving neurosurgical procedures

Escherichia coli is the leading cause of urinary tract infections, a frequent cause of neonatal sepsis, and a major contributor to antimicrobial resistance-related deaths worldwide. Baxiva's approach focuses on multivalent vaccines, which are designed to protect against multiple strains of a single pathogen. The company's proprietary conjugation platform streamlines the development of such vaccines by targeting serotype-specific polysaccharides of Gram-negative bacteria.

The lead program targets invasive extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC) infections, with a formulation combining surface polysaccharides with a carrier protein to strengthen immune response. By focusing on the most prevalent ExPEC serotypes, Baxiva aims to reduce the global burden of infections that have become increasingly resistant to existing treatments.

CARB-X, a global non-profit partnership, supports early-stage antibacterial research to counter the rising threat of drug-resistant bacteria. Its funding will enable Baxiva to progress its vaccine candidate toward future clinical development.

The biotech startup won Venture Kick in 2025.

From left to right: Christoph Rutschmann (Head of R&D), Tim Keys (CSO), Louise Larsson (Head of Preclinical Development), Sharon Dreier (Vaccine Development Associate), Giorgia Greter (CEO)

Additional Links
Baxiva's profile on Venture Kick CHF 10,000 for E. coli vaccine

CycloWatt: Providing pro-level insights for amateur cyclists
Power is the gold standard in cycling performance: it’s the most objective measure of how hard you are working, making it essential for effective training and pacing strategies. Yet most hobby cyclists ride without a power meter because of the prohibitive cost and deployment complexity. CycloWatt changes that by harnessing AI-driven technology to deliver an accurate and affordable power meter.
The co-founders, Victor Luder and Levi Luder, are passionate amateur cyclists who have experienced the problem firsthand. Combining Victor’s technical expertise with Levi’s entrepreneurial drive, they have positioned CycloWatt to innovate and disrupt the cycling technology market. CycloWatt reinvents power measurement and provides an affordable and user-friendly solution. They introduce a cutting-edge Internet of Things (IoT) device that seamlessly integrates force signals with inertial sensor data while leveraging the power of edge machine learning techniques.
The amateur cycling powermeter market is worth well over 1 billion USD. The team aims to use Venture Kick financing to boost business development and prepare for market entry.

Dexterous Endoscopes: Empowering doctors to achieve optimal patient outcomes
Millions of endoscopic procedures are performed annually using rigid or flexible instruments to access internal sites. Rigid endoscopes cannot bend into confined spaces. Flexible ones reach further but lack the force and precision for effective tissue dissection. Surgeons are therefore forced to choose between reach, precision, and control.
Dexterous Endoscopes has developed a variable-stiffness scope engineered to overcome existing limitations. Its ability to switch between rigid and soft modes on command is key. In the soft state, the scope can safely navigate complex organ anatomy to the target zone. In the rigid state, it resists buckling. It provides additional stability, enabling concentrated force with instruments passed through the working channel for high-quality tissue dissection or delivering greater stability for laser surgeries.
The Venture Kick funding will support preclinical trials, demonstration of the technology, and advancement of business development activities.

Flatable: Becoming the global leader in flat hunting by reimagining the entire process
Flatable addresses the frustration of finding a shared flat or roommate. Current platforms are inefficient, filled with unresponsive listings, scams, and little personalization — leading to wasted time and mismatched living situations.
Founded by ETH Zurich graduate Safras Rawfal, Flatable is an AI-driven mobile app that uses personality-based matching to connect users with compatible roommates and shared flats. It offers a fully integrated journey, from matching and viewing scheduling to digital contract signing, all in one secure platform. The startup targets students, young professionals, and landlords, starting in Switzerland and expanding into a global shared housing market worth over CHF 7.7 billion.
The Venture Kick funding will be used for targeted marketing campaigns to acquire early users. Funds will go into online and offline outreach, building strong network effects from day one.

Labli Automation: Smart instrumentation for life sciences
Workflows in wet labs are labour-intensive, a bottleneck that slows scientific progress. Current automation solutions lack the efficiency and ease of use for widespread adoption.
Founded by Dr. Samuel Balula (CEO), with scientific advisors Prof. Dr. Mustafa Khammash and Dr. Stephanie Aoki, Labli Automation develops compact instrumentation and easy-to-use software to enable digital-biological interfaces for high-throughput cell culture assays. Integrating seamlessly with existing experimental workflows, Labli automation offloads time-consuming tasks and brings automation to the hands of scientists, one protocol at a time.
The Venture Kick funds will enable the production of customer-ready hardware to satisfy its first orders, as well as on-site customer validation.

latentfusion.ai: Optimizing protein-based therapeutics to unlock innovative treatments
97% of all protein-based therapeutics fail before approval, after millions of US dollars and a large effort have been invested into their development. Up to 50% of those failures could be avoided with optimized protein candidates.
latentfusion.ai provides AI-driven protein optimization, helping biotech partners fix critical issues in lead candidates. This accelerates research, boosts licensing potential, and avoids dead-end projects. Most importantly, it increases the chances of life-changing treatments reaching patients.
latentfusion.ai was founded by CEO Elias Hagmann, with a background in computer science from ETH Zürich, and CSO Dieter Schiegg, with a background in Biochemistry from the University of Zürich. Together, they bring over 25 years of experience in the biotech industry.  The core market consists of 3,000+ therapeutic biotech companies that currently spend over USD12 billion on protein lead optimization.
The Venture Kick funds will be used to reach potential customers, establish strategic partnerships, and accelerate market entry.

Raven Robotics: Next-generation robotic inspections for safer worksites
Industrial environments such as construction sites, power plants, and manufacturing facilities are large, congested, and dynamic, posing severe risks and causing numerous fatal and non-fatal injuries. Safety inspections are essential to prevent accidents, yet conventional methods remain costly, labour-intensive, infrequent, and error-prone.
Raven Robotics’ first product, “InspectNet,” tackles these challenges with a next-generation automated inspection system of compact, collaborative Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs) featuring safe autonomous navigation, self-charging, and AI-powered visual analytics for hazard detection, generating regulation-compliant safety reports tailored to the needs of different worksites.
Currently incubated at EPFL, the company is led by CEO Dr. Kagan Erünsal, with collaborators Lucas Waelti, Donia Gasmi, and advisors Prof. Alcherio Martinoli, Innosuisse coach Caroline Coquerel, innovation manager Dr. Frédéric Dreyer, and HSE professional Evren Sener.
Venture Kick funding will support market research, go-to-market strategy, and team-building efforts.







 

Altiscreen: Transforming Handheld Drugs of Abuse Screening
Altiscreen is addressing the critical need for rapid, on-site drug detection to help reduce healthcare costs, workplace accidents, and road fatalities. The company provides a truly portable and user-friendly device that delivers accurate results in just minutes, in contrast to existing solutions that are often bulky, slow, or complex.
Founded by Dr. Leonard Dumea in 2024, Altiscreen has developed a device that utilizes advanced immuno-chromatographic methods and image recognition technology. This innovative solution delivers results quickly and is compatible with various sample types, including oral fluid and urine. The device can detect up to nine substances simultaneously and has been field-validated with clients.
The drug testing market is projected to reach USD 11.9 billion by 2030, with significant growth opportunities for handheld testing in Europe.
Funding from Venture Kick will enable Altiscreen to produce its first commercial batch and enhance business development. This support will accelerate manufacturing, market entry, and partnerships, helping to bring its rapid and portable drug detection device to market.

VidaSense: Comfort in fetal-maternal monitoring, confidence in prenatal care
Existing fetal monitoring devices primarily use ultrasound technology, which presents several limitations. These include high sensitivity to sensor positioning, the need for gel, bulky equipment design, restricted mobility for expectant mothers, and the requirement for frequent readjustments by healthcare personnel.
VidaSense is addressing these challenges in prenatal care by merging comfort with clinical reliability. Their innovative active dry electrode technology enables comprehensive fetal-maternal monitoring through a non-invasive, lightweight wearable device. Behbood and Yilmaz, in collaboration with CSEM and Insel Spital, are advancing this innovation to meet the growing demand for remote monitoring, representing a potential market of USD 1.3 billion worldwide.
The grant provided by VentureKick is crucial for enhancing the system's usability and for onboarding an experienced industrial designer to assist with the mechanical design and the development of a functional prototype for VidaSense.

InkVivo Technologies has successfully closed a CHF 1.1 million pre-seed financing round, spearheaded by TiVentures and Claves Investments, with contributions from strategic angel investors. The capital will be used to advance the company's clinical development of its state-of-the-art polymer-based drug delivery formulations and to broaden its product pipeline across therapeutic areas.

The startup's core technology leverages a patented biomaterial platform and advanced manufacturing techniques—including precise 3D design—to create localized, time-controlled release of active ingredients. Initially aimed at gastroretentive systems for anemia and obesity, InkVivo plans to expand its applications to nutraceuticals, oncology, metabolic disorders such as Type 2 diabetes, and beyond.

“This round marks an important step for InkVivo’s mission to unlock the full therapeutic potential of active ingredients through smart formulations. Our platform allows us to rethink how medicines are delivered, replacing frequent dosing and poor absorption with solutions that are more effective, longer-lasting, and easier for patients. At the same time, we help industry partners reformulate drugs faster, extend product life cycles, and unlock new IP opportunities. With this funding, we are advancing our lead product targeting anemia and scaling up new collaborations with pharmaceutical partners,” says Elia Guzzi, CEO & Co-Founder.

InkVivo is a Venture Kick alumni, participated in Venture Leaders Biotech in 2025, and ranked at the TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award in 2023 and 2024.

InkVivo Technologies co-founders, CEO Dr. Elia Guzzi and COO Stefano Cerutti

Luca Bolliger studied at ETH Zurich, where he graduated from the Biocenter in Basel with a degree in biochemistry. He then became a member of the Basel Institute for Immunology. Throughout his career, he has worked for prominent companies such as Roche, Actelion, and NovImmune. Most recently, he served as Vice President of Corporate Licensing at Recordati. Additionally, he is a board member of the Swiss Biotech Association and Axoltis.
 

• What brought you to the Venture Kick jury, and what has kept you engaged over the years?
  I was introduced to Venture Kick by Igor Fisch while he was still CEO of Selexis, and I was Head of Business Development at NovImmune. What I truly appreciate about Venture Kick is that it’s a genuinely national and secular initiative. It stands out for being pragmatic and straightforward, with no unnecessary complexity. Its structure sets a high standard and fosters strong cross-fertilization thanks to its agnostic and integrative approach. The network effect, high quality, and real impact of the program are compelling. Most of all, I value the high-quality ideas it brings forward and the spirited, dedicated Venture Kick team behind it.

• What makes the Venture Kick program stand out in the Swiss startup ecosystem?
  I would highlight many of the same reasons mentioned above: its national scope, its pragmatic and straightforward nature, and the consistently high quality it delivers.

• What do you enjoy most when interacting with founders during the jury sessions?
  I enjoy being exposed to new ideas and engaging with interesting people. The exchange of perspectives and the opportunity to offer constructive challenges make the experience both rewarding and stimulating.

• In your opinion, what are the three key success factors a startup should fulfill?
  First, a startup should address a real problem, though in rare cases, creating a new need can also be valid. Second, it must be led by an upright and competent management team. Lastly, the team should be able to communicate clearly and remain open and receptive to feedback from their audience.

• Which global developments do you believe offer the most opportunities for Swiss startups today?
  I see major opportunities emerging in engineering, robotics, artificial intelligence, and the development of new materials. These areas are advancing rapidly and offer fertile ground for innovation and global relevance.

• What are some of the most pressing challenges that Swiss founders face today?
  Raising capital remains a key challenge, along with an overly narrow focus on the Swiss and DACH markets. Broadening their vision beyond these regions could unlock greater potential.

• What keeps you optimistic about the next generation of startups?
  I’m encouraged by the sheer abundance of real-world problems that still need—and can—be solved. Coupled with the curiosity and drive of new founders, this creates a strong foundation for innovation and impact.

• If you could add one thing to the Swiss startup ecosystem, what would it be?
  I would like to see more vision, courage, unity, and boldness across the ecosystem, including from investors. Switzerland has too many small institutions; we need fewer, but larger ones with the financial capacity and strategic mandate to back high-risk, high-impact innovation. For instance, pension funds should have the ability to invest a portion of their capital locally, rather than exclusively abroad, to support Swiss startups with global potential.

Additional Links
Discover the Venture Kick Jury