Bewy: AI-powered property management that cuts costs and boosts transparency
Property owners in the DACH region pay up to CHF 20B+ in property management fees each year, yet 9 out of 10 are unhappy with their property managers. Issues include poor communication, neglected maintenance, unexpected costs, and weak tenant service.
The founding team – Luca (growth/ops), Marcandrea (product), and Gilles (tech) – come from the University of St. Gallen and ETH Zurich and bring years of experience in startups, consulting, and real estate. Bewy is an AI-powered property management company (service provider) that automates internal workflows, reduces costs by up to 50%, and provides landlords with real-time transparency. With CHF 3B market potential in Switzerland alone and an early-mover advantage, Bewy is well-positioned to disrupt outdated incumbents.
The Venture Kick funds will be used to incorporate Bewy, integrate SaaS automation tools, onboard the founding property manager, and launch pilot mandates. This enables the startup to validate product-market fit, build the MVP, and prepare for scalable growth.

Biodelphis Therapeutics: A New Generation of Targeted Drugs to Treat Cancer.
Currently available therapies have a limited success in solid tumors like pancreatic cancer or lung cancer, especially in advanced or treatment-resistant cases. There is a strong need for novel therapeutic strategies with different mechanisms of action to improve outcomes.
Several proteases play central roles in the development of cancer, but have so far been difficult targets for drugs. The new peptide-based inhibitors developed by Biodelphis Therapeutics overcome safety and bioavailability issues thanks to targeted delivery and their high specificity, thereby avoiding any toxicity on healthy tissues. The startup is incubating at EPFL, and its founding team includes Dr. Aaron Petruzzella, Prof. Elisa Oricchio, and Prof. Bruno Correia. Their non-natural peptide inhibitors hold great promise for cancer patients who do not respond to currently available therapies.
The team plans to use the Venture Kick funds to obtain a full analysis of their IP to examine the Freedom to Operate in strategic clinical areas as a part of their business development plan.

nureo: Next-generation of 3D design tools for engineering 
Design tools for engineers have not really changed in decades. Today, the 3D design of products is still a manual and repetitive process, often taking several days to weeks. This drives up costs, slows rapid iterations, and delays time-to-market. 
nureo develops the next generation of 3D design tools to automate repetitive design tasks and cut the manual effort by up to 90%. The startup was founded by Dr. Manuel Biedermann (CEO), Patrick Beutler (CTO), and Dr. Urs Hofmann (COO). Together, the team brings decades of expertise in the field of design automation, software, and manufacturing, and is collaborating with a number of industry leaders. The startup targets the global engineering software market, currently valued at around USD 15 – 25 B. 
The Venture Kick Funds will be used to drive the business development and support the launch of nureo’s design tools, offered through their web-based platform and as add-ons for existing software.

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CHF 10,000 for AI property management, interceptor drones, sustainable enzyme design, targeted cancer drugs, and 3D engineering tools

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and aggressive form of brain tumor, with a median survival of only 15 months. Despite decades of research, the standard of care—surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy—has remained largely unchanged for more than 20 years. One of the biggest therapeutic challenges is the tumor’s ability to suppress immune responses through a complex network of myeloid cells, which prevents current therapies from achieving lasting efficacy. 

The biotech startup GlioCART is developing a new generation of cell therapy — the first of its kind for glioblastoma — that targets both the tumor and the protective environment around it. By engineering immune cells to detect and kill cancer cells as well as reprogram immune cells that shield them to eat them, the therapy addresses a key resistance mechanism that has limited the success of earlier treatments. This dual approach could provide patients with a more durable and effective option against one of the most aggressive forms of brain cancer. 

With around 80,000 new glioblastoma cases each year, the mission of the University of Basel spin-off is to bring lasting therapeutic progress to patients who currently have no curative options. The addressable market, valued at USD 3 billion today and projected to reach USD 6 billion by 2033, highlights both the urgent medical need and GlioCART’s potential to collaborate with leading biopharma companies to deliver this innovation to patients worldwide. 

The CHF 150,000 from Venture Kick will support GlioCART in accelerating its strategic development and partnerships, building on a strong intellectual property foundation and a clear path towards commercialization and bringing its therapy to patients globally.  
 
The founding team brings together expertise across business strategy, clinical research, immuno-oncology, and data science. Dieter Willmann (CEO), Gregor Hutter (CMO), Patrice Zeis (COO), and Valerio Sabatino (CSO) form a multidisciplinary group combining years of experience in translational medicine, platform development and business growth. Their complementary backgrounds equip the biotech startup to advance a new generation of targeted cancer immunotherapies. 

“Venture Kick supported GlioCART in building a strong corporate and IP foundation, positioning the company for sustainable growth and future strategic partnerships,” highlights co-founder Gregor Hutter.

COO Patrice Zeis, CEO Dieter Willmann, CMO Gregor Hutter, and CSO Valerio Sabatino 

Additional Links
GlioCART's profile on Venture Kick CHF 40,000 for Glioblastoma cell-therapy

For years, European firms relentlessly outsourced production, prioritizing cost reduction over long-term strategy. A decade later, China absorbed industrial know-how and now outcompetes on price, while the US leads in innovation. Western companies are caught between these forces – facing shrinking margins and increasing dependency. Their only viable alternative is reshoring to restart innovation, yet both labor and automation costs remain higher in Europe, hindering progress.

The ETH and HSG startup Forgis enables reshoring by making automation smarter, faster and more cost-effective. Its hardware- and application-agnostic AI platform functions as a software brain integrated at the machine level, accelerating robot programming by a factor of four, while reducing downtime detection and resolution. This innovation allows manufacturers to increase flexibility, minimize quality scraps, and compete globally.

The industrial automation and smart manufacturing market represents a trillion-dollar opportunity, expanding rapidly on the back of AI-driven innovation. The startup has already established a strategic partnership with IBM, completed pilot projects, and secured commitments with Fortune 500 manufacturers.

The CHF 150,000 from Venture Kick will accelerate sales acquisition and advance product development.
 
The team brings together technical and entrepreneurial expertise. CEO Federico Martelli, Master’s in Strategy and International Management (SIM) at the University of St. Gallen (HSG), leads the company alongside CPO Camilla Mazzoleni and CTO Riccardo Maggioni, both from ETH Robotics. With experience across robotics, software engineering, and business strategy, the team enables the ICT startup to develop innovative solutions for the automation sector.

“Venture Kick was instrumental in giving us that milestone-driven external push to close the deal now, develop that feature now, and get things done now,” highlights CEO Federico Martelli.

From left to right: CTO Riccardo Maggioni, CPO Camilla Mazzoleni, and CEO Federico Martelli

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Forgis' profile on Venture Kick CHF 40,000 for reshoring

A Venture Kick winner and Top100 Swiss Startup, Virometix recently completed patient enrollment for the Phase I clinical trial of V-212, a synthetic, peptide-based vaccine designed to prevent Streptococcus pneumoniae infections. The vaccine combines conserved antigenic epitopes from pneumococcal surface proteins with Virometix’s proprietary Synthetic Virus-Like Particle (SVLP) technology, which integrates adjuvant components directly into the vaccine structure. This design removes the need for biological carrier proteins and enables a streamlined synthetic manufacturing process.

The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study (NCT06975319) is being conducted at the Centre for Vaccinology (CEVAC) of Ghent University Hospital with 60 healthy volunteers. Topline safety and immunogenicity results are expected in the first quarter of 2026.

The fresh funding will support the completion of this trial, preparations for a Phase Ib combination study with an approved pneumococcal vaccine, and ongoing optimization of the SVLP platform. Virometix also aims to advance its next-generation pneumococcal vaccine programs toward preclinical development.

Additional Links
Virometix profile on Venture Kick

Every year, more than 15 million people suffer a stroke, and nearly half of them leave rehabilitation unable to walk independently — not because recovery is impossible, but because intensive therapy remains too expensive and limited to specialized centers. Autonomyo addresses this gap with Skywalk, the world’s first intelligent safety frame designed for safe, assisted gait training at home. When paired with the company’s wearable exoskeleton and digital rehabilitation platform, the system enables patients to practice walking daily in a controlled and affordable way.

Autonomyo’s technology has already been successfully tested at CHUV (University Hospital of Lausanne), showing promising results for home-based motor recovery. The company is now working toward CE certification and FDA readiness in 2025 to enter European and US markets.

With the new funding and ongoing crowdfunding campaign, Autonomyo—a Venture Kick winner—plans to accelerate the industrialization of its Skywalk and Exoskeleton V3, expand digital training programs, and scale production to reach thousands of households worldwide. By involving the public in its next growth phase, Autonomyo invites supporters to participate in its mission to restore independence to millions of people affected by mobility loss.

Additional Links
Autonomyo's profile on Venture Kick

German document automation provider LAWLIFT has acquired CASUS Create, a business line from Swiss Legal Tech company CASUS—a Venture Kick winner. The deal strengthens LAWLIFT’s presence in Switzerland and enhances its offerings for law firms and corporate legal teams.

For CASUS, the sale marks a strategic shift toward its AI-Associate platform. The AI-powered tool helps legal teams review, proofread, benchmark, and edit documents, and integrates directly within Microsoft Word to simplify workflows.

Existing CASUS Create customers will transition smoothly to LAWLIFT, with free template migration and access to a modern platform featuring enterprise-grade support.

The partial exit allows CASUS to focus fully on AI development, while LAWLIFT expands its reach across the DACH region.

“Venture Kick gave us the momentum to turn an early idea into a real company. Their support helped us validate our concept quickly, build early traction, and gain the confidence to move fast,” highlighted Co-Founder Fabian Staub.


CASUS Co-Founders Céleste Urech and Fabian Staub

Additional Links
CASUS' profile on Venture Kick

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 USD 10 B 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

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. A group of expert advisors supports the team: 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, cost-effective 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.

Hephaistos: Sustainable chemical manufacturing with novel enzymes
The current way of producing chemicals is flawed in many ways. It is costly in terms of energy and reagents and is heavy on the environment. An emerging alternative is enzymes: They save 30% in production cost and 50% in CO2 emissions. But there is no suitable enzyme for every production process yet. Hephaistos addresses this need by designing them from scratch. 
The founders team formed during the ETH Biotech Master's and is obsessed with enzyme design and its implications for industry. They unify expertise in the disciplines of chemistry, biotech, and machine learning. The advisory board to the team is serial biotech entrepreneur Andreas Meyer and enzyme expert Peter Stockinger. Hephaistos´ core tech is an end-to-end enzyme design pipeline, providing catalysts for previously unreachable industrial reactions. Focusing on Swiss pharmaceutical production first, they address a 740 Million CHF market. The company´s vision is to become the go-to for tailor-made enzymes, not only in the pharma market, but also in other niches: industrial chemicals, herbicides, and cosmetics. 
The Venture Kick funds aid them in achieving their first industrial pilot project. Hephaistos.bio

BV100 is a novel intravenous formulation of rifabutin developed to treat hospital-acquired infections caused by Acinetobacter baumannii, including carbapenem-resistant strains (CRAB). The compound features a newly identified mechanism of action that enables the active uptake of rifabutin into Gram-negative bacteria, allowing the targeting of the RNA-polymerase enzyme with a human-suitable dose—an unprecedented approach for this bacterial group.

The Phase 2b study will be conducted within the ADVANCE-ID (ADVANcing Clinical Evidence in Infectious Diseases) network, coordinated by the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health at the National University of Singapore. Wellcome has allocated SGD 22 million (approximately CHF 14 million) to strengthen the network and enable this first sponsor-driven trial in collaboration with BioVersys—that has ranked for several years among the Top100 Swiss Startups, won Venture Kick, joined two Venture Leaders programs, and participated in the first SIX IPO Academy in 2022 to prepare and equip Top100 scaleups for a potential listing on the Swiss Stock Exchange.
Taking place across several Southeast Asian countries where drug-resistant infections are highly prevalent, the study will expand from two to three treatment arms. It will evaluate BV100 in combination with either Ceftazidime/avibactam or Cefiderocol, alongside a Best Available Therapy arm. This expanded design increases the number of evaluable patients in Part A from 60 to 90, while Part B will include 10 additional patients suffering from CRAB-related ventriculitis and meningitis.

The open-label, randomized trial is expected to start dosing in early 2026, with interim data anticipated in the second half of the year. Findings from this study will support the upcoming BV100 Phase 3 program and future regulatory submissions in the US, Europe, and China.

Established in 2022 with Wellcome’s initial support, the ADVANCE-ID network has already conducted research involving over 10,000 patients affected by severe bacterial infections. The new study will further expand its capacity and contribute to global efforts addressing antibiotic resistance.

CSO Sergio Lociuro, CEO Marc Gitzinger, and Chief Development Officer Glenn Dale

Additional Links
BioVersys' profile on Venture Kick Swiss biotech firm BioVersys plans IPO at SIX Swiss Exchange in first quarter 2025 BioVersys sets IPO price at CHF 36.00 per share ahead of SIX Swiss Exchange debut

Quantum computers promise unprecedented computing power for applications in drug discovery, materials science, and finance. To realize this potential, however, they must operate thousands of quantum bits (qubits) reliably together. Current systems rely on bulky, complex hardware that limits scalability and prevents the technology from reaching commercial maturity.

The engineering startup YQuantum develops miniaturized, high-performance cryogenic hardware to overcome one of the field’s biggest challenges: scalability. Its specialized components enable high-fidelity superconducting and spin-qubit operations, allowing researchers and companies to build larger, more stable quantum processors. By making the hardware smaller and more efficient, YQuantum helps transform quantum computing from a laboratory experiment into a practical technology.

YQuantum serves a broad range of customers advancing quantum systems, from academic labs researching new qubit architectures to startups and major technology firms scaling their platforms. The quantum hardware market is expected to expand rapidly in the coming years, driven by increasing investment and technological progress across the ecosystem. Projections suggest it could reach several billion euros as quantum computing moves from research to commercialization.

The CHF 150,000 from Venture Kick will help YQuantum strengthen its technology base and accelerate the commercialization of its next-generation products. The funding will support R&D expansion, business development, and customer engagement, enabling YQuantum to enter the growing quantum hardware market with a competitive edge.

Founded by Dr. Christian Jünger, Dr. Johannes Herrmann, and Prof. Christian Schönenberger, the engineering startup unites expertise from UC Berkeley, ETH Zurich, and the University of Basel. Backed by years of research in quantum technologies and nanoengineering, the team combines scientific depth with practical engineering to enable the next generation of scalable quantum computing.

“We had a fantastic experience with Venture Kick. The Kickers Camps were incredibly valuable, they challenged us to rethink, refine, and strengthen every part of our story and strategy. The insights and support we received were instrumental in shaping a stronger, more focused company,” highlighted CEO Christian Jünger.

YQuantum co-founders: Scientific Advisor Christian Schönenberger, CTO Johannes Herrmann, and CEO Christian Jünger

Additional Links
YQuantum's profile on Venture Kick CHF 40,000 for miniaturized hardware for quantum computing

BTRY’s thin-film solid-state batteries combine rapid charging, temperature stability, and nonflammable safety in one of the world’s thinnest formats. Drawing from semiconductor production methods, the company has engineered batteries that outperform conventional lithium-ion cells. They operate safely at temperatures up to 150°C, where standard cells degrade or catch fire, and can fully charge within one minute—directly powering wireless transmissions without additional components.

The new funding will support the transition from lab-scale production to industrial roll-to-roll manufacturing. BTRY is now focusing on setting up its production lines, refining industrial processes, and securing integration agreements for upcoming device generations.

Targeting high-value applications such as connected labels, industrial sensors, and light consumer electronics, BTRY addresses power supply needs where miniaturization and durability are crucial. Its solvent-free production process also minimizes material waste, offering a more sustainable approach to battery manufacturing.

Developed in Switzerland, the engineering startup has been ranked among the Top100 Swiss Startups, won Venture Kick, and participated in Venture Leaders. Aiming at global markets, BTRY introduces a new step in compact and reliable energy storage.

“Venture Kick gave us the kick we needed to grow. The program challenged us to define our market, sharpen our story, gain visibility, and gave us the confidence to move fast," highlighted Co-founder and CEO Moritz Futscher. "Venture Leaders was a great experience connecting with fellow entrepreneurs and leading investors, exchanging insights and receiving valuable feedback that helped us refine our fundraising strategy and think bigger about scaling BTRY.”


BTRY team picture

Additional Links
BTRY's profile on Venture Kick BTRY receives the CHF 150,000 Kick to redefine energy storage