The ETH spin-off FenX is developing a mineral foam designed to replace conventional mineral wools and EPS panels in construction. FenX’s panels, often described as “stones made of ~98% air,” combine low weight with high performance. They are non-combustible, cost-competitive, and made using circular inputs through a low-energy process suitable for both façades and interior applications.

FenX operates an asset-light model, supplying foaming additives and technology licenses to construction insulation manufacturers. The first customer, Çimsa, is commissioning an industrial production line in Spain, aiming for initial output by the end of 2025.

The new funding will allow FenX to industrialize its mineral foam technology, expand strategic partnerships, and launch additional product lines. Beyond insulation panels, the startup is exploring broader applications, from semi-structural materials to carbon sequestration, using its mineral foam platform to deliver high performance with minimal resources. With its first factory underway in Spain, FenX is positioning itself for international growth through collaborations with leading construction materials companies.

The Cleantech startup has been ranked among the Top100 Swiss Startups, has won Venture Kick, and participated in Venture Leaders Cleantech.


FenX team

Additional Links
FenX profile on Venture Kick

A brief introduction of Dr. Bettina Ernst
Dr. Bettina Ernst serves on the boards of several early-stage biotech companies and the Swiss Biotech Association. She is also a member of the Innovation Council of Innosuisse and an expert for the Lichtsteiner Foundation. Before pursuing her entrepreneurial and investment activities, Dr. Ernst worked in fundamental immunology research in the US and Europe for 10 years. She has co-founded three biotech companies.

What brought you to the Venture Kick jury, and what has kept you engaged over the years?
What drew me to Venture Kick in the first place was the unique chance to accompany startups on a year-long journey. Watching how a team and its project evolve over those 12 months—how ideas mature, challenges are tackled, and founders grow—is incredibly rewarding and keeps me engaged year after year.

What makes the Venture Kick program stand out in the Swiss startup ecosystem?
For me, Venture Kick stands out because of its professionalism and structure. It is exceptionally well-managed, and the jury is composed of highly experienced individuals. Combined with the fact that only top-quality startups are selected, this creates a unique and very high-caliber platform.

What do you enjoy most when interacting with founders during the jury sessions?
I love the energy in the room. Founders come with so much passion and determination—it’s contagious. In many ways, these sessions feel like a window into the future, as only the most innovative business opportunities are selected for the program.

In your opinion, what are the three key success factors a startup should fulfill?
At the core, it always comes down to three things: a strong and committed team, a technology that is truly superior, and a market where there is both a clear need and real opportunity.

Which global developments do you believe offer the most opportunities for Swiss startups today?
I believe every global challenge brings with it opportunities. Even in difficult or uncertain times, there is always space for innovation and fresh solutions—Swiss startups are well-positioned to seize those moments.

What are some of the most pressing challenges that Swiss founders face today?
Without a doubt: funding. This is particularly true in life sciences, where companies face financing challenges at every stage—from the earliest startup phase all the way through scale-up.

What keeps you optimistic about the next generation of startups?
What makes me optimistic is the extraordinary talent and creativity coming out of our universities. The level of innovation we see from young founders is very encouraging—it’s a strong signal for the future.

If you could add one thing to the Swiss startup ecosystem, what would it be?
I would wish for more venture capital firms to be based in Switzerland, especially those with a deep commitment to biotech. Having stronger local investors would make a big difference for founders here.
 

Additional Links
Behind the Jury: Perspectives from Venture Kick Jury Member Christer Bergstroem Behind the Jury: Perspectives from the Venture Kick Jury Member David Kurmann Behind the Jury: Perspectives from the Venture Kick Jury Member Luca Bolliger

viboo develops software that enables buildings to operate more energy-efficiently without requiring major interventions. The platform delivers measurable energy savings and contributes to the decarbonization of existing building stock. With the fresh funding, viboo will expand its offering from a pure energy management tool into a comprehensive building management solution. Planned additions include market-relevant services such as individual heating cost billing.

The company traces its roots to world-class research at Empa and ETH Zurich, as well as leading laboratories for building automation at RWTH Aachen and the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. Its founders and team have been recognized with several awards, including a BRIDGE fellowship, all Venture Kick stages, the Gebert Rüf Foundation’s Innobooster, the Swiss GreenTech Startup Battle, the Empa Innovation Award, and an ETH Medal.

The Proptech startup has been ranked among the Top100 Swiss Startups, has won Venture Kick, and participated in Venture Leaders Technology.


viboo team

Additional Links
viboo's profile on Venture Kick

Metal 3D printing is increasingly transforming manufacturing, enabling companies to produce complex, high-strength components on demand. However, existing systems are often large, costly, and difficult to operate, limiting accessibility for smaller businesses and individual creators.

a-metal aims to change that. The startup’s compact and user-friendly metal 3D printing system is designed to make the technology accessible without compromising performance. The CHF 2.1 million seed round, led by QBIT Capital and supported by Zürcher Kantonalbank, Swissortholab, Kickfund, CADFEM, and experienced angel investors, will support industrialization, team growth, and professionalization of the company’s market presence.

Pre-series production is now underway, marking a key step toward bringing the technology to companies and individuals who see metal 3D printing as strategically important. To support its growth, a-metal is actively recruiting talent in customer support, operations, and software development. Interested parties are encouraged to get in touch to explore opportunities or partnerships.

By combining innovation with practicality, a-metal is set to access to metal 3D printing, making it an attainable tool for a wider range of users, from industrial teams to medical patient care.

The engineering startup won the last stage of Venture Kick in 2023. "Without Venture Kick, developing hardware would have been even harder. Winning their support helped us gain the trust of our first angel investors." highlighted Co-Founder and CEO Stephan Steiner.

Additional Links
a-metal's profile on Venture Kick

Chromnil: Helping laboratories detect hidden threats, faster and cheaper
Chromnil addresses the lack of affordable and space-efficient high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) analysis. Traditional methods require multiple separate devices, making testing complex, time-intensive, and expensive. As a result, harmful substances often remain undetected in food, cosmetics, and other consumer products.
Founded by Jan Morlock, Francesca Burlini, and Daniel Lehmann, chromnil integrates all HPTLC steps (sample application, development, detection, and image processing) into a single device with dedicated software. Additionally, it enables the use of bioassays directly on the plate, allowing for the identification of the toxic effects of unknown substances. The compact design reduces complexity, saves laboratory space, and simplifies everyday use. This opens HPTLC analysis to smaller labs, universities, and corporate R&D and QC teams across industries. With more than 7,500 labs worldwide that can benefit from this technology, chromnil provides a modern, sustainable, and highly accessible solution.
Venture Kick funds will allow chromnil to optimize both hardware and software, and to build a fully functional demo device. This milestone will enable the startup to present its innovation to customers and accelerate market entry. chromnil.com

MOLECL: Novel diagnostics based on single-molecule nanofluidics
Currently, detection of protein modifications is slow, expensive, and often lacks site-specific resolution. This results in late-stage diagnostics of cancer, neurodegenerative, and autoimmune diseases, as well as costly batch-to-batch variations in biopharmaceutical production.
MOLECL develops a novel diagnostic technology based on single-molecule nanofluidics. The startup is founded by CEO Dr. Andrey Chernev and CTO Nianduo Cai, experts in solid-state nanopores and start-up development, supported by a technical team with expertise in single-molecule measurements and data science. The innovation addresses a global biomolecule characterization market worth over USD 50B annually, with urgent demand for faster, more precise, and scalable solutions.
The Venture Kick funds will be dedicated to business development, including engagement with early adopters, securing LOIs, forming an advisory board with key opinion leaders, and building a robust sales strategy.

QENDRA: Powering the next generation of quantum computers
Quantum computers will revolutionize drug discovery, logistics, and climate modelling by harnessing quantum mechanics. Trapped-ion and neutral-atom quantum computers are among the most advanced, but they lack reliable, scalable control systems.
QENDRA provides the missing link: a dedicated control system that bridges the classical and quantum worlds. Built from technology developed in the trapped ion quantum information group at ETH Zurich, their MVP offers unmatched efficiency and rapid setup times. CEO Dr. Martin Stadler, COO Dr. Ferdinand Felder, and lead developer Chidzahi Mabritto, together with a team of scientists and engineers, are bringing this innovation to market. With growing demand from research groups and startups, QENDRA is poised to serve a fast-expanding global quantum computing market.
The Venture Kick funds will help QENDRA engage new customers, build a solid IP strategy, and advance CE certification of its MVP. qendratech.com

Tuus: Enabling athletes to perform at their best today, and empowering broader health solutions tomorrow
Endurance athletes often rely on energy gels that trigger sugar spikes, stomach distress, and uneven performance. Tuus addresses this by introducing a controlled-release hydrogel that ensures stable energy delivery without compromising health.
Founded by chemists Pietro Nasturzio and Tiziano Caldara, Tuus combines expertise in materials science, nutrition, and drug delivery. Supported by advisors from academia, sports medicine, industry, and design, the team has built a breakthrough edible hydrogel platform for constant release of active compounds. The first application is a next-generation energy gel, now entering clinical trials with athletes, marking a decisive step toward healthier endurance fueling. Beyond sports, the same platform can be applied in nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals, where controlled release has the potential to transform health and well-being.
Tuus will use the Venture Kick funds to advance customer testing with precise glucose monitoring equipment, prototype for industrial integration with manufacturing partners, cover licensing contract negotiation fees with lawyers, and support investor networking.

Vulkn Energy: Thermal energy storage to decarbonize industrial heat - reliably, affordably, and at scale
Industrial heat accounts for 18% of total global emissions and CHF 1 trillion in annual spending. Yet, 20-50% of this heat is wasted. A new approach to industrial heat is needed: one that lowers emissions, costs, and waste.
Vulkn Energy’s team composed of CEO Maria Lisiakova and CTO Charles Little is developing highly efficient thermal energy storage using proprietary concrete. Designed for industrial processes below 600°C, this long-duration storage converts cheap intermittent renewable energy & waste heat into on-demand heat and steam, replacing fossil fuels. According to the team, the Vulkn solution lowers the cost of heat by 50%, improves supply stability, and reduces carbon emissions. Thanks to the abundance and low cost of input materials, it has low manufacturing and technology risks and requires minimal maintenance. Vulkn’s thermal energy storage is ideal for the pharmaceutical, pulp and paper, manufacturing, food and beverage, and tobacco sectors, which together spend about CHF 45 billion annually on sub-600 °C process heat in Europe.
The Vulkn team plans to use Venture Kick funds to advance its thermal modelling and business development.

Biologics have revolutionized the treatment of cancer, autoimmune disorders, and other severe diseases. Yet their high cost—driven largely by complex and expensive manufacturing—still limits patient access. Current bioreactor systems rely on labor-intensive, multi-step processes that increase costs, slow development timelines, and raise the risk of contamination.

Bioscibex is changing this with Swingo, a single-use bioreactor that simplifies the traditional seven-step cell culture process into just two steps. This streamlined approach reduces manual handling, lowers contamination risks, and cuts operational costs. With a scalable working volume from 30 mL to 30 L, Swingo supports applications ranging from R&D to full-scale manufacturing. Unlike conventional systems, it combines simplicity and automation in a single platform, giving biopharma companies a faster, more flexible, and capital-efficient path to drug development and production.

The EPFL spin-off operates in the global shaking incubators and bioreactors market, valued at USD 8 billion, where key players include Cytiva, Sartorius, Thermo Fisher, and Kuhner Shaker. Within this market, Swingo addresses a total addressable segment of roughly USD 1 billion. Target customers include biopharmaceutical companies, contract manufacturing organizations, and biotech firms. The CHF 150,000 from Venture Kick will help secure the first sales to demonstration customers.

Founded in 2024 as an EPFL spin-off, Bioscibex is led by Chloé Albietz (CEO) and Francois Carruzzo (CTO), who bring extensive industry expertise in biopharmaceutical engineering. The company has already raised CHF 1 million in funding and attracted early interest from leading pharmaceutical manufacturers. With the Venture Kick support, Bioscibex is preparing for its commercial launch in Q2 2026, aiming to set a new standard in bioreactor technology.



“Bioscibex is proud to have been supported by Venture Kick, a symbol of quality and credibility in the Swiss startup ecosystem and beyond,” highlighted CEO Chloé Albietz. “Bioscibex benefits from not only early-stage funding but also strategic guidance and connections to investors and industry leaders.”


Bioscibex Co-Founders: CEO Chloé Albietz and CTO François Carruzzo

Additional Links
CHF 40,000 for biological drug production Bioscibex profile on Venture Kick

Corintis, a semiconductor cooling startup and the last Top100 Swiss Startup Award’s first-classified winner, has emerged from stealth with a USD 24 million Series A. The company integrates cooling directly into chip design, tripling heat removal efficiency compared to conventional approaches. Beyond performance gains, its technology reduces water consumption—addressing a pressing environmental issue for data centres worldwide. With this round, Corintis has raised a total of USD 33.4 million.

The startup currently employs 55 people and plans to grow its team to more than 70 by year-end. It is also scaling its production capabilities, with the aim of manufacturing over one million microfluidic cold plates annually by 2026.

Corintis has also expanded its leadership with industry veterans joining the board. Lip-Bu Tan, former Intel board member, and Geoff Lyon, former CEO of CoolIT, will contribute decades of experience in semiconductors and cooling technologies as the company accelerates its expansion.

The engineering company has consistently stood out, participating in Venture Leaders Mobile, winning Venture Kick, and ranking among the Top100 Swiss Startups for four consecutive years.


Jordi Montserrat (Venturelab), Patrick Forte (UBS), Remco van Erp (Corintis Co-Founder), and Stefan Steiner (Venturelab) on stage at Top100 Swiss Startup Award in September 2025

Additional Links
Corintis' profile on Venture Kick Corintis wins CHF 150,000 to disrupt cooling technology and enable the next generation of computing

Organizations face difficult trade-offs when securing smartphones used for business data. Existing solutions often restrict apps, block communication, or require employees to carry separate devices—leading to frustration and risky workarounds. At the same time, enterprises lack control over the software that manages sensitive data, relying on third-party providers they may not fully trust.

Soverli offers a novel software architecture, licensed for use on commercial smartphones, that delivers full functionality together with security levels previously considered impractical. Even if the operating system is compromised, users remain in control and enterprises can reliably protect their mobile workforce. The solution gives organizations full control over the software stack accessing their data—without third-party code—while keeping personal use private and fully functional on a separate part of the device.

Soverli will use the CHF 150,000 funding from Venture Kick to further drive business development and accelerate customer pilots in security-sensitive industries, opening new possibilities for rapid market entry.

Led by Dr. Ivan Puddu (Co-Founder & CEO) and Dr. Moritz Schneider (Co-Founder & CTO), the ICT startup builds on four years of R&D at ETH Zurich. The team unites world-class expertise in system security with a clear commercialization path, targeting a beachhead market of 7 million devices as it prepares for global rollout.

“Venture Kick has been a great help in transforming our research into a business,” says Dr. Ivan Puddu, CEO of Soverli. “Beyond the funding, the program focused us in the right direction, gave us guidance, and the visibility we needed to prepare for market entry.”


CEO Ivan Puddu and CTO Moritz Schneider

Additional Links
Soverli's profile on Venture Kick Next-Gen Mobile Security That Puts You in Control

Fossil fuels are the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. To reach net-zero targets, they must be replaced by renewable energy. But wind and solar have one major weakness: they only deliver power when the weather allows—often too much in summer and midday, but not enough in winter or at night. Current storage technologies cannot bridge this gap reliably: they are either too expensive or environmentally unsustainable. This leaves a critical missing piece in the energy transition.

Iron Energy is closing this gap with a patented solution built on iron, a material that is abundant, affordable, and easy to handle. At the heart of the technology is a reversible chemical reaction between hydrogen and iron oxide, which makes it possible to store energy safely in the form of iron—without the risks associated with volatile hydrogen gas. This innovation reduces storage costs by up to 90% compared to conventional methods and provides a scalable, robust option for long-term and seasonal use. In short, Iron Energy transforms surplus renewable power into a dependable, year-round energy supply.

The market potential is enormous. Long-duration energy storage is set to become a cornerstone of the energy infrastructure of tomorrow. In Europe alone, the market could grow to more than CHF 50 billion over the next decade. As one of the first movers with a disruptive and scalable solution, Iron Energy is well positioned to capture more than 20% of this market, delivering reliable solutions to renewable energy developers, industrial customers, utilities, and local energy communities.

The CHF 150,000 from Venture Kick will allow the cleantech startup to advance its business, complete the design of its first commercial unit, and demonstrate the durability of its technology—bringing long-duration storage a step closer to market adoption.

The company was founded by CEO Samuel Heiniger and CFO Daniel Bloch, supported by advisors Prof. Dr. Wendelin Stark and Prof. Dr. Robert Grass. Together, they bring the technical expertise and entrepreneurial drive to establish Iron Energy as a key enabler of a clean and stable energy future.


CEO Samuel Heiniger and Prof. Dr. Robert Grass

Additional Links
Iron Energy's profile on Venture Kick Iron Energy: The Venture Leader Cleantech developing low-cost, sustainable iron-based energy storage

Alterbiotix: First-in-class peptide therapeutics against pneumococcal disease
Alterbiotix is a spin-off company (to be incorporated) based on scientific discoveries by Prof. Lucy Hathaway, at the Institute for Infectious Diseases, Univ. of Bern. The company develops novel therapeutics against Streptococcus pneumoniae, a bacterial pathogen responsible for widespread diseases, including indications of high unmet medical need, such as meningitis and severe pneumonia (the 4th deadliest pathogen in terms of global deaths linked to antimicrobial resistance, with a mortality rate of 20-50%, and a market value of over USD 2B).
Alterbiotix targets a new intervention point shown to provide therapeutic benefits and synergy with antibiotics in relevant preclinical models. Their current lead indication is meningitis. The company’s founders include Prof. Hathaway and 2 experienced business executives, Kostas Alevizopoulos and Greg Fotopoulos. The team is supported by leading key opinion leaders (KOLs) in the fields of meningitis and pneumonia.
The Venture Kick funds will be used for business-oriented activities contributing to the development of the project and the company.

Baxiva: First-in-class E. coli vaccine for the prevention of urinary tract infections
There are over 80,000 sepsis deaths per year associated with urinary tract infections (UTIs). UTIs are one of the most common infections in the world, and the vast majority are caused by the bacterium E. coli. There is no vaccine on the market for the prevention of E. coli infections.
Baxiva is developing the first-in-class E. coli vaccine for the prevention of UTIs and sepsis.
The company was incorporated in 2025, spinning out from ETH Zurich. Founders and board members include CEO Dr. Giorgia Greter, CSO Dr. Tim Keys, and head of R&D Christoph Rutschmann. Together with a team of scientists, they are developing the platform technology of Baxiva for the future of glycoconjugate vaccine development, with the potential to scale up their technology for the development of a novel class of bacterial vaccines, targeting pathogens that have previously been impossible to treat.
The Venture Kick funds will contribute towards the development of a proof-of-concept vaccine study that can progress towards clinical trials.

Fainite AG (Optineura AI): Building a scalable deep learning platform for physics-based simulations
Hardware product development relies heavily on time and compute-intensive physics-based simulations across design, testing, and manufacturing. This results in high engineering costs, delayed product launches, and limits teams from achieving optimal performance.
Fainite AG (Optineura AI) was founded by researchers and engineers from Caltech, ETH Zurich, and Google, together with former executives from leading physics simulation software companies. The team is building a versatile deep learning platform that adapts across engineering use cases with minimal effort, while inherently respecting the physics of each problem. Their solution addresses a global market of over 9 million hardware engineers in need of faster and smarter simulation tools.
The Venture Kick funds will support Fainite AG in scaling its platform to cover a broader range of engineering use cases, accelerating progress toward widespread industry adoption.

Nimverta: Developing safe and effective long-term therapies for bone disease
Age-related bone diseases, such as osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, and bone fragility, are major causes of morbidity and reduced quality of life in the elderly, where there are significant unmet clinical needs. Current therapies ignore the crucial vascular environment and lack safe, long-term anabolic options, leaving millions vulnerable to fragile bones, impaired healing, and low quality of life. 
Nimverta is developing a first-in-class peptide therapy that regenerates both bone and its supporting vasculature by leveraging natural physiological pathways, unlocking the potential for safe, long-term treatment. Dr Amit Singh is the founder and CEO. Rob Chisholm is the Chief Business Officer (CBO). Prof. Anjali Kusumbe is the chief scientific officer (CSO). Nimverta benefits from a strong international scientific advisory board. In 2024, the Hypophosphatasia Market was valued at around USD 4 Bn, with Paget’s Disease treatments valued at more like USD 1B, and the Osteoporosis market for drugs valued at USD 15B.  
Venture Kick funds will support market validation in terms of understanding which indication provides the best opportunity, i.e., the Hypophosphatasia market may be smaller than the Osteoporosis market, but the unmet need may command a higher price. The team will strengthen the regulatory and IP plans and prepare the foundation for early preclinical development.