Empa
Eawag
Startups
glatec tenants:
- Empa and ETH spin-off BTRY AG develops a solid-state battery intended to be charged in less than one minute. www.btry.ch
- ETH/Empa spin-off Chiral Nano AG develops next-generation chips for sensors, quantum computers and more. www.chiralnano.com
- CTSystems AG is a spinoff company of Empa designing and manufacturing compliant transducer systems based on Electro Active Polymer (EAP) in multilayer stack configuration, especially for applications in the mechanical engineering sector. The spinoff was acquired by Dätwyler in September 2022. www.ct-systems.ch
- Entracers GmbH, an Eawag-Spinoff, provides services with a focus on the consulting for gas monitoring/screening strategies as well as on the implementation of such strategies. entracers.com
- Micos Engineering GmbH is an advanced engineering company that focuses on optical instrumentation for the European space market. The offer includes the development of concepts and designs, engineering, construction, integration and testing as well as other services in the field of optical measuring systems. www.micos.ch
- SWHL GmbH develops Sub-Wavelength Holographic Lithography (“SWHL”) technology, a new low cost and efficient lithography technology to be used in manufacturing of semiconductors (“chips”). apholo.com
- TwingTec AG is a spinoff of Empa. The mission is to enable wind energy in remote and off-grid areas, reducing diesel consumption and environmental impact. twingtec.ch
- Upwater AG is a spinoff of Eawag aiming to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in wastewater treatment plants through exhaust air measurement and microbiome monitoring. www.upwater.ch
- viboo AG is an Empa spinoff. viboo offers data-driven predictive control on the basis of physics-informed Machine Learning as a cloud service to smart-thermostat and building automation companies aiming to reduce building energy consumption by up to 30%. viboo.io
- Vuna GmbH and VunaNexus AG are spinoff companies at Eawag. Vuna develops, plans and commercializes systems and technologies for sustainable wastewater treatment. www.vuna.ch and www.vunanexus.com
Start-ups / projects supported by glatec:
- Eawag spin-off Eclose is active in black soldier fly biowaste processing. https://www.eawag.ch/en/department/sandec/projects/mswm/black-soldier-fly-biowaste-processing/
- ETH spin-off CITUS AG develops new instruments to improve skin diagnostics through mechanical characterization. www.citus-ag.com
- Etavalve GmbH is an Empa/ETH spin-off. Its engine concept allows to use residual heat from various external sources within a wide range of temperatures to produce electricity at optimum efficiency, thus allowing high returns of investment. Heart of the engine are the fast and flexible etavalve actuators. www.etavalve.com
- Empa spin-off Volutio GmbH is a consulting company in the field of circular economy and sustainability.
- RAMMS AG is a spin-off of the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL. RAMMS calculates natural hazard processes like avalanches, debris flows and rockfall and assess the impact of protective measures. https://ramms.slf.ch/en/modules.html
Alumni:
- Arc Power GmbH develops standard DC-DC converters for space applications. www.arc-power.com
- aQuaTox-Solutions GmbH, an Eawag spinoff, offers services in the field of aquatic ecotoxicology, in particular the assessment of water quality and environmental risk assessment of chemicals. The main focus is on alternatives to conventional animal tests, using fish cells and fish embryos as test models. aquatox-solutions.ch
- Compliant Concept AG, an Empa spinoff, is offering a dynamic bed retrofit system to care facilities, that enables an advanced pressure ulcer prevention and optimization of the process of care already during prevention. The retrofit system is based on a conventional mattress and an actively deformable ground structure. It automatically relocates bedridden and handicapped people preventing pressure ulcers. www.compliantconcept.com
- Crealas GmbH located at Empa site in Thun offers direct laser cutting of highly engineered micro- geometries on large surfaces. www.crealas.com
- Dagsmejan is a future startup, active in the field of high performance sleepware to increase the sleep quality. dagsmejan.com
- de Cavis AG is a spinoff company of ETH Zürich that provides a novel and innovative technology to produce ceramic foams for improved thermal insulation in buildings as well as industrial equipment at high temperatures. de Cavis prototype materials stand out due to their low weight and density, high mechanical strength, high temperature resistance and often superior thermal insulation properties. Such materials play an increasingly important role in the reduction of energy consumption and CO2 emissions in domestic applications and industrial processes and will help in the campaign against global warming. www.decavis.com
- Decentlab GmbH, an Empa spinoff, provides real-time monitoring solutions, to make them easy to deploy over multiple locations and to ensure data quality. www.decentlab.com
- enviBee GmbH (looscomputing) is an Eawag spinoff. The company develops software solutions for data analysis for mass spectrometric long-term monitoring of organic micropollutants in aquatic systems. www.envibee.ch
- Eptra Engineering GmbH is an Empa spinoff in the area of failure analysis of energy infrastructure. www.eptra.ch
- eQcharta GmbH is a spinoff of the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag) providing research and consulting services in the area of sustainable management of aquatic ecosystems. www.eqcharta.com
- ETSS AG is a research and consulting company. It offers environmental, technical and scientific services. www.etss.ch
- Flisom AG is a spinoff company of ETH Zurich developing and manufactoring flexible and extremely lightweight solar cell device which converts light into electricity with world-record efficiency. Flexible solar cells are envisaged to provide electricity at ultra-low cost and to enter the mass market globally. flisom.com
- Gasometrix GmbH is a spinoff company of the Swiss Federal Institute for Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), that develops and manufactures portable mass spectrometers for quantification of gas species in environmental gases and water bodies (miniRUEDI). gasometrix.com
- Glavitsch Eggler Software operates and markets the language learning platform www.readylingua.com and develops and distributes the software SpeechIndexer for logging, audio and video archives as well as for the documentation of endangered languages.
- IRsweep AG is an Empa and ETH spinoff company. IRsweep offers a cutting-edge optical spectrometer in the mid-infrared. Microsecond time resolution combined with large spectral bandwidth and high spectral resolution offers a plethora of new possibilities in molecular analysis. Real-time observation of enzyme kinetics and chemical reaction monitoring are two out of many application fields of the IRspectrometer. www.irsweep.com
- Miro Analytical AG, an Empa spinoff, develops and commercializes gas measurement devices based on quantum cascade lasers (QCL), which can measure the concentration of the most important greenhouse gases and pollutants simultaneously and with unprecedented speed and precision. www.miro-analytical.com
- NanoCASE GmbH is an Empa spinoff. NanoCASE is the platform for evaluation and analytics for nanomaterials and nanoproducts. nanocase.ch
- onCyt Microbiology AG is a spinoff of Eawag providing on-line monitoring solutions through fully automated flow cytometry and laboratory automation solutions to create value for customers in applications across multiple industries. oncyt.com
- Optotune AG develops, manufactures and markets adaptive optical elements. The patented technology based on electroactive polymers enables the implementation of a revolutionary lens with tunable focal length. Its principle is similar to that of the human eye: Instead of moving lenses back and forth, we bend them by applying a voltage. This additional degree of freedom simplifies the design of focus and zoom systems in many applications, outperforming existing solutions in terms of size, cost, power consumption and robustness. www.optotune.com
- Perovskia Solar AG is an Empa spinoff that digitally prints custom solar cells based on patent-protected technology, operating at the intersection of printed electronics, photovoltaics, and material science. perovskia.solar
- Polarmond AGis a high-tech startup, which develops its patent pending concepts in the area of outdoor equipment with renowned institutes/universities, implements with industrial partners and distributes worldwide over market-leading outdoor companies and dealers. polarmond.ch
- QualySense AGdevelops and markets high-speed sorting devices for online monitoring of food quality and safety parameters, and aims to become a global innovation leader in the field. Our proprietary technology enables companies in the agribusiness to control the entire production such that consumers’ standards are fulfilled. www.qualysense.com
- Quantis is a leading life cycle assessment (LCA) consulting firm specialized in supporting companies to measure, understand and manage the environmental impacts of their products, services and operations. Quantis has a strong track record in developing new LCA methodologies and applying its knowledge and expertise to support clients in transforming LCA results into decisions, action plans and added value. Quantis is a global company with offices in Switzerland, France, the United States and Canada, and employs over 70 people, amongst which several are internationally renowned experts in the LCA field. www.quantis-intl.com
- RANAS GmbH is an Eawag spinoff offering in close cooperation with RANASMOSLER a scientific approach to behaviour change for pro-environmental and health-protective behaviours. www.ranasmosler.com
- Senecell AG is an Empa spinoff. The company provides services in biopharmaceutical and biomedical research, in particular the extraction of data from biological and biomechanical studies and experiments.
- Siloxene AG is an Empa spinoff and material technology company in the field of siloxane-based hybrids and fine chemicals. The start-up develops and markets raw materials for novel performance materials in the fields of plastics processing, adhesives/sealants, coating systems and life sciences. siloxene.com
- Sunamp Switzerland GmbH is a subsidiary of Sunamp Ltd. registered in Scotland. Sunamp is a clean-tech company focused on heat storage and management. Sunamp was founded to respond to the need for low to zero-carbon heating, cooling and hot water systems in domestic and commercial settings. Sunamp is developing Heat Batteries: heat storage devices based on Phase Change Materials (PCM). sunamp.co.uk
- SwiSS-9Sàrl is an Empa spinoff from Thun. The start-up is in business of development, production and market introduction of innovative surface functionalization products. swiss-9.com
- Swiss Cluster AG is an Empa spinoff. The startup develops and markets thin film deposition systems and components for research & development and industrial applications. www.swisscluster.com
- Swiss Wood Solution AG is a spinoff company from Empa and ETH. The start-up develops and commercializes novel wood based materials. swisswoodsolutions.ch
- Sympheny AG is an Empa spinoff. The company offers a cutting edge software platform to facilitate the identification of optimal energy supply solutions for neighborhoods, campuses, villages and urban districts. www.sympheny.com
- TerraRad Tech AG is a spinoff of the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) focusing on environmental radiometers and remote sensing technologies. terraradtech.com
- thebridge Bielmann Consulting offers consulting services in the area of (renewable) energy storage and portability to companies that are active as pacemakers and innovators. The offer is aimed at both utilities, cities, mobility providers as well as companies that offer products in this area. The offer is complemented by industrial customers in the area of technology-based innovation. www.thebridge.ch
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glatec – Offering Support for New Companies and Collaborative Research at Empa and Eawag in Zurich-Dubendorf
The difficulties which a new company experiences in the first stages of its existence can have a massive influence on its future chances of success. At this early stage in development, professional help and support are of special importance since many new entrepreneurs have neither management experience nor access to infrastructure.
glatec, a non-profit organisation located in Zurich-Dubendorf, runs a business incubator to support and to facilitate company start-ups and innovation in the fields of materials science, environmental science and technology.
At the Empa site in St. Gallen STARTFELD facilitates innovation and entrepreneurship.
A new factory to cater Perovskia customer needs
Perovskia Solar is on a roll. The startup co-founded by Anand Verma and Dr Toby Meyer is on a mission to equip all devices with solar cells and revolutionize the way we power our digital lifestyles. The company has just announced that it is setting up a factory in Aubonne to print a million custom-designed perovskite devices a year, to provide highly efficient customized solar cells for indoor and outdoor electronic devices.
Perovskite is the wonder material leading the way to a brighter and greener future. Perovskite solar cells have reached record-breaking efficiencies exceeding 25% in just a decade of research and development. Perovskite solar cells are capable to power every electronic device indoors, owing to their extraordinary ability to absorb visible light.
The Empa spin-off is currently gaining ground in the market, with over 15 market-leading customers to whom Perovskia supplies custom solar cells for IoT and consumer electronic devices. CEO and co-founder Anand Verma explain that Perovskia's customers are mainly from the IoT, IIoT, medical technology and consumer electronics segments. They range from global brands to SMEs and startups, such as Fortune 100 electronics companies and Top 5 automotive companies. The CEO cites names such as Sun-a-wear, Baracoda Group, Miromico, among others. Today, the Vaud-based startup has customers in Japan, Korea, India, Europe and the USA.
Production to start in the coming months
Speaking of the new factory in Aubonne, the CEO explains that the automatic production line is ordered (print capacity 1M solar cells) and is expected to be operational in Q1 24. Adding: “The auxiliary equipment is in place, and we have plans to automate the back-end production by the end of the year.” Perovskia is currently fundraising to scale its team and cater to the customer needs.
(Eugène Schön, starupticker.ch)
Basel-based energy provider acquires Sympheny stake
The Empa spin-off was founded in 2020 by four co-founders Andrew Bollinger, Matthias Sulzer, Boran Morvaj and Julien Marquant. They combine the knowledge of data science, simulation and energy planning. Sympheny's software has already been used in over 20 major planning projects. Customers include energy suppliers and general contractors from all over Switzerland.
Now, Industrielle Werke Basel (IWB) has announced its investment in the CleanTech startup. IWB is taking over 30 percent of the shares. The fresh capital will be used in particular to further develop the energy planning software.
CITUS closes a Convertible Loan of CHF 375 K
CITUS follows the mission of a healthier skin. The skin’s elasticity is a major factor for clinicians and for researchers to decide upon treatment strategies and test efficacies of products. The current solutions, which lack sensitivity and objectivity, is prone to errors thus creating large costs for the healthcare system. CITUS’ solution, NIMBLEeva, provides a reliable, objective and easy-to-use measurement. The team stands for objectivity, individuality and a scientific approach, with the aim of merging knowledge of mechanics and medicine to further advance in healthcare, patient-specific treatment and cosmetics.
The startup has now closed its first convertible loan agreement in a total of CHF 375’000, together with the Health Innovation Hub, the incubator of the University Hospital Zurich with the goal to promote start-ups and entrepreneurship in healthcare by accelerating novel healthcare solutions to improve patient’s lives; the investment department of CADFEM, a software provider active in the medical field; evoleen AG, a venture builder in the field of digital health, that supports global enterprises to build, accelerate and enhance their business; and S2S Ventures, a student-run venture capital fund.