Rrreefs, has won the I4N Award 2024, part of the Innovate4Nature initiative, which supports innovative solutions that address biodiversity challenges. It offers a total of CHF 100,000 in prize money across four focus areas. From over 400 global applicants, 20 finalists presented their solutions and four won the prize. Swiss startup rrreefs was among the winners in the category Nature as Infrastructure, thereby eligible for CHF 25’000. The ETH Spinoff is dedicated to regenerating degraded coral reefs with modular reef structures.
In the UN Summit of the Future challenge, rrreefs and Swiss Ocean Tech from Switzerland, along with other 13 winners, were selected from 203 global submissions for their work tackling marine pollution, ecosystem restoration, and ocean-based climate solutions. The cohort will receive exclusive networking opportunities, targeted support, increased visibility, and a share of 300,000 Swiss francs ($353,000) in prize money to further develop their projects. The two startups emerged as a Top Innovator for UpLink - World Economic Forum’s Regenerative Blue Economy Challenge, making it one of the three companies joining the UpLink accelerator program where it will receive additional funding. Swiss Ocean Tech Ltd. developed AnchorGuardian, the world’s first very first that monitors the position and absolute movements of a ship's anchor.
Aidonic wins UN Peace, Justice, & Inclusive Society Startup Competition
Held during the UN Summit of the Future at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, the Peace, Justice, & Inclusive Society Startup Competition powered by Extreme Tech Challenge, saw over 100 innovators and companies from around the world participate. The Swiss startup Aidonic emerged as the winner, recognizing its innovative approach to fostering inclusivity and advancing peace and justice through technology. Aidonic developed an AI / Blockchain enabled payment aggregation platform for humanitarian and development aid agencies to secure, expedite and audit both donation and delivery of aid to populations most in need whether by cash transfer or digital vouchers. The solution has been successfully deployed by UNICEF in Latin America, aid agencies in Sudan and Lebanon, and also for direct humanitarian cash assistance with onboarding to local institutions to accelerate sustainable financial inclusion.
Treeless Pack joins Swiss Re’s Shine Switzerland Program
Treeless Pack has been selected by the Swiss Re Foundation for its 4th edition of Shine Switzerland, the social entrepreneurship program that supports early stage social entrepreneur in transforming their ideas into scalable businesses. The program providing them access to Swiss Re's expertise and the Foundation's grant. Treeless Pak, an ETH Zurich Spin-off is developing microorganism-based cellulose materials with the mission to end plastic pollution by enabling the transition to bio-based, fossil-free material production, will benefit from a six-month immersive learning program. Upon completing the program, the startup will have the chance to win a financial award of up to CHF 35 000 to fuel its growth.
Impact 100: Axmed, Oxyle, Enerdrape in the spotlight
The Impact100 list was created by the Norrsken Foundation to recognize companies worldwide that leverage scalable technology to solve global problems in line with the UN global development goals. Three Swiss startups have made it to list, selected from over 1200 nominations this year. Axmed developed a marketplace – Axmed Medicines Platform – that allows for equitable access to high quality medications in emerging and growth markets. Oxyle’s advanced catalytic oxidation method was designed to eliminate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from water while Enerdrape offers a prefabricated geothermal panel that can be installed in existing underground structures such as parking garages, tunnels, and subway stations without the need for drilling.
EthonAI wins Outstanding Partnership Award
Out of 14 finalists that showcased their Bosch use cases during the marketplaces, two startups stood out, winning the Open Bosch Award 2024. EthonAI won the category prize for ‘Outstanding Startup Partnership’, securing a partnership with Bosch. The ETH Spinoff developed the EthonAI Manufacturing Analytics System, a powerful suite of software tools to achieve operational excellence at scale. The solution enables Bosch to conduct rapid AI-assisted root cause analysis across entire plants. Already last year, the Swiss startup piloted its solution and has demonstrated its value this year in two Bosch plants—reducing scrap, rework, and waste, saving CO2 and costs, while improving quality.
(RAN)