Compl AI receives CHF 40,000 from Venture Kick to scale AI-powered financial compliance automation 🤖 venturekick.ch/ComplAI-recei… The startup has secured funding to advance its AI-powered compliance automation platform for financial institutions. Using AI agents, the platform streamlines client screening, onboarding, transaction monitoring, and due diligence, helping compliance teams reduce manual workloads while maintaining control over critical decisions. With the Stage II funding, the team will: 🔹 Convert customer interest into paid pilot projects 🔹 Expand customer engagement in Switzerland and internationally 🔹 Strengthen market visibility through industry events and demonstrations By automating complex compliance workflows, Compl AI is helping financial institutions improve efficiency and focus on higher-value decisions. Congrats to Ali Jouini and Nelson Donynath on this important step forward. #VentureKick #SwissStartups

InterferOn Diagnostics receives CHF 40,000 from Venture Kick to advance molecular diagnostics for inflammatory diseases 🧬 venturekick.ch/InterferOn-Di… The startup has secured funding to advance its molecular diagnostic platform for immune-mediated diseases. Combining a standardized molecular assay with software that translates complex data into interpretable results, the solution aims to make inflammation monitoring more reliable and accessible for clinical laboratories. With the Stage II funding, the team will: 🔹 Validate market demand and engage with clinical laboratories 🔹 Advance assay standardization and software development 🔹 Prepare regulatory and quality requirements and launch pilot activities By making molecular inflammation testing more accessible and scalable, InterferOn Diagnostics is helping improve disease monitoring and support more informed clinical decisions. Congrats to Anna Mallone and Christoph Gericke on this important step forward. #VentureKick #SwissStartups

🚀 Can a technology be too early for its market? In Venture Kick Debates #5, we explore both sides of a critical challenge for deep-tech startups: what happens when innovation moves faster than market readiness? On the one hand, customers may lack the infrastructure, budget, or incentives to adopt new technologies. Regulations and industry standards can take years to catch up, and even groundbreaking innovations can struggle when adoption requires major changes. On the other hand, breakthrough technologies can create entirely new markets. Early movers have the opportunity to shape industry standards, establish competitive advantages, and stay ahead of competitors. At Venture Kick, we believe technical readiness doesn't always mean market readiness. Founders need to understand what's holding customers back and whether they have the resources to overcome those barriers. 💡 A technology can be ready long before its market is. The key is knowing what needs to change before customers can adopt it. 💬 What's your take: should startups push ahead with breakthrough technologies or wait until the market is ready? #VentureKick #SwissStartups

Ultravionix receives CHF 40,000 from Venture Kick to improve aviation safety during turbulence encounters ✈️ venturekick.ch/Ultravionix-r… The startup has secured funding to advance its innovative technology for managing turbulence-related risks in aviation. Its new technological approach aims to improve flight safety and help airlines better protect passengers and crew during turbulence encounters. With the Stage II funding, the team will: 🔹 Advance technical development and real-world validation 🔹 Strengthen aviation industry partnerships and customer acquisition 🔹 Develop its certification strategy and intellectual property framework By addressing the risks associated with aviation turbulence, Ultravionix is helping make air travel safer for passengers and crew. Congrats to Baptiste Narbon, Janis Hagelberg, and Alexandre Kursner on this important step forward. #VentureKick #SwissStartups

VectorFly receives CHF 40,000 from Venture Kick to advance climbing robots for industrial inspections 🕷️ venturekick.ch/VectorFly-rec… The startup has secured funding to advance its climbing robot for industrial inspection and maintenance. Using vacuum feet, the four-legged robot navigates walls, ceilings, and complex structures while carrying inspection sensors, reducing the need for scaffolding and lifts. With the Stage II funding, the team will: 🔹 Build two additional robots for customer demonstrations 🔹 Expand demonstrations across Switzerland, Germany, and France 🔹 Accelerate development and prepare for paid inspection pilots in 2027 By making hard-to-reach infrastructure more accessible, VectorFly is helping industrial operators conduct inspections more safely, efficiently, and cost-effectively. Congrats to Leonardo Roessler, Pascal Burkard, and Yan Luetolf on this important step forward. #VentureKick #SwissStartups

👥 Is having a co-founder essential for startup success? In the #4 episode of the Venture Kick Debates series, we explore both sides of one of the most important decisions entrepreneurs face when building a startup. On the one hand, co-founders can bring complementary skills, challenge each others assumptions, and share responsibility for critical decisions. Particularly in deep tech, combining technical and commercial expertise can strengthen a startups ability to execute and build investor confidence. On the other hand, solo founders can move faster, maintain a consistent vision, and bring in experienced employees, advisors, or industry partners without giving up ownership. At Venture Kick, we believe success isnt necessarily about having a co-founder, but about surrounding yourself with the right people. The real question is whether your startup needs additional expertise, execution capabilities, or someone to share long-term responsibility. 💡 Build the team your company actually needs, not the team youre expected to have. 💬 Whats your take: is having a co-founder a key ingredient for startup success, or can going solo be just as effective? #VentureKick #SwissStartups

Meet Ionic Wind, the Swiss startup rethinking industrial air cleaning with an innovative approach to capturing airborne particles. In our latest Startup Spotlight episode, we spoke with Donato Rubinetti, CEO and Co-Founder of Ionic Wind, to learn more about the company’s mission, the technology behind its solution, and its ambitions for the future of industrial air purification. By harnessing the power of ionic wind, Ionic Wind is developing a new approach to removing airborne particles from industrial environments, aiming to make air cleaning more energy-efficient, sustainable, and effective. From the science behind the technology to its potential applications across industries, Donato takes us behind the scenes of Ionic Wind and shares how the team is working to transform the way industrial facilities manage air quality. Discover the people, innovation, and vision driving Ionic Wind forward in our latest Startup Spotlight episode! #VentureKick #SwissStartups

Helix Screen receives CHF 40,000 from Venture Kick to advance personalized drug testing for cancer 🧬 venturekick.ch/HelixScreen-r… The @EPFL spin-off has secured funding to advance its personalized tumour-testing platform for cancer treatment. Using a patented 3D model, the technology tests a patient’s tumour against candidate drugs and identifies within a week which treatment is most likely to work, supporting more precise therapy decisions. With the Stage II funding, the team will: 🔹 Validate the technology with more real-world clinical data 🔹 Strengthen partnerships with hospitals and pharmaceutical companies 🔹 Advance its commercial and regulatory strategy By helping identify effective treatments for individual patients, HelixScreen is working toward more personalized and precise cancer care. Congrats to Yueyun Zhang and Céline Lê on this important step forward. #VentureKick #SwissStartups

Baio Labs receives CHF 150,000 from Venture Kick to accelerate drug discovery with generative AI 🧬 venturekick.ch/Baio-Labs-rec… The @EPFL spin off has secured funding to advance its generative AI platform for early-stage drug discovery. Its platform, Drugon, uses the three-dimensional structure of therapeutic targets to design novel small molecules in seconds, integrating molecular design, synthesis, and experimental validation into one ecosystem. With the Stage III funding, the team will: 🔹 Scale its research and development efforts 🔹 Advance the Drugon platform 🔹 Implement its go-to-market strategy By accelerating the design of promising drug candidates, Baio Labs is helping pharmaceutical researchers reduce the time and cost of early-stage drug discovery. Congrats to Ilia Igashov, Arne Schneuing, and Bruno Correia on this important step forward. #VentureKick #SwissStartups

CheckVibe receives CHF 40,000 from Venture Kick to scale AI-powered software security analysis 🔐 venturekick.ch/CheckVibe-rec… The startup has secured funding to advance its security and code quality platform for software teams. The platform analyzes applications, code, and cloud infrastructure for vulnerabilities and other risks, helping developers identify issues earlier and resolve them faster with AI-powered fixes. With the Stage II funding, the team will: 🔹 Strengthen its security and code quality checks 🔹 Improve team workflows and platform capabilities 🔹 Accelerate customer acquisition and test its sales approach By making software risks easier to identify and resolve, CheckVibe is helping development teams build more secure and reliable applications. 🤝 Congrats to Yves Matteo Romano and Patrick Scherrer on this important step forward. #VentureKick #SwissStartups

Innunity Therapeutics receives CHF 150,000 from Venture Kick to tackle chronic inflammation at its source 🧬 venturekick.ch/Innunity-Ther… The @UZH_en spin-off has secured funding to advance a new treatment approach for chronic inflammatory diseases driven by the innate immune system. Its lead program, INNU-1, is an oral drug designed to target an initiating step of the inflammatory cascade, with an initial focus on mucocutaneous Behçet’s disease and potential expansion to inflammatory bowel disease and multiple sclerosis. With the Stage III funding, the team will: 🔹 Design new compounds using computational methods 🔹 Evaluate candidates with validated laboratory assays 🔹 Advance toward selecting a development candidate By targeting inflammation closer to its source, Innunity Therapeutics is working toward new treatment options for patients underserved by existing therapies. Congrats to Antonis Katsoulas, Thorsten Buch, and Barna Gal, MD on this important step forward. #VentureKick #SwissStartups

74 of Switzerland’s Top100 startups in 2026 are Venture Kick alumni 🏆 venturekick.ch/74-Venture-Ki… Nine of this year’s Top 10 have been supported by Venture Kick, including #1 Corintis, #2 @DeepJudgeAI, and #3 PAVE Space. The numbers highlight something bigger: Venture Kick is often one of the first major stepping stones for some of Switzerland’s most promising technology companies. Selected at an early stage, Venture Kick startups are backed not only with funding, but with entrepreneurial support, jury feedback, and access to a strong network of investors and industry experts. Years later, many of them go on to become some of the country’s leading young ventures. From engineering and robotics to biotech, medtech, cleantech, and ICT, the 74 Venture Kick alumni represented in the Top100 Swiss Startup Ranking 2026 reflect the consistently high quality of the founders and technologies entering the Venture Kick program. From an early kick to the Top100! 💥 🔗 Discover all 74 Venture Kick alumni featured in this year’s ranking: venturekick.ch/74-Venture-Ki… #VentureKick #Top100SSU #SwissStartups

Nanotech receives CHF 40,000 from Venture Kick to turn retail pilots into commercial rollouts ❄️ venturekick.ch/Nanotech-rece… The startup has secured funding to advance its energy-saving technology for refrigerated retail cabinets. Its transparent low-emissivity film can be applied to existing glass doors, reducing heat entering refrigerated cabinets and potentially cutting cooling energy consumption by 20–40% without affecting product visibility. With the Stage II funding, the team will: 🔹 Complete pilots with @migros and Pouly 🔹 Generate real-world energy savings data from operating stores 🔹 Turn pilot results into commercial rollouts with retailers By reducing the energy needed for retail refrigeration, Nanotech is helping retailers lower energy consumption with a solution that can be integrated into existing infrastructure. Congrats to Abtin Saateh and Marco Fumagalli on this important step forward. #VentureKick #SwissStartups

RheoCarti receives CHF 150,000 from Venture Kick to bring more natural movement to joint implants 🦴 venturekick.ch/RheoCarti-rec… @ETH spin-off RheoCarti has secured CHF 150,000 in Venture Kick funding to advance its next-generation joint implants designed to mimic the properties of natural cartilage. The support will help: 🔹 Strengthen the team and advance manufacturing and quality readiness 🔹 Prepare for first veterinary clinical applications and market entry 🔹 Progress toward future applications in human joint replacement RheoCarti combines titanium with low-friction, shock-absorbing hydrogel to reproduce key properties of natural cartilage. Its technology aims to enable smoother, more natural joint movement and improve implant performance, particularly for younger and more active patients. 👏 Congratulations to founder and CEO Xiaoyu Du, Scientific Advisor Stephen Ferguson, and the RheoCarti team! #VentureKick #SwissStartups

OGURION receives CHF 40,000 from Venture Kick to improve yield through real-time particle monitoring ⚙️ venturekick.ch/OGURION-recei… Swiss startup OGURION has secured CHF 40,000 in Venture Kick Stage 2 funding to advance its real-time particle monitoring technology for vacuum-based manufacturing. The support will help: 🔹 Run pilot projects and on-site demonstrations under real operating conditions 🔹 Quantify the return on investment for industrial customers 🔹 Improve the reliability of its Gen1 product ahead of commercial deployment in 2027 OGURION’s detectors operate directly inside production machines, identifying when and where contaminating particles are generated. The technology helps manufacturers in industries such as semiconductor manufacturing reduce contamination, losses, and downtime while improving production yield. 👏 Congratulations to CEO Constant Boris Rieille, CTO Sylvain LeCoultre, and the OGURION team! #VentureKick #SwissStartups

Cotierra raises USD 3 million to scale decentralised biochar technology 🌱 venturekick.ch/Cotierra-rais… Zurich-based climate technology company Cotierra, a Venture Kick alumni, has raised USD 3M in funding, bringing its total funding since inception to approximately USD 4.75M. The round was co-led by PINC and Carbon Removal Partners. The funds will support: 🔹 Industrialising its decentralised biochar technology 🔹 Scaling from field deployments to repeatable, multi-year commercial projects 🔹 Expanding across regions and agricultural value chains Cotierra transforms agricultural residues into biochar close to where they are generated, combining decentralised reactor technology with a digital platform. Its solution helps improve soil health and farmer resilience while reducing supply-chain emissions and generating carbon removal. 👏 Congratulations to the Cotierra team on this milestone and the next phase of growth! #VentureKick #SwissStartups

Cartorga receives CHF 40,000 from Venture Kick to scale AI-powered consulting research workflows 🎙️ lnkd.in/eDdiRq2r The startup has secured funding to advance its voice AI platform for consultancies. The solution uses AI interviews to gather insights directly from employees across organizations, helping consultants conduct discovery and primary research faster and take on larger, higher-value projects. With the Stage II funding, the team will: 🔹 Reach more consulting firms through events, marketing, and outreach 🔹 Run additional real-world projects to validate the solution 🔹 Strengthen customer acquisition and refine the platform through user feedback By scaling primary research with voice AI, Cartorga is helping consultancies gather deeper insights and deliver more ambitious projects efficiently. Congrats to Christopher Kotthoff and Olin Geimer on this important step forward. #VentureKick #SwissStartups

cookd labs receives CHF 40,000 from Venture Kick to accelerate food innovation through robotics and AI 🤖 venturekick.ch/cookd-labs-re… The startup has secured funding to advance its robotic food labs and AI platform for food R&D. Its robots automate formulation experiments, while its AI uses the resulting data to optimize recipes, helping food companies accelerate product development and bring new products to market faster. With the Stage II funding, the team will: 🔹 Advance its robotic food lab technology and AI platform 🔹 Accelerate market discovery and customer validation 🔹 Strengthen its commercial strategy and industry partnerships By combining robotics and AI for food R&D, cookd labs is helping food companies innovate faster and streamline product development. Congrats to Stefan Ilic and Germain Meyer on this important step forward. #VentureKick #SwissStartups

Aseptuva has raised CHF 2.4 million in a Seed round to advance its Far-UVC technology from early prototyping to preclinical validation 💡 The Swiss MedTech startup is developing a solution designed to continuously protect catheter-entry sites against microbial colonisation, helping reduce hospital-acquired infections and the reliance on antibiotics. With the new funding, Aseptuva has already: 🔹 Interviewed 50+ clinical professionals across Europe and the US 🔹 Built functional prototypes with European research partners 🔹 Completed preclinical efficacy and safety testing in Europe #SwissStartups #VentureKick

FAICON receives CHF 40,000 from Venture Kick to scale sovereign AI knowledge infrastructure 🧠 venturekick.ch/FAICON-receiv… The startup has secured funding to advance its sovereign intelligence infrastructure for expert summits and diplomatic assemblies. The platform transforms verified event content into searchable Knowledge Hubs, providing sourced executive briefings and building an institutional memory that grows across events. With the Stage II funding, the team will: 🔹 Expand commercially from Geneva into Brussels 🔹 Build partnerships with congress organizers and standardize enterprise agreements 🔹 Automate workflows to efficiently handle larger, multi-track events By turning expert knowledge into lasting, searchable intelligence, FAICON is helping institutions preserve insights and make better-informed decisions. Congrats to Luka Dacic on this important step forward. #VentureKick #SwissStartups