Ten early-stage startups explore market entry opportunities in India

The latest edition of the Academia-Industry Training India (AIT) kicked-off on September 26^th and 27^th with ten sciencepreneuers who are seeking to navigate the Indian market. The program is dedicated to helping scientists transition their applied research into viable market solutions, horn their entrepreneurial skills and grow their network with relevant partners. Through this initiative, Swiss startups are set to gain valuable insights and opportunities in the Indian market, paving the way for future global innovations.

The program started with various events in Lausanne, including briefing session edifying participants about the program's objectives, workshops and company visits to Biopôle to learn more about its offers, and SoHHytec to learn about its technology, team-building efforts and how participating in the AIT program in 2016 contributed to its growth.

The participants are:

Brightank: Creating a greener future by making hydrogen more accessible.

Myriad Optic: is developing new bacterial detection and identification methods for the food industry, by leveraging optical spectroscopy, microfluidics and machine learning.

Azure Cell Therapies: Developing next-gen cell therapies for neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease, promising to deliver a safe (of low risk of tumour formation), scalable (off-the-shelf with simplified manufacturing), solution with sustained disease-modifying effects.

BCellOne: is developing a low-voltage electroporation system that minimizes cellular damage while maintaining high transfection efficiency. This breakthrough offers a safer, scalable, and more cost-effective alternative for genetic material delivery.

Impli: founded by Heath Hartle and Zeynab Moinipoor Impli is developing a hormone monitoring implant for In-vitro fertilization (IVF). The first product identified for market launch as a medical device in 2027 in the U.S. will be for women undergoing IVF.

Inveel GmbH by Barbara Horvath: specializes in the development of high-resolution printed sensory skins that provide robots with a sense of touch.

Onescope by Yannick Ormen I Alexandre Perez: is developing a unique autonomous multi-parameter stethoscope called Pneumoscope using artificial intelligence (AI) for lung sounds classification, disease severity grading, and clinical outcome prediction.

Phorest by Serhii Shyshkanov, Caroline Fähndrich and Hana Elhaddad: aims to transform pharmaceutical production by replacing petroleum-based feedstocks with widespread and currently underutilized biomass-derived lignin.

SaisiR by Claudia Bigoni: help patients regain independence with neuro-technologies to bridge the gap between the brain and the upper limb. At its core, a brain-computer interface decodes brain signals to activate muscle stimulation and a robotic glove. Enhanced by neuromodulation, our system enables complex movements, fostering neuroplasticity and recovery.

SEPARATIC by Timur Ashirov: is developing adsorptive membranes to capture hydrogen and put it back into the fuel cells, making them more efficient, economical, and environmentally friendly. The startup is targeting hydrogen capture from the fuel cell purge as a first application.

Timeline for the 2024-2025 edition
The selected startups will head to India for a one-week entrepreneurship camp on November 18th - 22nd, with a follow-up camp back in Switzerland on February 4th – 7th, 2025. As part of the program, CHF 10,000 in funding will be awarded to the two most promising projects during the camp in Switzerland at the program's conclusion. This financial support aims to accelerate the growth and international expansion of these ventures.

The Academia-Industry Training (AIT) India program is an innovation-based instrument of the Leading House South Asia and Iran at ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences, executed together with Swissnex in India and Venturelab as key program partners.