Sports and Medtech companies awarded CHF 130’000

Every month, eight projects are selected present their business ideas in front of a jury of successful entrepreneurs and investors in three different stages. The best two startups that succeed up to the last stage are awarded with a prize of 130’000. In this recent batch of the competition two startups Technis and Pregnolia won the final of Venture Kick and each went away with a prize of CHF 130’000.

Technis: A personalized profile and a novel game experience
The Lausanne based startup Technis developed an elegant way to connect tennis and digital world. Their product, a hyper thin, tactile and connected floor surface or mat, enables players – be it beginners or experienced players – to enter a new game era.

During a game, the surface developed by Technis detects every event such as foot movements and ball bounces, in order to establish the personalized profile of the player. The startup introduced its first product, MyTechnisPAD, a mat of about 6 m2 that can be placed anywhere on the tennis court. Software collects all the statistical data and allows exchanging it in real time via a mobile app, with a coach or a community of other players. This enables for example to find a game partner whose profile match. In addition, Technis wants to increase the players’ experience of sports. Technis’ product has already been tested in several tennis clubs in Switzerland.

Wiktor Bourée, CEO Technis remarks: “The program helped us build a solid business model, but also to sign key contracts with our clients and partners. A victory in final is a great recognition for the development potential of our business. It is also considered a serious pledge by investors.”

Pregnolia: Solving the problem of preterm birth assessment
The ETH spin-off Pregnolia develops a diagnostic tool that measures the cervical stiffness in pregnant women, allowing for reliably identifying the risks of preterm birth. The tool measures the stiffness of the tissue within a few seconds and based on the results gynaecologists are able to adopt the necessary pregnancy conservatory measures to avert the risk of preterm birth.

Assessment and management in pregnancy is a step which CEO Sabrina Badir chose to make in 2015 together with co-founder Francisco Delgado. The Swiss market entry is planned in 2018, then Europe and the USA. She can count on the support of Venture Kick to meet her objectives: “I could really take profit of the direct learnings from the program’s coaches. I became aware of what investors want to know and how to present it, such as how we are different from our competitors” explains Sabrina Badir, CEO.

(RAN)