Swistor and IsoSpec Analytics granted by EPFL Startup Launchpad
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The EPFL Startup Launchpad has granted two awards of CHF100,000 each to future EPFL startups Swistor and IsoSpec Analytics. While the former startup project enables high-energy and ultra-fast charging energy storage devices (supercapacitors) with a significantly reduced carbon footprint, the later is looking to reduce the time new drugs reach the market through optimising early-stage development.
IsoSpec Analytics
The EPFL Startup Launchpad is pleased to announce they have granted an award of CHF100,000 to IsoSpec – an upcoming EPFL startup looking to reduce the failure rates for new drugs and allow early disease diagnostics through revolutionizing molecular biometrics.
Drug development is a long and costly process with only one in twenty drug candidates succeeding to reach the market. This low success rate is partly owed to insufficient drug characterisation in early stages. IsoSpec Analytics develops analytical tools that aims at reducing failure rates for drugs in a variety of fields including oncology and neurodegenerative diseases by providing key information during target validation and compound screening. Beyond pharmaceuticals, IsoSpec is developing its technology to become a tool of choice for early disease diagnostics by opening the door for the discovery of new biomarkers, attacking disease at its root not at its symptoms. Their patented rapid separation and molecular infrared fingerprinting technology can eliminate bottlenecks in analytical workflows, providing key information for optimal decision-making during the development of safer and cost-efficient products.
The team is already working with some of the world’s leading pharma and biotech companies. They will use their Innogrant to de-risk their product and validate their go-to-market strategy.
Contact
Stephan Warnke [email protected]
Ahmed Benfaleh [email protected]
Swistor
The EPFL Startup Launchpad has granted an award of CHF100,000 to Swistor – an EPFL future startup which enables high-energy and ultra-fast charging energy storage devices with a significantly reduced carbon footprint.
In 2020 alone, over 1m tons of Li-Ion batteries – rechargeable batteries used in everything from phones to electric cars - were created and used. It’s estimated the market will grow another eight-fold by 2027.
While devices that use Li-ion batteries are generally emission-free, the creation of their energy source still has a large impact on the climate. Mining the materials needed, developing the production, and even their disposal all comes with a cost. As well as the toxic chemicals needed to process the batteries, there are numerous ethical questions about the process, as well as the knock-on impact on soil and air contamination.
However, it’s clear, demand for high-powered, fast-charging energy storage devices is not going to go away. Swistor have developed a new technology which produces supercapacitors which charge in two minutes and have a lifetime around 30x longer than existing technologies. Importantly, the batteries are made from materials which are abundant, cost-effective, and non-polluting and so can be developed with 10x less carbon emissions.
The team will use their Innogrant to create a prototype and prepare for industrialisation. They also hope to secure a pilot project with a leader in the mobile or chip industry.
Contact
Clara Moldovan [email protected]