Heavy-duty drones, biological materials that replace plastic, rapidly digitized work knowledge, improved ventilators for premature babies and AI travel guides: five start-ups presented these business ideas on Friday, 15 November, at the Startfeld premises in St.Gallen. The young companies had previously undergone a five-week coaching program, the HSG START Accelerator. The new support program is intended to strengthen the growth of technologically strong start-ups that already have products and customers and to prepare them for attracting investor funding.
Andreas Göldi, one of the initiators of the program and HSG graduate, multiple founder and investor, adds: “There is a lively start-up ecosystem in the Alpine region between Lausanne and Munich. But there is a financing gap in the growth and internationalization phase.” This is another reason why the HSG START Accelerator was launched.
For the Accelerator, the HSG, START Global and the Swiss Innovation Park East (SIP-East) are pooling their expertise and networks in startup promotion. The program is largely financed by the Canton of St.Gallen and is intended to be self-supporting in the long term.
Each start-up was able to briefly present its business idea to a five-member jury on Friday in the starting field. The jury consisted of HSG graduate and multiple founder Bettina Hein, HSG lecturer and founder Torben Antretter, German entrepreneur Joachim Schoss and entrepreneur Gioia Deucher. After the pitches, the jury asked questions – at the end of the evening, the best start-up was awarded 25,000 Swiss francs in non-participation prize money.
The “pitches” – i.e. the start-ups’ presentations to investors – showed that all five start-ups rely on strongly technology-driven solutions in a wide range of sectors:
- The ETH spin-off Rimon uses artificial intelligence (AI) to digitize years of work knowledge within a short space of time. The workers wear a bodycam while they work. An AI evaluates these videos and creates a text-based reference book. For individual work steps, it also refers to exact locations in the videos.
- Vira Drones develops drones that can transport loads of up to 1000 kilograms. The hybrid-powered, autonomously flying drones have a range of up to 1200 kilometers. According to the founders, they are significantly cheaper than helicopter transportation and are to be used for load transport and rescuing people.
- Kuori develops industrially usable materials from organic raw materials such as walnut shells or olive pits. The compostable materials are elastic and emit significantly less CO2 during production than conventional plastic. In addition, no microplastics are produced when they are recycled.
- Inhale+ has developed a device that greatly improves the ventilation of premature babies: the babies receive medication as aerosols via the air they breathe. In previous systems, however, the concentration of active ingredients is often too low. The Inhale+ solution is now designed to increase this concentration by 320 percent and thus reduce the mortality rate of premature babies.
- Gaudio is a start-up founded by HSG graduates. The platform uses AI to create guided tours for tourists through cultural institutions or cities. These tours are interactive and personalized, meaning that users can ask questions and choose a character to guide them, for example. Institutions such as the Museum of Transport in Lucerne, the National Museum in Zurich and St.Gallen Bodensee Tourismus are already using the AI solution.
Regular operation of the accelerator will begin in spring 2025: 10 start-ups per cohort will then take part, with an investment of 200,000 Swiss francs awaiting them at the end. This will then be linked to a stake in the company.
After intensive deliberation, the jury decided to award the prize money to Kuori. “All start-ups have the potential to achieve great things,” says Bettina Hein on behalf of the jury. They opted for the startup that would have a major ecological and social impact if successful. The fact that Kuori is already generating solid sales and is working with several customers also speaks in its favor.
