Avelo, Decentriq and Stimit are in the final of the ZKB Pioneer Award

The jury of the ZKB Pioneer Award Technopark has selected the deep tech start-ups Avelo, Decentriq and Stimit for the final, according to a press release. The prize of 100,000 Swiss francs will be awarded on May 7 at Technopark Zurich. The other two finalists will receive prize money of CHF 10,000.

Avelo is a company founded by Melanie Aregger (CEO) and Tobias Broger (CTO) in Schlieren ZH. Its Breath Aerosol Collector is designed to enable rapid diagnosis of respiratory diseases via laboratory tests using breath, which can facilitate the diagnosis of tuberculosis, for example. "The expected impact of Avelo technology on human health, including in the Global South, played a key role in our decision-making process," jury member Andreas Plückthun is quoted as saying in the press release.

Behind Decentriq from Zurich are Maximilian Groth (CEO) and Stefan Deml (CTO). They have developed a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform with data protection technologies and advanced artificial intelligence solutions. "We as the jury believe that the start-up's unique know-how will make confidential computing usable in a simple and secure way," jury member Christof Bühler is quoted as saying.

Stimit in Biel BE uses its solution to stimulate the respiratory muscles, which break down within a few days in ventilated intensive care patients. Activating the diaphragm is intended to maintain the respiratory muscles and thus promote machine-independent breathing. "Stimit is striving for a conceptual change in artificial respiration," jury member Emanuela Keller is quoted as saying. The jury sees the technology as a decisive turning point for intensive care medicine.

The ZKB Pioneer Prize has been awarded by Zürcher Kantonalbank and the Technopark Zurich Foundation for over two decades. ce/js