Press Release Announcing 2024 Cohort
Femtech rising in importance as Tech4Eva enters its 4th round
The only Swiss based and Global FemTech accelerator,Tech4Eva, is entering its fourth round with another record number of applications. In its 2024 edition, the start-up acceleration program of Groupe Mutuel and the EPFL Innovation Park is supporting 17 start-ups from a wide range of fields, such as Menstrual & Maternal health, reproductive medicine, wellbeing or oncology for women. Among them are 2 start-ups from Switzerland.
189 companies from 45 countries applied for the fourth edition of the only Femtech acceleration program for start-ups in Switzerland - a new record and almost 29% more than last year. From the innovative companies offering solutions for women's health, 17 participants from 11 countries were selected.
“We are very proud to be co-hosting the fourth edition of Tech4Eva. The importance of the Femtech sector is growing, but in many areas women's health is still underestimated or under-researched,” said Jérôme Mariéthoz, Head of Health and Pensions for Private Individuals at Groupe Mutuel. “By partnering with these innovative companies, we are emphasizing our commitment to raising awareness and adding value for our female customers.”
The participating companies follow the equity-free program for six months and are closely supported by 40+ mentors who help them develop their business plan and go-to-market strategy and meet investors. They also become part of the growing Tech4Eva Femtech community.
This year, we choose to scale more mature high-tech Femtech start-ups in developed healthcare systems, leveraging on the vast business network and Industrial expertise of EPFL Innovation Park. We encourage more forward looking corporates and foundations to join our initiative as partners to take care of numerous high potential projects coming from global south countries, to make a global impact on healthcare, comments Lan Zuo Gillet, Co-Founder and Director of Tech4Eva, and Deputy Managing Director, EPFL Innovation Park.
This year's participants will present solutions for general women's health, reproductive medicine, pregnancy, postpartum, menopause and menstruation. 2 of them are from Switzerland and both active in Prevention/Oncology for women cancers:
Calico Biosystems - www.calicobiosystems.com
Calico Biosystems is a drug testing platform that predicts reliably the efficacy of anti-cancer drugs at the pre-clinical stage in cancer patients with the goal to deliver to women with cancer potent and affordable drugs.
HeroSupport - https://www.herosupport.care/
HeroSupport SA is advancing radiation therapy treatment through the integration of 3D printing and surface scanning technology, a fast expanding new market. It provides comprehensive solutions for radiation oncology professionals, enabling precise and personalized treatments while enhancing patient experience.
Selected International start-ups include: Ablatus Therapeutics - Luna https://lunatreatment.com/;Babyndex www.babyndex.eu/en/; CareNX Innovations www.carenx.com; CC Diagnostics www.cc-diagnostics.com; Cosm Medical www.cosm.care/; DeepLook Medical www.deeplookmedical.com/; EndoCure EndoCure.tech; Galena Innovations www.galenainnovations.com; Hamonia Healthcare www.harmoniahealthcare.com/;Hormona www.hormona.io; Mamotest www.mamotest.com; Namida www.namidalab.com;SinReglas www.sin-reglas.mx; Vital Start Health www.vitalstarthealth.com; andVivoSensMedical www.vivosensmedical.com
This year's edition also features a novelty: Debiotech, a new partner of Tech4Eva, is offering technical support in the form of CHF 100,000 worth of in-kind services to a Tech4Eva start-up company, so that it can develop its solution together with the company. The winner of the prize is Ablatus Therapeutics - Luna. Congratulations!
Laurent-Dominique Piveteau CEO of Debiotech commented: The project by Ablatus impressed us with the elegance of its solution and the real benefit it represents for patients suffering from a very disabling condition. This project is perfectly in line with what has driven the company for over 30 years: patient-centered innovation. But we would also like to congratulate all the candidates for the Debiotech Prize. The high quality of the projects identified by Tech4Eva made our selection task particularly difficult.
On May 13, the fourth edition of Tech4Eva kicked off with a public event in Bern under the theme “Innovation with Impact”. The keynote was given by Laura Santos Carreras, Team Section Lead in Medical Technology at Helbling. She explained why strategic partnerships and the creation of a development roadmap are crucial to take Femtech projects from research to market launch.
More information on the selected start-ups can be found here: https://www.tech4eva.ch/startups