Tech4Eva Opening Ceremony 2022: Press Release

‍124 start-ups from all over the world have applied to take part in the second edition of Tech4Eva, the unique accelerator for FemTech start-ups in Switzerland.

Following the success of its launch last year, which raised CHF 60 million through its start-ups specialising in female health, Tech4Eva – a unique accelerator programme in Switzerland – is launching its second edition today. An initiative based on collaboration between Groupe Mutuel and the EPFL Innovation Park, Tech4Eva has attracted applications from 124 projects from 30 countries, 80% of which were created by women, for its second round.

Swiss start-ups operating in FemTech

A selection committee has chosen 28 start-ups from 124 candidates from Switzerland and all over the world for the second round. Twenty-four Swiss start-ups entered and six were selected by the jury. Two selected projects at growth stage are worth highlighting:

-       b-rayZ AG, which focuses on prevention and diagnostics, hasdeveloped a revolutionary AI solution for early diagnosis of breast cancer.

-       Pregnolia AG, which specialises inpregnancy-related issues, has created a diagnostic tool measuring the stiffnessof the cervical tissue of a pregnant woman and its changes during pregnancy, avoiding the probability of premature delivery.

Swiss start-ups selected:

1.               b-rayZAG www.b-rayz.ch

2.               DeliverHealth www.deliverhealth.ch

3.               FimmCyte https://fimmcyte.com

4.               Navina+ www.navinaplus.com

5.               OncoGenomX www.oncogenomx.ch

6.               Pregnolia AG www.pregnolia.com 

In 2022, 29 mentors from leading companies, such as CSEM, Essity, Ferring, Gedeon Richter Preglem, Merck, Philips, Procter & Gamble and UCB, will participate in the initiative. The experts from these companies will support the start-ups during their development phase.

The programme has also secured a major partner in CSEM which will provide technical support for the start-ups selected. CSEM plays a key role in the innovation value chain, leveraging public-private partnerships and closing the gap between basic research and industry.

Innovation at the service of Women

This second round of Tech4Eva is being launched in Lausanne today at a physical and virtual event, bringing together hundreds of specialists working in innovation, medicine, entrepreneurship and business. This event highlights the challenges related to gender differences and their significance in medicine and healthcare. At this event, the US neuroscientist Jill Goldstein, who specialises in the differences between the genders from a neurological and medical perspective, will give a presentation entitled “Differences between the genders in medicine”.

The biological sex has an influence over health, its perception, prevention and treatment. Several studies published in recent months indicate that focusing more heavily on gender may be a key factor in improving the quality of prevention and care. Scientific knowledge and its clinical application have led to perceptible inequality between men and women. As a result, today, most health-related products, services and technologies are not designed for women. Against this background, the EPFL Innovation Park and the Groupe Mutuel aim to promote the development of start-ups seeking to meet the specific needs of female health more effectively.

EPFL Innovation Park -Groupe Mutuel, a win-win partnership

The selected start-ups will benefit from one of the best health ecosystems in Europe. Thanks to the EPFL Innovation Park network, they will be able to access international partnerships and investors. They will also access a dynamic market with one of leading health insurers in Switzerland. The EPFL Innovation Park and Groupe Mutuel are pleased to collaborate on this initiative to improve female health.

“I strongly believe we have a role to play in fostering reflection on and the research and development of innovative solutions for female health. I am delighted to see such highly talented new start-ups in the field of FemTech,” said Sophie Revaz, Managing Director at Groupe Mutuel.

“We’ve created a solid business network and FemTech ecosystem with the start-ups, but also companies, researchers and healthcare service providers at the international level. We are endeavouring to become an innovation centre of excellence for female health,” added Ursula Oesterle, President of the EPFL Innovation Park.

For further information on Tech4Eva : www.tech4eva.ch