Two cutting-edge start-ups from Western Switzerland’s renowned Health Valley — AzureCell Therapies and Myriad Optics — have each secured CHF 150,000 from the prestigious Gebert Rüf Stiftung’s Innobooster programme.
This funding milestone, announced on August 11, 2025, highlights Switzerland’s drive to turn university research into real-world impact.
One company is tackling neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s. The other aims to shake up bacterial detection in the food industry.
These grants represent a serious investment in healthcare innovation and food safety technology.
Driving Swiss Innovation Through Innobooster
The Innobooster programme exists to back high-impact projects emerging from Swiss universities. Its main goal? Help them bridge the gap between academic research and market reality.
By funding entrepreneurial teams with big ideas, the programme speeds up the journey from lab bench to commercial launch.
This latest round of awards really shows the range of Swiss innovation, from regenerative medicine to industrial AI.
Recipients Showcasing Scientific Excellence
Among the recipients, two stand out for their potential to make a real difference in entirely different sectors. One focuses on advanced medical therapies, the other on rapid detection tech for the food supply chain.
AzureCell Therapies: A Leap Forward in Neurodegenerative Disease Treatment
AzureCell Therapies spun out of the University of Geneva after 18 years of research and five patents. The company pioneers regenerative cell therapies for Parkinson’s and other tough neurodegenerative disorders.
Its core innovation is producing dopamine-generating neurons from stem cells, and doing it at scale.
These engineered neurons are designed to:
- Minimize tumour formation risk
- Boost post-transplant survival rates
- Restore damaged neural circuits for lasting therapeutic effects
With over CHF 1 million in previous funding — including from Venture Kick — AzureCell is gearing up for official incorporation in Q3 2025.
The CHF 150,000 Innobooster grant will help the company strengthen its Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)-ready production platform and get closer to starting clinical trials.
Myriad Optics: Accelerating Food Safety Testing
Founded at EPFL, Myriad Optics is taking on a big problem in the food industry: slow pathogen testing.
Right now, bacterial contamination tests in food production can drag on for up to five days. Myriad Optics’ portable device combines Raman spectroscopy with modern microfluidic tech to deliver accurate results in just hours, cutting detection times by 75–95%.
Shorter testing cycles mean contaminated products get pulled from the supply chain much faster. That slashes foodborne illness risk and helps avoid expensive recalls.
From Laboratory Innovation to Field Application
Because Myriad Optics’ solution is portable, teams can test for pathogens directly in processing plants, distribution centers, and even at points of sale.
This flexibility could set a new industry standard for fast, reliable food safety checks.
Beyond Health and Food: A Broader Wave of Innovation
Alongside AzureCell Therapies and Myriad Optics, four other university-born projects won Innobooster support this round. The programme clearly values multidisciplinary progress:
- ZuriEV – Developing a liquid biopsy platform for early cancer detection
- AITHON Robotics – Creating faster, more affordable infrastructure inspection solutions
- FireDrone – Engineering drones that can handle extreme temperatures up to 200°C
- Xelerit – Using AI-driven software to boost manufacturing efficiency
Final Thoughts
Regenerating neurons. Safeguarding our food supply. The 2025 Innobooster awardees are a wild mix of science, entrepreneurship, and social impact that’s honestly kind of inspiring.
With CHF 150,000 in funding, these teams can speed up their journey to market. It’s not just about the money—it’s about making sure research doesn’t get stuck in the lab, but actually solves some of today’s toughest problems.
Switzerland’s Health Valley keeps showing us what’s possible. Start-ups here don’t just talk about innovation—they actually build it, right where science and real life collide.
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Here is the source article for this story: AzureCell and Myriad Optics enter Innobooster programme