Pioneer Fellows

The Pioneer Fellowship enables entrepreneurial ETH students and researchers in developing their research-based technologies into marketable products and services to launch a successful ETH Spin-off company. See what the current Fellows are working on in their projects.

Active Pioneer Fellows

Börte Emiroglu 
Immunosponge
A novel wound dressing to correct excess inflammation in chronic wounds

Lilly van de Venn 
HT-DISCOVER
Accurate and high-throughput off-target detection for precision and safety in genome engineering

Timo Küster and Friederike Biffar
AITHON Robotics
Safer, faster, and more cost-effective UAV solution for inspecting and maintaining critical infrastructure

Giuseppe Antoniazzi 
FibroTech Solutions  
Pioneering chemical probe for the early diagnosis and monitoring of fibrosis

 

Lukas Bircher
TALPA-Inspection
Contactless, automated, and cost-efficient corrosion inspection

 

Massimo Saini 
Captaim             
CTC Apheresis for Personalized Targeted & Immune Therapy

 

Grace Kagho (Social Impact Pioneer Fellow)
UrbanEcho
A digital twin technology for sustainable urban planning in developing regions

 

Jessica Droujko
Riverkin
Breaking down the barriers of traditional water management using novel hardware and intelligent software to create an interconnected ecosystem

 

Marco Francesco D'Elia
ÁPEIROS
Fluorescent, Recyclable and Self-​Healing Anticorrosion Coatings

 

Andreas Kourouklis
Conductive skin
Conductive skin device for power transfer to life-​saving implants

 

Gregor Perich 
Terensis
Connecting agriculture

 

Edoardo Pezzulli
Sustain
Low-​cost monitoring of subsurface CO2, hydrogen and heat storage

 

Fabrice Bagnoud and Iwan Haechler 
solabs
Solar-powered durable antifog coating

 

Marie Perrin
REEcover
Rare Earth Recovery and Separation
 

Rik Ubaghs
Arago Labs
Pioneering Digital Histology-based Navigation to optimize surgical resection of malignant brain tumors

Giorgia Greter
Baxiva
Preventing urinary tract infections with a glycoconjugate vaccine

 

Hao Liu 
Lumios
Shaping light to accelerate the development of life-saving therapies with accurate and reproducible human tissue models

 

Martin Stadler 
QENDRA
Providing cutting-edge classical control for atom and ion-based quantum computers, powering the quantum revolution

 

Kyriakos Alexandros Chondrogiannis
Builtstop
Refueling the lifespan of buildings by deploying innovative technologies to protect traditional structures

 

Tansel Baran Yasar 
Aeternus Neurotechnologies
Next-generation ultra-flexible brain implants for stable interfacing with brain networks at single-cell resolution

 

Stefan Villiger
Versive (former Reagiro)
Steering-​by-Leaning in Manual Wheelchairs

 

Carolina Paganini 
Checktor Biosciences
Fighting drug resistance with point-​of-care tests

 

Pascal Auf der Maur and Betim Djambazi (left to right)
RoBoa
A revolution for confined spaces rescue and inspection!

 

David Stark
QCSEL
Mid-​infrared lasers for portable gas sensing solutions

 

Julia Carpenter
Apheros
Ultra-​porous metal foams for efficient cooling

 

Pioneer Fellow Alumni

Robert Axelrod

Robert Axelrod
external page IMAI (InSight)
Bringing cancer detection to new dimensions
Host Professor: Alexander Mathys

Paulius Viskaitis

Paulius Viskaitis
external page smartVNS
Personalised and intelligent neurorehabilitation
Host Professor: Roger Gassert 

Nevena Paunović

Nevena Paunović
external page OBaris
Painless alternative for delivery of injectable drugs
Host Professor: Jean-Christophe Leroux

Yvan Bosshard and Tiago Salzmann (left to right)
peaKFlow
Bringing the Smart to Smart Infrastructure
Host Professor: Benini Luca (ITET)

Natanael Lanz
Chiral
Next generation transistors
Host Professor: Hierold Christofer (MAVT)

Fabian Schmid

Fabian Schmid
external page qCella
(re)shape heating
Host Professor: Markus Niederberger

Jonas Wuest and Pragash Sivananthaguru

Jonas Wuest and Pragash Sivananthaguru (left to right)
external page Tethys Robotics 
Enable search, recovery and inspection missions in all waters
Host Professor: Siegwart Roland (MAVT) 

Julian Senoner (co-​founder, left), Bernhard Kratzwald (Pioneer Fellow, right)
external page ethonAI
Proactive Quality Management
Host Professor: Netland Torbjorn Hestenes (MTEC)

Bettina Thumm Müller
Citus
Ultra-​​light suction device for improved skin characterization
Host Professor: Mazza Edoardo (MAVT)

Lukas Böcker and Severin Eder (left to right)
Authentic seafood analogues
Host Professor: Mathys Alexander (HEST)

Aurel Neff and Patrick Barton (left to right)
Caterra
Laser-​​based weeding robot
Host Professor: Walter Achim (USYS)

Alexandre Anthis
AnastoSEAL
Smart patch, eradicating surgical leaks
Host Professor: Herrmann Inge Katrin (MAVT)

Lukas Ambühl
Transcality
Scalable digital transportation twins for cities
Host Professor: Axhausen Kay (BAUG)

Simona Fehlmann, Nicole Kleger (left to right)
sallea®
Add the third dimension to cells.
Host Professor: Studart André R. (MATL)

Mauro Häusler
Spektrum
Structural Monitoring of Rock Slopes
Host Professor: Fäh Donat (ERDW)

Martin Hofmann
X14 foods
Marbled plant-​based meat analogues
Host Professor: Vermant Jan (MATL)

Philippe Bechtold (co-founder) and Michele Gregorini (left to right)
diaxxo (peakPCR)
Real-​time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)
Host Professor: Stark Wendelin (CHAB)

Mamta Chabria
Tandem Therapeutics
Targeting diseased microenvironment in fibrosis
Host Professor: Vogel Viola (HEST)

Karl-Philipp Schlichting
Nanoporous Graphene Membranes
Host Professor: Poulikakos Dimos (MAVT)

Mandy Boontanrart
Ariya Bio: Reactivating fetal hemoglobin in B-Hemoglobinopathy patients
Host Professor: Jacob Corn (BIOL)

Dominic Jud and Burak Cizmeci (left to right)
Teleoperated and Semi-Autonomous Heavy Machinery
Host Professor: Marco Hutter (MAVT)

Marc Bächinger
external page MindMetrix
Host Professor: Nicole Wenderoth (HEST)

Tino Matter and Sebastian Loy
external page anavo
Host Professor: Inge Herrmann (MAVT)

Hélène Iven and Sonia Meller (left to right)
external page DigitSoil
Host Professor: Emmanuel Frossard (USYS)

Marc Reig Escalé
external page Versics
Host Professor: Rachel Grange (PHYS)

Paul Baade
eightinks
Cost-​effective battery manufacturing
Host Professor: Vanessa Wood (MAVT)

Picture of Yurena Segui Femenias

Yurena Segui Femenias
external page DuraMon - Durability Monitoring of infrastructures
Host Professor: Ueli Angst (BAUG)

Picture of Zuzana Sediva

Zuzana Sediva
external page GROAM - Alternative Foaming agents
Host Professor: Erich Windhab (HEST)

Picture of Alex Tanno

Alexander Tanno
external page Hemetron - Novel Hand-Held Electrochemical Lateral Flow Assay
Host Professor: Vörös Janos (ITET)

Picture of Timothy Sandy

Timothy Sandy
Visible Referencing Systems
Host Professor: Marco Hutter (MAVT)

Picture of Marcel Schuck

Marcel Schuck
external page NoTouchRobotics
Host Professor: Johann Kolar (ITET)

Picture of Vanesa Rocha Martin

Vanesa Natalin Rocha Martin
external page BactoKind
Host Professor: Christophe Lacroix (HEST)

Picture of Jonathan Kiefer

Jonathan Kiefer
PhireTherapeutics
Host Professor: Dario Neri (CHAB)

Picture of Mohsen Ewaida

Mohsen Ewaida
SnowBell
Host Professor: Gustavo Alonso (INFK)

Picture of Simon Hecker

Simon Hecker
external page Aegis Rider Technology
Host Professor: Luc Van Gool (ITET)

Picture of Christoph Schneeberger

Christoph Schneeberger
external page Antefil Composite Tech
Host Professor: Paolo Ermanni (MAVT)

Picture of Melanie Binggeli and Cyrill Hess

Cyrill Hess & Melanie Binggeli
LemnaPro
Host Professor: Achim Walter (USYS)

Prolongate

Michael Wetter
Prolongate
Host Professor: Markus Aebi (BIOL)

Microcaps

Alessandro Ofner & Michael Hagander 
external page Microcaps
Host Professor: André Studart (MATL)

Fracture Specific Bone Plate

Thomas Zumbrunn
external page CustomSurg
Host Professor: Stephen Ferguson (HEST)

FenX

Etienne Jeoffroy
external page FenX
Host Professor: André Studart (MATL)

planted

Lukas Böni
external page planted
Host Professor: Erich Windhab (HEST)

Oxara

Gnanli Landrou
external page Oxara
Host Professor: Guillaume Habert (BAUG)

Claudia Hössbacher

Claudia Hössbacher
external page Polariton Technologies
Host Professor: Juerg Leuthold (ITET)

Scewo

Pascal Buholzer & Bernhard Winter
external page Scewo
Host Professor: Roland Siegwart (MAVT)

Bartenbach

Volker Bartenbach
external page Auxivo
Host Professor: Roger Gassert (HEST)

Altun

Ali Oezhan Altun
external page UNISERS
Host Professor: Christofer Hierold (MAVT)

Oskari & Max

Oskari Vinko & Maximilian Schulz
external page UniteLabs
Host Professor: Jörg Stelling (BSSE)

Enkelejda Miho

Enkelejda Miho
external page aiNET
Host Professor: Sai Reddy (BSSE)

Andreas Schmocker & Mark Bispinghoff

Mark Bispinghoff & Andreas Schmocker
external page Lumendo
Host Professor: Hansjörg Grützmacher (CHAB)

Heckhorn & Gort

Marcel Gort & Manuel Heckhorn
external page Rapid Graft
Host Professor: Mirko Meboldt (MAVT)

Wüthrich & Schmitt

Steven Schmitt & Irene Wüthrich
SpheroBiotics
Host Professor: Sven Panke (BSSE)

Xavier Garrabou

Xavier Garrabou
Lock and Key Bioscience (Quiralex)
Host Professor: Donald Hilvert (CHAB)

Schaffner & Stefanov

Manuel Schaffner & Petar Stefanov
external page Spectroplast
Host Professor: André Studart (MATL)

Lea Pokorny & Pascal Guillet

Lea Pokorny & Pascal Guillet
MicroPow
Host Professor: Erich Windhab (HEST)

Claudia Murar

Claudia Murar
Host Professor: Jeffrey Bode (CHAB)

Sergio Sanabria

Sergio Sanabria
REFLECTUS
Host Professor: Orcun Göksel (ITET)

Philipp Furler

Philipp Furler
external page Synhelion
Host Professor: Aldo Steinfeld (MAVT)

Max Ahnen and Jannis Fischer

Max Ahnen and Jannis Fischer
external page Positrigo
Host Professor: Günther Dissertori (PHYS)

Vincent Martinez

Vincent Martinez and Luca Hirt
external page nanoleq
Host Professor: Janos Vörös (ITET)

Christina Wouters

Christina Wouters
Hallcube
Host Professor: Christopher Hierold (MAVT)

Lorenz Meier and Lukas Meier

Lorenz Meier and Lukas Meier
Host Professor: Marc Pollefeys (INFK)

Zhenzhong Su and Tonio Gsell

Zhenzhong Su and Tonio Gsell
external page Fixposition
Host Professor: Markus Rothacher (BAUG)

Patrizia Marschalkova

Patrizia Marschalkova
external page Dicronis
Host Professor: Jean-Christophe Leroux (CHAB)

Patric Eberle

Patric Eberle
Host Professor: Dimos Poulikakos (MAVT)

Marco Habegger

Marco Habegger
Immuprobe
Host Professor: Janos Vörös (ITET)

Michela Puddu

Michela Puddu
external page Haelixa
Host Professor: Wendelin Stark (CHAB)

Benedikt Wanner

Benedikt Wanner
external page Synple Chem
Host Professor: Jeffrey Bode (CHAB)

Sohyeion Jeong and Lubor Ladicky

Sohyeion Jeong and Lubor Ladicky
Host Professor: Markus Gross (INFK)

Thomas de Wouters

Thomas de Wouters
external page PharmaBiome
Host Professor: Christophe Lacroix (HEST)

Tina Hovestadt

Tina Hovestadt
Host Professor: Mirko Meboldt (MAVT)

Franz-Josef Obermair

Franz-Josef Obermair
external page Tepthera
Host Professor: Manfred Kopf (BIOL)

Thomas Nescher

Thomas Nescher
external page Inspacion
Host Professor: Konrad Wegener (MAVT)

Claudia Kuster

Claudia Kuster
Perceptiko
Host Professor: Markus Gross (INFK)

Mattias Ivarsson

Mattias Ivarsson
external page Inositec
Host Professor: Jean-Christophe Leroux (CHAB)

Oliver Weingart

Oliver Weingart
Host Professor: Martin J. Loessner (HEST)

Ulf Blanke

Ulf Blanke
external page Antavi
Host Professor: Gerhard Tröster (ITET)

Andreas Hugi

Andreas Hugi
external page IRsweep
Host Professor: Jérôme Faist (PHYS)

Martin Ebner

Martin Ebner
external page Battrion
Host Professor: Vanessa Wood (MAVT)

Sabrina Badir

Sabrina Badir
external page Pregnolia
Host Professor: Edoardo Mazza (MAVT)

Diego Marti

Diego Marti
external page Diramics
Host Professor: Colombo Bolognesi (ITET)

Andreas Essig

Andreas Essig
Host Professor: Markus Aebi (BIOL)

Moritz Haag

Moritz Haag
Host Professor: Markus Reiher (CHAB)

Christopher Millan

Christopher Millan
Cellspring
Host Professor: Marcy Zenobi-Wong (BIOL)

Tom Reuter

Tom Reuter
Host Professor: Chiara Daraio (MAVT)

Matthias Krebs
external page Aerotain
Host Professor: Roland Siegwart (MAVT)

Andreas Lauber
external page ANYbotics
Host Professor: Roland Siegwart (MAVT)

Vincent Forster

Vincent Forster
external page Versantis
Host Professor: Jean-Christophe Leroux (CHAB)

Simone Bottan

Simone Bottan
external page Hylomorph
Host Professor: Dimos Poulikakos (MAVT)

Olgac Ergeneman

Olgac Ergeneman
external page Magnes
Host Professor: Nelson Bradley (MAVT)

Nickolay Todoroff

Nickolay Todoroff
Host Professor: Gisbert Schneider (CHAB)

Jijo Vallooran

Jijo Vallooran
Host Professor: Raffaele Mezzenga (HEST)

Xiang Li

Xiang Li
external page ZuriMed Technologies
Host Professor: Jess Snedeker (HEST)

Kevin Mader

Kevin Mader
external page 4Quant
Host Professor: Marco Stampanoni (ITET)

Bryan Anastasiades

Bryan Anastasiades
external page Noonee
Host Professor: Fumiya Iida (MAVT)

Martin K. Ostermaier

Martin K. Ostermaier
external page InterAx Biotech
Host Professor: Gebhard Schertler (BIOL)

Matthias Dantone
Fashwell
Host Professor: Luc Van Gool (ITET)

Hans-Anton Keserue

Hans-Anton Keserue
external page rqmicro
Host Professor: Petra S. Dittrich (BSSE)

Marco Trudel

Marco Trudel
mtSystems
Host Professor: Bertrand Meyer (INFK)

Angela Yao

Angela Yao
external page Parquery
Host Professor: Luc Van Gool (ITET)

Wang Hao

Wang Hao
Host Professor: Günther Detlef (CHAB)

Patrick Galliker

Patrick Galliker
external page Scrona
Host Professor: Dimos Poulikakos (MAVT)

Stefan Richter
Embotech
Host Professor: Manfred Morari (ITET)

Felix Holzner
external page SwissLitho
Host Professor: Nicholas Spencer (MATL)

Stéphane Kühne
external page microGauge
Host Professor: Christofer Hierold (MAVT)

Pratik Mukerji
external page Electric Feel
Host Professor: Jürgen Biela (ITET)

Stephan Koch
external page Adaptricity
Host Professor: Göran Andersson (ITET)

Choi Jong Wong
Host Professor: Hyung Gyu Park (MAVT)

Delano Landtwing
Host Professor: Stefan Wiemer (ERDW)

Marie-Christine Fluet

Marie-Christine Fluet
external page ReHaptix
Host Professor: Roger Gassert (HEST)

Florian Perrodin
external page Distran
Host Professor: Roland Siegwart (MAVT)

Fabian Nater
Upicto
Host Professor: Luc Van Gool (ITET)

Susanne Wolfrum
Glycemicon
Host Professor: Erick M. Carreira (CHAB)

Christoph Barmet
external page Skope Magnetic Resonance
Host Professor: Klaas P. Prüssmann (ITET)

Fabian Köhler
Host Professor: Wendelin Stark (CHAB)

René Jähne
Host Professor: Edoardo Mazza (MAVT)

Alexander Hasse
external page Monolitix
Host Professor: Paolo Ermanni (MAVT)

Ferdinand Felder
Phocone
Host Professor: Jürg Dual (MAVT)

Jan Lukas Giesbrecht
Host Professor: Paul Smith (MATL)

Rober Adelmann
Host Professor: Mattern Friedemann (INFK)

Jörg Albuschies
Host Professor: Viola Vogel (HEST)

Apply here for the ETH Pioneer Fellowship Deep-Tech and Social Impact Incubation Program

Note: You can apply for both programs, but can only receive one fellowship. You must apply for each program individually.

For further information and questions contact

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