ETH spin-offs shine at Swiss Technology Award

The Swiss Technology Award has been presented for the 32nd time. The prize, which is awarded by the Swiss Economic Forum, aims to promote a culture of innovation within Switzerland and serves as recognition for exceptional firms in the three categories of Innovation Leaders, Start-ups and Inventors.

In the category of Innovation Leaders, the company HeiQ from Schlieren in the canton of Zurich emerged victorious this year. The spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH) specializes in technologies for textiles. For example, the company has developed a technology that protects textiles against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which is responsible for the disease COVID-19. HeiQ has been working with a series of partner firms in order to treat face masks and personal protective equipment (PPE) for doctors with the new antiviral protection.

In the category of Start-ups, another ETH spin-off in the form of Hemotune was named as the winner. The company has developed a medical device for blood purification that combines the most recent scientific findings from the worlds of biomedicine and nanotechnology. The device is much more precise and efficient than previous methods, according to information from the company itself. It has primarily been designed for use in blood poisoning treatments. Back in August, Hemotune successfully raised a total of 5.1 million Swiss francs in fresh capital as part of a financing round.

In the category of Inventors, the winning firm was a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), namely Bloom Biorenewables. Bloom is working to develop a technology that will allow biomass to be used as an alternative to petroleum-based products in chemical manufacturing processes.