InVirtuoLabs wins Boldbrain 2024

Science-driven innovation that aims to address pressing issues across different industries, from drug discovery for rare diseases to energy and agriculture, dominates the seventh edition of the Ticino acceleration programme for early-stage startups. The 2024 winner, InVirtuoLabs, is building the next-generation laboratory for drug design, unleashing the potential of cutting-edge technologies to reduce the time and cost of new drug discovery.

The winners of the seventh edition of the Boldbrain Startup Challenge, an acceleration programme for innovative ideas organised by Fondazione Agire with the collaboration of USI Startup Centre and sponsored by the Department of Finance and Economy (DFE) of the Canton Ticino and BancaStato, selected by the national jury were announced on December 4th at the Palazzo dei Congressi in Lugano in front of more than 500 participants. The total value of the prize money this year amounts to CHF 110,000, complemented by numerous in-kind vouchers offered by the programme sponsors.

InVirtuolabs, the winning startup currently pre-incubated at USI Startup Centre, that develops an innovative platform for drug discovery for rare diseases by seamlessly integrating cutting-edge artificial intelligence with molecular simulations, received a cheque for CHF 40,000, a full scholarship of CHF 56,000 for USI EMBA and legal consultancy voucher worth CHF 5,000 from Bär & Karrer. The project is developed by an outstanding team composed of Gianvito Grasso (Biomedical engineer with PhD in Computational Science, IDSIA USI-SUPSI and researcher IDSIA USI-SUPSI), Stefano Muscat (Biomedical engineer with PhD in Informatics, IDSIA USI-SUPSI) and Sertac Yeltekin (experienced executive, investor, founder).

SynthEnergy, a startup that stems from the research conducted by Alessia Cesarini (PhD candidate, ETH and researcher, EMPA) and Ali Saadun (PhD, ETH and researcher, EMPA), who developed a technology to produce large quantities of environmentally friendly biogasoline from bioethanol, ranked second, winning CHF 30,000 and an additional CHF 10,000 by securing the Audience Award.

An USI spin-off GraphSight founded by Cesare Alippi (Professor, Faculty of Informatics, USI), Slobodan Lukovic (Senior Researcher Associate, USI and IDSIA USI-SUPSI and entrepreneur), Ivan Marisca (PhD candidate, IDSIA USI-SUPSI) and Stefano Imoscopi (Research collaborator, IDSIA USI-SUPSI) secured the third place with a cheque for CHF 20,000. The team developed a solution to provide electricity traders with accurate, scalable renewable energy production forecasts using advanced graph-based AI. The project started from a research collaboration between academia and an industry partner and then evolved into a startup. The team was supported by USI Transfer on IP-related matters and is currently incubated at the USI Startup Centre.

The fourth place, worth CHF 10,000, went to Deutelio, a startup developed by Francesco and Filippo Elio that exploits the nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium to produce thermal and electrical energy, developed by Francesco e Filippo Elio. Finally, the patented modular IoT device that deploys a protective net across a field in a matter of seconds developed by FarmAid brought Leonardo Moriggia, Roberto Rubini and their team 5th place and a cheque for CHF 10,000.

The top three winners also receive the opportunity to access the Swiss Economic Award and MassChallenge Switzerland as well as coaching vouchers offered by Connect Switzerland. Additionally, all finalists benefit from a voucher provided by the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property to carry out an initial assisted patent search and a premium annual membership offered by the Swiss Startup Association. Three projects, FarmAid, ReSportApp and SynthEnergy, received a desk for one year at Tecnopolo Ticino from Fondazione Agire. The special award offered by Hemargroup went to FarmAid.