Impli: the first biosensor for monitoring fertility hormones
Globally, one in six people experience infertility during their lifetime. When this infertility requires IVF treatment, women undergo between 5 and 15 blood tests per cycle to determine their hormone levels. This invasive and time-consuming process enables clinicians to determine the appropriate treatment.
The innovation developed by Impli offers a non-invasive alternative to this protocol. The implantable biosensor – the first of its kind – integrates aptamer-based sensors that offer high specificity at low concentrations. The platform, which is directly connected to the sensors, enables continuous, real-time monitoring and tracking of the hormones essential for successful IVF (oestradiol, luteinising hormone and progesterone). This innovation paves the way for safer, more standardised and more effective IVF protocols.
Having now secured a Tech Seed loan of CHF 100,000 from FIT, Impli will be able to hire a scientist in Switzerland to accelerate the validation of the sensors in vivo and finalise ISO-compliant manufacturing for preclinical trials. The loan will also cover intellectual property filings.
DiploTools and its ‘digital toolbox’ aimed at optimising the efficiency of foreign ministries
Unfamiliar with digital tools, the vast majority of diplomats use archaic tools (Excel spreadsheets, paper archives, WhatsApp messages and scattered emails) that multiply tasks and slow down their work considerably.
To optimise this, DiploTools is developing a suite of tools based on artificial intelligence and tailored to the specific needs of diplomats. The first, PowerElection, is a CRM specially designed to manage elections within the United Nations system, enabling foreign ministries to effectively plan, monitor and coordinate diplomatic campaigns. The second, PowerTranscript, is a reporting tool that provides AI-generated transcripts and summaries of UN meetings, customised according to user-defined templates. Directly accessible from a platform, the data is centralised and can be retrieved very easily and quickly. As a result, diplomats save between 40 and 60 per cent of their time.
The CHF 50,000 Digital Seed loan provided by FIT will be used by DiploTools to cover the costs associated with the technological development of its solution, strengthen the organisation of the company and ensure brand protection, as well as to support customer acquisition to continue growing.
Hafnova: proactively rethinking cybersecurity
Today, 91% of cyberattacks use phishing to target users directly, and more than half of cyberattacks originate from trusted providers. Moreover, it takes an average of 207 days before a breach caused by a cyberattack is discovered.
To address these challenges, IT security needs to be reinvented. Hafnova has developed a European cybersecurity solution focused on protecting users in real time against external threats such as phishing, identity theft and attacks generated by artificial intelligence. Unlike traditional cybersecurity solutions, which focus on internal networks and act reactively rather than proactively , Hafnova's innovation is based on a tool that acts externally, an intelligence platform that uses artificial intelligence to update itself every minute to detect potential threats in real time and on all devices before they reach users. In just a few minutes, the tool prevents access to compromised internet addresses and blocks threats.
The FIT's CHF 50,000 Digital Seed loan will support the technical industrialisation, development and deployment of the tool among Hafnova's first partners, as well as helping to bring Hafnova to a commercial level on a European scale.