Two new startups join the USI Startup Centre incubation programme

On Monday, April 7, the sixth edition of the Incubation Kick-off Pitch took place at the Campus Est, featuring two projects: InVirtuoLabs and MethylX. The event aims to present innovative startup projects incubated at the USI Startup Centre to the academic community.

The Incubation Kick-off Pitch is an event that aims to introduce early-stage science-driven startups entering the two-year incubation programme offered by the USI Startup Centre to the academic and innovation community. During the event, founders present their project in a 10-minute pitch, followed by a Q&A session. This dynamic format encourages interaction paving the way for valuable connections and future collaborations with other startups, researchers, students, and stakeholders from the local innovative ecosystem. 

Each incubated startup receives an in-kind voucher worth 60,000 CHF that represents the total value of the services and support that the team will receive throughout the incubation period. The USI Startup Centre team offers a comprehensive programme that supports innovative startup projects originating from academia and includes structured coaching activities, specialised advisory from vertical experts, dedicated workshops, and assistance with grant applications and fundraising.

These are the two recently incubated startup projects that showcased their solutions during the sixth edition of the event:

• InVirtuoLabs – a startup founded by IDSIA researchers that provides an innovative platform for drug discovery by combining advanced machine learning techniques with physics-based simulations.
   
• MethylX – a startup originating from the IRB laboratories that is developing a first-in-class antibody therapy that specifically targets methylated ERG (mERG), a critical driver of prostate cancer growth and progression, offering a promising new approach for treatment.