Lausanne/Schlieren ZH – The Lausanne-based startup Voltiris has emerged as the winner of the Startup Champions Seed Night organized by Venture Lab, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne and partners. A total of 20 start-ups had put themselves forward for the vote. The decision was made between five young companies.
Voltiris has won the 12th Startup Champions Seed Night. In front of 500 spectators on site at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne(EPFL), the start-up, which is also based there, prevailed over 19 competitors who had also been invited.
The event was organized by startup supporter Venturelab from Schlieren, EPFL Alumni, the EPFL Vice Presidency for Innovation and Startup Launchpad, the support organization for founders at EPFL. According to a Venturelab release, the event celebrated the rising stars in the Swiss startup ecosystem.
Voltiris attaches solar panels over vegetable crops. The color-optimized solar panels spectrally filter sunlight and use only red and blue light for cultivation. The remaining light is concentrated on a photovoltaic module. The goal is dual land use for both cultivation and power generation.
Initially, Voltiris had entered the final round of the pitch competition by public voting together with four other start-ups: Cultivated Biosciences from Wädenswil ZH, Neology from Lutry VD, 2D Membranes and Openversum from Schlieren ZH. After another round of questions, the jury then decided in favor of Voltiris.
“It was incredibly fun to present our idea and experience the support of the audience and the jury,” said Voltiris CEO and co-founder Nicolas Weber on LinkedIn.“We are thrilled with the visibility and impact we are achieving.” ce/mm
