The 2025 edition of the Boldbrain Startup Challenge, the acceleration programme for innovative ideas organised by Fondazione Agire with the support of the USI Startup Centre and the backing of the Department of Finance and Economy (DFE)of the canton of Ticino and BancaStato, concluded yesterday with the traditional awards ceremony. The event, which took place at the Palazzo dei Congressi in Lugano, welcomed over 600 people, including representatives from the worlds of politics, academia and business. A further 300 participants followed the evening via live streaming on Fondazione Agire’s digital channels.
The winning startups
CC Cardio – 1st Prize
Led by Maria Alexandra Cetățoiu, CC Cardio develops UniFlow, a minimally invasive heart pump for people with only one functioning ventricle. The device is an alternative to the existing invasive, temporary solutions, that not only restrict patients’ lives, but also require regular, serious operations. UniFlow supports and optimises circulation thanks to algorithms that adapt in real time to the heart’s rhythm. It offers continuous, intelligent physiological support, reducing complications and improving quality of life permanently. The first prize is worth CHF 40,000, in addition CC Cardio received a scholarship worth CHF 56,000 for the Executive Master in Business Administration at the University of Lugano, as well as other prizes.
MethyIX – 2nd and Audience Prize
Co-founded by Andrea Cavalli and Concetta Guerra, the project focusses on next-generation cancer therapies based on mini-antibodies capable of targeting transcription factors previously considered “undruggable”, exploiting a vulnerability discovered in their methylation. It is the first approach that makes these key players in metastatic cancer attackable, with a candidate (MX-1) already patented and promising preclinical results, paving the way for more effective and safer targeted treatments. MethylX receives CHF30k for winning the second prize and additional CHF10k for the audience award.
OOVIE Studios -3rd Prize
The company creates immersive video animations that combine music, cinema and artificial intelligence, restoring emotional depth to artistic performances and audience experiences. The films react in real time to the musicians’ performances or audience interaction, transforming each event into a unique, lively and unrepeatable work—a format already described as “unprecedented” by the Director of the Venice Film Festival. The third prize is worth CHF20k.
Tellus GreenTech – 4th Prize and desk at Tecnopolo
The team develops rapid and accessible diagnostic tests to allow farmers to detect diseases and stress in crops early on, so that timely intervention can minimise losses and reduce the use of pesticides. The continuous pathogen monitoring system analyses greenhouse drainage water. The team has been working with farmers since the beginning of development, and the first devices have been installed in greenhouses. The next step is now to complete an MVP. The start-up receives CHF10k for winning the fourth prize.
Windtracx – 5th Prize
Develops a wind propulsion system for ships based on an Aero Drone Kite: a rigid sail that flies at an altitude of several hundred meters and is managed completely autonomously by a drone, reducing consumption and environmental impact. Fully automated and safe technology with a patented design that allows fuel savings of up to 15% and finally makes wind propulsion scalable and integrable into commercial fleets. The fifth prize is worth CHF10k.
POWSH – desk at Tecnopolo
Powsh is a personal chat assistant that helps pet owners easily and efficiently manage appointments, treatments, therapies and information about their pet’s wellbeing. It integrates an AI engine developed with IDSIA, capable of understanding the user’s emotions, and combines practical support with a community rich in visual and educational content that transforms pet care into a guided, human and continuous experience.
SwissVeritas – desk at Tecnopolo
The goals of SwissVeritas is to develop a quality inspection platform for lifestyle and luxury brands, integrating plug-and-play control systems directly into factories to ensure consistent standards across all production sites. The system will enable small and medium-sized brands to remotely monitor manufacturing quality directly at the end of production lines. It combines hardware with AI, interactive dashboards and blockchain authentication to create a “single source of truth” on quality, reducing returns and disputes and ensuring global consistency with brand criteria.
Vocalhum – HemarGroup Prize
This technology gives back their voice to those who have lost it, transforming breath into words thanks to an algorithm that works in real time on any device with a microphone. It is a non-invasive, accessible and extremely intuitive solution that reconstructs a natural voice based on the user’s vocal identity, providing an immediate bridge between intention and language.
For the first year, Boldbrain also presented the new Press Start Award, established by the Corriere del Ticino Group for one of the finalists from the previous edition. Following a vote open to their readers, the startup Gota Energy, a finalist in 2024, won the coveted prize, which consists of communication services worth a total of CHF10k.
Christian Vitta, Director of the Department of Finance and Economy, emphasised in his speech: “Boldbrain is testament to the buzz surrounding start-ups – and innovation in general – in Ticino, the result of an ecosystem that we have built up over the years and which continues to grow and constantly renew itself. The results achieved by startups in our region – particularly in terms of investments raised – confirm that the measures put in place to encourage the creation and development of innovative businesses are successful. This dynamism helps to strengthen Ticino’s image, both nationally and internationally. It is a virtuous circle that also plays an important role in terms of our canton’s attractiveness to new companies and talent. ”
The new President of Fondazione Agire, Stefano Colombo, highlighted: ‘This edition confirms once again how much talent and innovative capacity there is in our region. The path offered by Boldbrain gives teams the tools, network and vision they need to transform an intuition into a credible and competitive project. Our commitment is to continue to strengthen the ecosystem and foster an environment where innovation is not the exception, but the rule.’
(Press release / SK)
Picture: Ti-Press / Samuel Golay
