ETH Entrepreneurship

📍 New location, same great conversations!

Ask Me Anything ETH Zurich lunch series is back after summer break and we’re excited to welcome you to our new location!
Whether you’re curious about entrepreneurship, research, career opportunities, or what we’re building, this is your chance to ask questions, exchange ideas, and connect with our experts in a relaxed setting. 
Whether it’s your first time joining or you’ve been to previous sessions, we’d love to see you there.

🥪 Lunch is on us!
📍 New location: ETH Zurich, Andreasturm, 11th floor, Andreasstrasse 5, 8050 Zürich-Oerlikon, 2mns from the station
🗓️ Date & Time: Thursday, 10. September
12:00 - 13:30

Bring your curiosity, your questions, and your appetite. See you there!

Please register via link in bio
*Please note, this event is for ETH affiliated people only.

⚡️@ Start-up alumnus ZuriQ has secured a USD 25.5 million seed round to accelerate the development of its trapped-ion quantum processors. The funding will support team growth, expand research, and scale manufacturing of the company’s novel two-dimensional chip architecture.

ZuriQ has developed a native two-dimensional architecture based on Penning micro-traps, replacing the oscillating electric fields used in traditional designs with a static magnetic field. This allows ions to move freely across the chip without the junctions that typically create bottlenecks as systems grow.

The USD 25.5 million seed round was led by Quantonation, with participation from Forward.one, Extantia, Firgun Ventures, and all existing investors. It follows ZuriQ’s USD 4.2 million pre-seed round completed in January 2025, led by Founderful.

With the new funding, ZuriQ plans to expand its team, advance its research program, and increase chip production. The company aims to scale from today’s prototype to processors with hundreds of qubits in the near term and thousands over the longer term, bringing large-scale trapped-ion quantum computing closer to reality.

ETH Zurich spin-off Synhelion is a cleantech company that has developed a scalable and competitive technology for producing renewable synthetic drop-in fuels for aviation, shipping, and road transport.
Synhelion’s technology enables the production of near carbon-neutral fuels that are fully compatible with today’s global fuel infrastructure and conventional combustion engines. By enabling local fuel production, the technology also reduces dependence on imported fossil fuels while strengthening energy security and resilience. 🔋
 
Synhelion has been selected for funding under the “Produktives.NRW” program of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), supporting the construction of a commercial demonstration plant for renewable synthetic fuels at Brainergy Park in Jülich, Germany. The program draws on around EUR 90 million in EU funding from the Just Transition Fund, which is being distributed across nine selected projects supporting industrial innovation in the Rhenish region and the northern Ruhr area.

💡 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗴𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝘀𝗸 𝗠𝗲 𝗔𝗻𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 (𝗔𝗠𝗔) 𝗹𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵? 𝗗𝗲𝗲𝗽, 𝘂𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺-𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴.
 
Yesterday, our founders sat down with our Entrepreneurs in Residence to tackle some of the most pressing operational and strategic hurdles in scaling a business.
 
Here are the key takeaways and practical solutions from the discussion:
 
🌍 𝟭. 𝗡𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗻 & 𝗚𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗸𝘀
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲: Building hardware or sourcing components brings supply chain dependencies impacted by regional politics and labor dynamics.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Map out your production footprint and factor in geopolitical stability, local labor regulations, and where your core talent resides.

🎯 𝟮. 𝗦𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲: Staying in the research phase too long without market validation.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Secure a paying client as early as possible. Commercial validation is the ultimate proof of concept.

🚀 𝟯. 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲 & 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗚𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲: Pitching to massive clients requires highly cost-effective solutions.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Anchor your pitch on 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗢𝗜 and secure a few large-scale clients first.

📋 𝟰. 𝗧𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗱𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 & 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗛𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗹𝗲𝘀
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲: Administrative friction can stall momentum.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Leverage ecosystem networks to exchange contacts and shared experiences.

A huge thank you to everyone who joined, asked tough questions, and shared their expertise. There is immense value in having an open space where founders can exchange challenges and walk away with actionable strategies.

See you all at the next one in September after the summer break! ☀️🚀

🌟 Win a trip to Falling Walls Lab’s Global Finale in Berlin!

Are you an emerging talent, innovator, or visionary with a breakthrough idea?

Apply now for the chance to present your innovation on a global stage and join the Falling Walls Lab Global Finale in Berlin.

Falling Walls Foundation

Have you been dreaming of launching your own ETH spin-off? Do you have an innovative idea or ETH-based technology ready to make an impact? Your chance is here!

🗓️Join the Pioneer Fellowship Program and apply by September 1st, link in bio.

Applications are now open for feminno – entrepreneurship training and career
development program for female researchers!

💡 Do you have an innovative idea with the potential to make a real impact?

The feminno program supports aspiring female founders in transforming research-based ideas into entrepreneurial opportunities. You’ll become part of an inspiring network of ambitious women, gain valuable insights from experienced mentors, and develop the skills needed to take your venture to the next level.

What to expect:
- September 2026 – March 2027 (10 training days in total)
- Cohort of 20–25 aspiring female founders
- Application deadline: July 31, 2026

✨If you’ve been waiting for the right opportunity to explore entrepreneurship, this could be it. Take the next step, expand your network, and turn your ideas into action with the support of a strong community.

👋 Congratulations and a warm welcome to our seven newest ETH Zurich Pioneer Fellows!

With bold ideas and innovative technologies, these projects are pushing boundaries and bringing groundbreaking research one step closer to real-world impact. We are excited to support these talented entrepreneurs as they take the next steps on their entrepreneurship journey.

Meet our new Pioneer Fellows:
🫀Jasmin Rettkowski - ImmunoSTEM:
Preventing post-heart attack heart failure at its cellular origin.

💬 George Boateng (Social Impact Pioneer Fellow) - Lex Pro Se:
WhatsApp Al Agent with Lawyers in the Loop for Legal Services to Individuals & SMEs.

🧬 Michelle Keller - Pure-DEL:
Billion-Member Synthetic Macrocycle Discovery Platform.

🧠 Isaac Esteban Varela - SonoSight:
Towards safer brain ultrasound surgery.

🦴 Xiaoyu Du - RheoCarti:
Hydrogel-Articulated Hip Resurfacing Implant for Natural Joint Mechanics.

💊 Maja Wolleb - Tendon:
The first disease modifying drug for synovial tissue disease.

⚛️ Giovanni Finco - EnLIGHT Photonics:
Integrated photonics for a future quantum internet.

Recently, The Quantum Insider featured an episode of the podcast exploring the question: How do you build a quantum startup? 🤔

As part of the episode, Kai, The Quantum Kid, visited ETH Zurich together with his mother, and interviewed the team at ZuriQ about what it takes to turn cutting-edge quantum research into a company. The first part of the episode offers a look at ZuriQ’s approach and the challenges of building a quantum computing start-up in Europe.

🔬The chemical industry is involved in virtually every product we use in daily life, yet it is responsible for around 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions. ETH Zurich Pioneer Fellow Ronja Rappold wants to change that.

Together with her team, she is developing microorganisms that convert CO₂-derived methanol into valuable chemicals. Instead of treating CO₂ as waste, Teno Bioworks uses it as a resource. The key innovation is using green methanol as an intermediate step: unlike gaseous CO₂, methanol can be easily stored, transported and precisely dosed, making it an ideal feedstock for the bacteria.

By reprogramming the metabolism of an industrially established bacterium, the team has created a bacterial factory capable of producing building blocks for cosmetics, insulation materials and sustainable plastics.♻️

The long-term goal is clear: to make chemical production independent of fossil raw materials while protecting biodiversity, land and water resources.