CC Cardio wins the eighth edition

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The 2025 edition of the Boldbrain Startup Challenge concluded this evening with the traditional awards ceremony, which broke all records with over 850 entries.

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 national jury, chaired by Thomas Billeter of the national organisation SICTIC, evaluated the 10 finalist projects and selected the 5 winners, awarding prizes worth a total of CHF 174,000, as well as services and strategic consulting useful for the development of the projects. The audience in the hall was captivated by the MethylX project, which won the evening’s additional prize worth CHF 10,000. 

The first prize, worth CHF 40,000, was awarded to CC Cardio, who also received a scholarship worth CHF 56,000 for the Executive Master in Business Administration at the University of Lugano, as well as other prizes. The runner-up, MethyIX received a prize of CHF 30,000. The third-place winner, OOVIE Studios, received 20,000 CHF, while the fourth- and fifth-place projects, Tellus GreenTech and Windtrax, each received a prize of 10,000 CHF. In addition to the cash prizes, the winning teams benefit from numerous other prizes and opportunities to access other prestigious partner programmes, such as the Swiss Economic Award and MassChallenge Switzerland, programmes that offer growth paths dedicated to start-ups in the scale-up phase. 

Fondazione Agire will offer a desk for one year at the Tecnopolo Ticino co-working space at POWSH, SwissVeritas and Tellus GreenTech, while an additional special prize provided by HemarGroup was awarded to Vocalhum, which will now have the opportunity to develop or refine its prototype thanks to the company’s technical support.

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 10,000 Swiss francs.

Participation in this eighth Boldbrain Startup Challenge final took everyone by surprise, exceeding 860 entries and forcing the organisers to set up a waiting list. This extraordinary public success testifies to the interest of the public in innovative entrepreneurship and the quality of the programme, and positions the Boldbrain Award Ceremony among the most important events of the year at the cantonal level. 

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.’

The winning startups

CC Cardio – 1° Prize

Develops UniFlow, a minimally invasive heart pump for people with only one functioning ventricle. The device 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 permanently improving quality of life without resorting to invasive, temporary solutions.

MethyIX – 2° and Audience Prize

It develops 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 cancer attackable, with a candidate (MX-1) already patented and promising preclinical results, paving the way for more effective and safer targeted treatments.

OOVIE Studios -3° Prize

Create 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.

Tellus GreenTech – 4° Prize and desk at Tecnopolo

It develops rapid and accessible diagnostic tests to detect diseases and stress in crops early on, transforming greenhouse drainage water into a continuous pathogen monitoring system. Its USP is automated, passive, real-time screening that lets you know immediately if a plant is “about to get sick”, thereby increasing crop yield and quality and reducing pesticide use.

Windtracx – 5° Prize

Develops a wind propulsion system for ships based on an Aero Drone Kite: a rigid sail that flies at high altitude 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.

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 empathetic 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

It is 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. 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.