Building Their Own Companies With Timber and Robots

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ETH Zurich can once again look back on a successful year of spin-offs: as in 2015, a total of 25 new companies were incorporated in 2016. This is thus the tenth time in a row that over 20 spin-offs have been founded at ETH in a single year – a unique achievement in Switzerland’s higher education landscape. Furthermore, ten of the newly founded ETH spin-offs were created through the Pioneer Fellowship programme.

For Detlef Günther, Vice President Research and Corporate Relations, the consistently high number serves as proof that ETH Zurich is following the right path by providing support to students from an early stage. “A university’s greatest achievement is to help young people put their ideas into practice. We have students who, as Pioneer Fellows in 2016, have already founded a company after the course of their Master’s degrees. This takes conviction, commitment and courage, as the path to success can be a long one,” says Günther.

The topical focus of the 25 new spin-offs reflects the entire breadth of research at ETH Zurich. With eight new companies, the field of information and communications technology is once again well represented. There was also a welcome increase in the field of mechanical engineering, where no fewer than six new spin-offs were founded – twice as many as in the previous year. In the field of biotechnology, four spin-offs were founded, matching the figure for 2015.

From research project to new company 

Among the newly founded spin-offs, two companies offer solutions in the field of timber engineering. This is not by chance; on the contrary, the startup Swiss Timber Solutions emerged from the House of Natural Resources project. This unique building, owned by ETH Zurich, is used for testing innovative technologies and new structural parts made from Swiss hardwood. The spin-off deals with questions relating to the fire protection, structural design and maintenance of timber structures. The second spin-off, Swiss Wood Solutions, develops and markets high-quality timber products around the world. For Detlef Günther, these are impressive examples that demonstrate how knowledge transfer works at ETH Zurich: “When we inaugurated the House of Natural Resources a year ago, we were fascinated by the possibilities that our researchers discovered in timber construction. Now, these findings are already leading to the establishment of new companies.”

Robotics is another stand-out area among last year’s new startups. With the companies Aerotainment Labs, ANYbotics and Wingtra, renowned walking and flying robots from ETH are poised to make the leap into independence. These robots vary widely and can be used for inspection tasks on difficult terrain, for monitoring tasks in the agricultural sector, or even for animation and entertainment.