Meet 2024 Trailblazers

This EPFL-UNIL team, composed of Paolo Trifoni, Roberto Trivelli, Artur Mukhin, and Bruno Trivelli, has developed Badger, a game-changing digital engagement platform already present in numerous cities. It is a mobile-first digital loyalty platform designed for SMEs, focused on strengthening the bond between merchants and their customers. Badger enhances customer engagement by offering a seamless, gamified experience that makes earning rewards straightforward and satisfying.

Maxime Dargent and Julien Jeandroz are on a mission to change the way we consume by providing users with an innovative peer-to-peer rental app that addresses the gap disconnection between the widespread underuse of personal and household items, unnecessary consumption and waste, and the challenge people face in accessing objects they only need occasionally.

Claudia Bigoni’s innovative solution empowers stroke survivors to regain their independence through innovative non-invasive neurotechnologies and a personalized treatment strategy that translates brain signals into movement via muscle stimulation and a robotic glove.

Zlatko Jončev et Geemi Wellawatte are postdocs who brought together an extensive knowledge in Artificial Chemical Intelligence and joined forces to develop an AI-driven marketplace for synthetic chemistry aiming to revolutionize laboratory experimentation and accelerating the drug development, by optimizing the flow and reducing costs through cutting-edge technology and strategic partnerships.

Created by AI enthusiasts Étienne Boisson, Aymeric de Chillaz, and Antonin Faure, Deal’icious is transforming how we shop and cook. This powerful app brings together real-time supermarket deals, personalized recipe recommendations tailored to your food preferences, and optimized shopping lists. With Deal’icious, you can plan diverse meals in just 3 minutes, reduce food waste, and stick to your budget. Start your journey to smarter, more delicious meals!

Noe Zaabi and Ilan Varasteh have created a new way to apply AI to enhance the food ordering process and reduce costs for everyone in the chain, using LLM through WhatsApp. Provides a simple and less expensive alternative to delivery platforms to re-engage recurring customers.

Speaking foreign languages is an essential skill in our globalized world, but learning them with current methods requires a large investment of time and willpower. During their PhDs, Valentin Hartmann and Lars Klein have developed a radically new approach to learning that removes those barriers by embedding the learning into existing daily habits. Their first product is a browser extension that embeds pieces of the foreign language into text that users consume, allowing them to passively absorb new language elements.

In today’s fast-paced world, stay on top of what’s most relevant to you with Actualia. Created by Paul Madelénat, Florian Déjean, Jacopo Moretti and Ludovic Mermod, this groundbreaking app delivers highly personalized, timely, and trustworthy news summaries directly to your phone. Tailored to your interests and preferred sources, Actualia’s customizable news assistant ensures you’re always informed and never overwhelmed.

Drawing on their industry expertise, Chloe Albietz and Francois Carruzzo are transforming drug manufacturing with their state-of-the-art single-use bioreactor solutions. Engineered for modern biologics and cell therapy production, these innovative systems streamline and accelerate cell culture processes with advanced automation and a secure closed design—significantly reducing costs, contamination risks, and operational complexity.

Healium develops medtech solutions to simplify life for patients managing complex treatments. Run by Moncef Assa, Alexandre Duval, and Louis Grosse, its flagship product, Medicase, is a smart pill dispenser that addresses the challenges of chronic disease management by ensuring precise dosing at the right time.

Patients benefit from timely reminders, while a connected platform enables caregivers to monitor treatments remotely. Healium empowers patients, improves treatment adherence, and makes managing chronic conditions more efficient and stress-free.

Inlook.ai, managed by Simone Roznowicz and Davide Roznowicz, is a search engine designed to make public statistical data instantly accessible on a single platform. It blends search and visualization to provide seamless access to trusted data, offering customized results in a super easy-to-use, multilingual interface.

Decision-makers can simply type a query to receive interactive charts, tables, and sources for trends in seconds, eliminating the need for technical expertise and enabling faster, data-driven decisions.

Latte, led by Léo Wolf, provides students with a virtual environment to organize, collaborate, and study efficiently. It simplifies access and synchronization of deadlines and key information from unstructured sources, helping students prepare effectively by reviewing course materials and planning work individually or in teams.

Latte also fosters engagement by allowing students to ask questions and connect with peers. Designed by students for students, it addresses the need to streamline tasks and access critical details, ensuring learners can focus on what matters most: achieving their academic goals.

Take your training to the next level with the ultimate tool designed to make you the best athlete you can be!

Martina Mladenic, Iris Caligiuri and Neethu Kizhakkedom, combining expertise as a Track and Field coach, National Team athlete, and engineer, have joined forces to revolutionize sports performance with their cutting-edge WebApp.

This all-in-one platform seamlessly connects athletes’ data with their coaches, clubs, and federations, empowering athletes to break records and reach their full potential.

Ranova’s team, led by Valentin Garnier and Alex Gomes, helps hotels and restaurants turn reviews into opportunities for growth. Managing reviews is a major challenge for managers who often lack the time, tools, and strategies to act effectively.

Their AI-powered platform transforms customer feedback into actionable insights, automates personalized review responses, and identifies root issues to improve operations. It also tracks online reputation, analyzes competition, and generates executive summaries for upper management. With Ranova, businesses save time, enhance their reputation, and achieve a 20% increase in online ratings within two months, creating unforgettable experiences for their guests.

TheMeal is led by Berkant Kahraman, an EPFL student in Life Sciences with a deep passion for sports and food innovation, and Colas Gonin, an established chef and fitness aficionado.

Together, they have created a range of premium, healthy take-away meals specifically designed for sports enthusiasts seeking to enhance their performance and maintain a balanced lifestyle. Each meal is expertly crafted by the chef, using fresh, high-quality ingredients, with a strong emphasis on local sourcing and transparency.

These delicious, high-protein meals are tailored to meet the nutritional needs of active individuals and are conveniently available in key locations such as sports centers, offices, and convenience stores.