DIZH Founder Call: Four ZHAW Projects Successful
The Digitalization Initiative DIZH is funding eleven projects from Zurich's higher education institutions that aim to establish a start-up or spin-off. Four ZHAW projects have been approved, ranging from interventions for cognitive impairments to AI-based learning assistants.
The second Founder Call in the innovation program supports early start-up ideas with start-up financing. This enables potential founders to demonstrate that their conceptually developed projects are feasible in practice. Funding is provided during the incubation phase, during which questions of technical and economic feasibility are validated. The selected project ideas were presented at a pitch final in front of juries consisting of members of the innovation panel and experts from the Zurich and Swiss start-up scene.
The approved projects are characterised by their innovative strength and their contribution to digital transformation. Funding amounts to a maximum of CHF 75,000 per project for a period of up to 12 months. During this time, the teams develop a proof of concept, laying the foundation for the establishment of their start-up or spin-off.
The project teams develop digital solutions in the field of health and medicine, education, business and digital services.
Four of the projects are being carried out by ZHAW teams:
MemoBox – Digital reminiscence therapy in everyday life
People with early cognitive impairment lose access to biographical memories that promote their well-being. MemoBox links physical objects to personal stories via camera and voice dialogue, enabling autonomous reminiscence therapy that also relieves the burden on relatives.
https://www.dizh.uzh.ch/memobox/
SteppingStone – Job-specific communication training
Language barriers hinder integration in the workplace and exacerbate the shortage of skilled workers. The mobile app provides targeted training in communication skills for specific professional and everyday situations, thereby promoting faster integration.
https://www.dizh.uzh.ch/steppingstone/
MentorMate – Mentor-based AI for Teaching and Education
Personalised tutoring is effective but resource-intensive and not scalable for many schools and universities. MentorMate is a GDPR-compliant assistant with learning analytics that enables scalable, personalised tutoring at low cost.
https://www.dizh.uzh.ch/mentormate/
Custom Swiss Index AI – Platform for creating customised stock indices
A platform for small asset managers and private investors enables them to design dynamic, tailor-made indices with full control over the components, thereby closing a structural gap in the Swiss market.
https://www.dizh.uzh.ch/custom-swiss-index-ai/
All projects at a glance: Eleven projects approved in the second Founder Call - DIZH
Digitalisierungsinitiative der Zürcher Hochschulen (DIZH)
The mission of Digitalization Initiative of the Zurich Higher Education Institutions (DIZH) is to promote cooperation on digitalization issues between higher education institutions in Zurich, thereby strengthening the greater Zurich area as a hub for research and business. The University of Zurich (UZH), Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) and Zurich University of Teacher Education (PHZH) are part of the DIZH network, which aims to advance research and innovation on digitalization by using interdisciplinary approaches.
DIZH’s innovation program is one of the initiative’s core components.