Meet 2024 Trailblazers VII

We’re delighted to present the 7th cohort of blaze, EPFL’s start-up accelerator.

This edition brings together seven innovative projects led by passionate student-entrepreneurs, targeting diverse fields such as digital loyalty (Badger), object rental (Bobi), neurotechnology for stroke survivors (Saisir), AI-driven synthetic chemistry (ChemPilot), culinary recommendations (Deal’icious), food order optimization (PayParrot) and passive language learning (Language Whisperer).

Find out more about them below!

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.

🛜 badgercards.ch

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.

🛜bobi-app.com

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 sont deux postdocs qui ont rassemblé des connaissances approfondies en intelligence chimique artificielle et qui ont uni leurs forces pour développer un marché de la chimie synthétique piloté par l’IA. Avec ChemPilot, ils visent à révolutionner l’expérimentation en laboratoire et à accélérer le développement de médicaments, en optimisant le flux et en réduisant les coûts grâce à une technologie de pointe et à des partenariats stratégiques.

ev and 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!

🛜 dealicious.ch

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.

🛜 language-whisperer.com