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. For merchants, Badger simplifies the management of loyalty programs while providing robust tools and analytics to cultivate and expand their community — all through a user-friendly, self-service app.
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.
Zlatko Joncev 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!
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.