On 15 April 2020 seven EIC-backed innovators had the chance to show their COVID-19 solutions during a dedicated EIC ePitching session with Investors. This session was hosted after the overwhelming attention and innovative solutions that were being proposed in the EIC Community.
Cellply, EpiEndo Pharmacauticals, EpiGuard, OTR3 , Respinova Ltd. , Smart Separations and SwissDeCode each had 11 minutes to showcase their ideas: 6 minutes of pitching followed by 5 minutes of Q&A by the jury members consisting out of representatives from Clinical Research Ventures, Diffusion Capital Partners, the European Investment Bank, Idacapital, Illumina Ventures, and Panakes Partners. At the end of the session the participants had the opportunity to vote for the SME with the most convincing solution and pitch. Smart Separations, represented by its CEO Hugo Macedo, was crowned as winner.
The Smart Separations team is driven by a core mission: to improve quality of life through innovation. Under the motto ‘Prevention is better than the cure’, the team have developed ViraTeq™ a nanotechnology-based filter, which destroys viruses, bacteria and mould. This is a perfect combination to their ceramic filters, which is presented as a more effective alternative to HEPA filters. Both of these areas address Air and Surfaces, two of the main ways that Coronavirus spreads.
“Our team at Smart Separations has been focused on preventing the spread of Coronavirus. Our ceramic filters and antimicrobial coating destroys viruses on surfaces and in the air. It’s an absolute game changer as it’s a key piece of the jigsaw for the exit strategy from COVID-19, which we hope will help people living in multiple countries have the confidence to come out of lockdown. We’re actively in communication with different governments on rapid deployment.”
Hugo Macedo
We have created easy to deploy coated stickers that fix to hundreds of surfaces where Coronavirus is commonly present (supermarket packaging, hospital door panels, ATMs, etc). Our ViraTeq™ and ceramic filters are being used to help create PPE, masks and gloves that destroy SARS-CoV-2 on contact, enabling a reusable and far superior solution where so many in health systems are facing a shortage in access to PPE.
Additionally, for everyday use, in public transportation, offices or nursing homes, our coated gloves, masks and Smart Air Filters can inactivate viruses on contact.” Alongside these existing solutions, a wide range of manufacturing partners want our ViraTeq™ filter technology for their own products; from mobile phone covers, to supermarket trolleys and doctor surgery check in screens. We are working with manufacturers on a complete range of different solutions that are being developed, with the benefits and market opportunities stretching far beyond COVID-19.’
Arguably the second most important solution ahead of the vaccine, Smart Separations are looking for further commercial & manufacturing partners alongside the necessary political support to help bring these solutions to the frontline in the combined fight against Coronavirus. Further announcements to follow.
The EIC ePitches with Investors are a great opportunity for Hugo and Smart Separations to put themselves in front of a large group of investors. Hugo: “These events offer us the opportunity to quickly get the word out there and to form critical partnerships to enable us to scale. As well as manufacturing partners and political support, we urgently need the right financial partners to help us scale fast and meet all the demands where our technology is desperately needed.” Being crowned winner was the cherry on the cake: “I didn’t go into the event expecting to be awarded with best pitch. I didn’t have much time to give it thought. But, yes that exceeded my expectations. The challenge now is how quickly we can bring these solutions to those who need it most.”
