The FIT awards loans and a grant to four Western Switzerland start-ups

The Foundation for Innovation and Technology has awarded three Tech Seed loans of CHF 100,000 each to EM Path, REMA and Verretex, and a CHF 20,000 Digital Grant to Polytax.

The Foundation for Innovation and Technology (FIT), based in Lausanne, has awarded support to four start-ups from Western Switzerland: three Tech Seed loans of CHF 100,000 each to EM Path, REMA and Verretex, and a CHF 20,000 Digital Grant to Polytax.

EM Path has developed a “camera for waves” that visualizes and measures electromagnetic fields between 100 and 10,000 times faster than existing methods. The technology reduces the need for large, costly anechoic chambers in antenna and radiofrequency testing, addressing bottlenecks in both research and mass production. The loan will help the company finalize its first demonstrator.

REMA designs electrolyzers for on-site green hydrogen production, allowing industrial users to produce hydrogen where it is consumed and reducing transport and logistics costs. Its latest stack design improves fluid management and scalability, with a commercial demonstrator capable of producing one kilogram of hydrogen per day. The funding will support team salaries and the scaling of its technology.

Verretex has developed a process to recover glass fiber waste from end-of-life composites without energy-intensive remelting. Its surface-regeneration method, combining cleaning, repair and chemical coating, transforms recovered glass fiber into high-performance nonwoven textiles for circular composites used in the automotive, marine, aerospace, sports and construction sectors. The loan will accelerate commercial and product development.

Polytax has built an AI-based platform that reads tax documents, interprets the data and applies cantonal and federal rules to generate a complete, optimized tax return in minutes. The Digital Grant will support user testing and the continued development of its platform.