CHF 1.3 million pre-seed funding for qCella to reshape product heating
Summary
qCella, an ETH Zurich spinoff developing customizable, paper-thin heating mats, has secured CHF 1.3 million in pre-seed funding. The mats can be easily cut into various shapes and sizes, allowing cost-effective integration into products such as heated car and airplane seats, car interiors, clothing, footwear, pain relief devices, and industrial machinery.The company has successfully closed its first funding round, raising CHF 1.3 million from several organizations and business angels, including Kick Foundation (Venture Kick), Kickfund, ETH Foundation, Swisspreneur Syndicate, Business Angels Switzerland, Aare Venture, Business Angel Club Kanton Aargau, and Winti Ventures. The co-founding team consists of CEO Murielle Schreck (PhD in Materials Science, ETH Zurich), CTO Fabian Schmid (MSc. in Materials Science, ETH Zurich), and COO Weyde Lin (PhD in Electrical Engineering, ETH Zurich).The funds will support scaling production of the copper-cellulose hybrid fibers, transitioning from batch to roll-to-roll paper-making with external partners, and integrating the heating technology into a customer product for testing by the end of 2025. Our investors have built teams, chaired boards, founded companies, and have deep experience in finance and marketing, said Murielle Schreck, CEO & Co-Founder of qCella AG.This new funding builds on previous grants from the Bridge Proof of Concept program (Innosuisse and SNSF), the ETH Pioneer Fellowship (ETH Foundation), and InnoBooster (Gebert R\xfcf Stiftung).