Zurich, Switzerland — October 20, 2017. CyanoGuard enters the exclusive list of innovative SMEs selected for funding within Horizon 2020, the “biggest EU Research and Innovation Programme ever.” The company was selected for funding under Phase 1 of the SME Instrument, which finances feasibility studies for potentially disruptive new products.
“This award is a game changer for our company” said Benedikt Kirchgässler, CyanoGuard’s founder and Managing Director. “To be recognised by the European Union as an innovative player in our continent’s food and water safety is a huge achievement for us, especially since we are a very young company,” he added. “It is an honour to be part of the small list of Swiss companies that have received funding from this instrument. We are coming a step closer to our vision of a world where fast and simple pollutant detection is available to everyone,” he said.
The funds will be used to study how CyanoGuard’s CyanoKit® tackles societal challenges related to climate change, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials, with close attention to food and water safety. In 2015, less than 10% of all the proposals submitted to the European Commission under Phase 1 received funding.
Last year, CyanoGuard’s innovative technology won the second prize during the Royal Chemical Society’s Emerging Technologies Competition in London and an interest free loan from the Volkswirtschaft-Stiftung. The company recently closed its seed funding round and is a 2017 W.A. De Vigier Nominee.
CyanoGuard AG is a chemical technology company based in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in August 2016 as a spinoff from the University of Zurich, the company develops new testing methods to improve food and water safety, environmental monitoring and emergency healthcare globally. CyanoGuard’s first commercial product, CyanoKit®, enables everyone to detect cyanide in any setting at any time. Following successful partnerships with early adopters from the mining, electroplating and chemical industries, CyanoKit® will be formally launched during the fourth quarter of 2017.
Contact person:
Jealemy Galindo
jealemy at cyanoguard.ch
