AssiStart: Indo-Swiss Assistive Technologies Week 2025

The Plan
The programme will take place over one week on-site in India between September and early October 2025. The exact dates will be announced soon. Prior to the on-site week, virtual sessions will be held to ensure a smooth experience and thorough preparation for the participants. The overall programme includes the following components:

Preparatory Activities:
- Engage in online modules and discussions with Swissnex coaches four to six weeks before the on-site visit to India.
- Develop clear milestones for an impactful engagement during the on-site week.
Orientation & Sector Immersion:
- Gain in-depth insights into India’s assistive technology landscape and market dynamics through group sessions and workshops.
Strategic Meetings:
- Participate in five to six tailored bilateral meetings with relevant actors in the field of assistive technology in India.
- Receive support through briefing and debriefing sessions with a Swissnex coach to fine-tune your approach.
Visibility:
- Present your innovations to around 400 ecosystem players at a dedicated conference in India.
Post-Visit Support:
- Receive 15 days of follow-up assistance to help you capitalise on the connections and opportunities created during the programme.

Why India?

Vast Market Potential: India’s growing population, particularly its ageing demographic, represents a significant market for assistive technologies. With over 26 million disabled individuals and a large percentage of elderly, the demand for innovative solutions is on the rise.
Diverse Needs: India’s vast diversity across socioeconomic classes, urban and rural populations and cultural contexts provides an environment to test and adapt assistive technologies for various user groups. This diversity allows Swiss startups to fine-tune their products for both Indian and global markets.
Government Support: The Government of India has highlighted inclusivity and accessibility as a focus area, launching 16 initiatives to empower persons with disabilities through assistive technology. The RPwD Act of 2016 also provides financial assistance to institutions for disability services, making India the ideal setting for Swiss startups looking for financial or policy-level support.
Innovation & Frugal Engineering: India has seen remarkable innovations in assistive technologies through companies like JaipurFoot and SmartCane, providing a foundation for collaborative development. Swiss startups can leverage India’s strength in frugal engineering, mass production, and market insights to scale their solutions affordably.
Collaborative Opportunities: Indian tech giants like Infosys, Wipro and Capgemini are increasingly adopting assistive technologies, especially in sectors such as healthcare, education, and manufacturing. Leveraging Swissnex in India’s network of Indian partners will open doors to new business models and provide the right environment for market testing and product refinement.

Who Can Apply

Startups headquartered in Switzerland and incorporated within the last five years are eligible to apply.

We encourage applications from early-stage to growth-stage startups that have developed a late-stage prototype and are ready for market validation.

Target Areas of Interest: We welcome applications from startups working on innovative solutions in the following areas:
- Mobility Aids (wheelchairs, prosthetics, etc.)
- Sensory Assistance (hearing, vision aids, etc.)
- Cognitive Aids (tools for mental health, learning disabilities, etc.)
- HealthTech Solutions for disabilities
- Communication and Accessibility Tools
- Technologies for Ageing Populations
- Inclusive Tech for Urban and Rural Settings
- AI-driven Assistive Devices
- IoT Solutions for Independence and Autonomy
Additional Considerations:
- Startups currently participating in the Innosuisse Coaching Program are strongly encouraged to apply.

To register your interest, fill out this form. The deadline is 31 May. For any questions or clarifications, please contact the Innovation team. Their details can be found below.

By participating in AssiStart: Indo-Swiss Assistive Technology Week 2025, Swiss startups can enhance their market presence, forge valuable partnerships with Indian industry leaders, and contribute to the global evolution of assistive technologies.

AssiStart: Indo-Swiss Assistive Technologies Week 2025 Startups

DAAV

DAAV, an assistive-tech startup that was born as a spin-off of Swiss Federal Technology Institute of Lausanne (EPFL). They work on enhancing airport mobility for passengers with reduced mobility. Their flagship product, DAAV-air, is an autonomous, omnidirectional robotic wheelchair equipped with AI-enabled navigation to maneuver through crowded environments with precision and ease without the need for human assistance. Their wheelchairs have various modes including ‘follow-me’, where the wheelchair uses sensors to automatically follow a companion (like a family member or airport staff) without needing manual control; ‘full autonomy’, where the wheelchair navigates entirely on its own—the passenger selects a destination (boarding gate, restroom) and the chair drives there safely, avoiding obstacles and crowds; ‘tele-operation’, where a remote operator (airport staff member) can guide the chair via a control system, if the user needs assistance or is in tricky environments. This allows passengers flexibility and independence while ensuring safety and comfort. Headquartered in Biel, Switzerland, DAAV offers its robotic wheelchair solution to airports and ground-handling firms through subscription-based plans.

Lighthouse

Lighthouse empowers visually impaired and blind individuals through their intuitive and stylish eyewear products. Their TAMI eyeframes are worn like regular glasses and discreetly scan for overhead and upper-body obstacles, areas that traditional mobility aids like white canes can miss, and alert the user via gentle haptic feedback. They don’t replace traditional mobility aids but rather complement them. The TAMI frames are lightweight, come in multiple unisex styles and colours and can even support prescription lenses.

Magnes

Magnes’s NUSHU smart shoes transform mobility in people with neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s Disease, multiple sclerosis (MS), dementia, and also in elderly individuals who are at risk of falling. Their shoes are wearable devices, embedded with sensors and AI algorithms that are able to perform clinical-grade gait analysis and provide real-time biofeedback. This means that if the system detects that a user’s walking pattern is unstable or irregular, the shoe will vibrate in a specific way to alert them to correct their step, slow down or shift balance without needed visual or auditory cues. The sensors monitor gait patterns continuously as patients go about daily activities and AI analyses the movement data for clinical insights and automatic reporting. Born as a spin-off of ETZ Zurich, Magnes’ shoes address pressing needs in neurological care.

DeepPsy

DeepPsy specialises in advancing personalised psychiatric treatment by offering clinicians a more objective and data-driven approach to mental healthcare as opposed to trial-and-error treatment selection that can be inefficient. Their algorithms analyse biological signals rather than relying on symptom-based guesswork in treating mental illnesses such as depression and other emerging neuropsychiatric conditions. They develop algorithms to process electroencephalography (EEG) and electrocardiography (ECG) data and extract biomarkers that correlate with patients’ likelihood of responding positively to various psychiatric treatments. Their science-backed reports help psychiatrists identify individualised responses early and choose treatments accordingly, thereby shortening time to effective care and enhancing outcomes for mental health patients.

Testimonials

The Market Validation Camp in India has been a great experience. The support and engagement of the Swissnex team has been very helpful in order to better shape our understanding of the Indian market. We have significantly improved our understanding of the insurance/regulatory environment in India as well as of our go-to market approach. We have established a series of leads and deal-flows in the insurance ecosystem and have become members of the Insurtech Association of India (IIA). We have also engaged with the regulatory body Insurance Regulation and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) as well as the National Insurance Association (NIA), and we plan to enter the Indian market with our parametric solution.

Thomas Krapf Riskwolf

As always, the Swissnex team is excellent at picking out the pain points for their startups and at helping address them. It is tremendously helpful that the team is ‘on-the-ground’ in the target markets and that their knowledge and networks are so extensive. India is a key spot in the world to improve preterm health, therefore the Market Validation Camp was very helpful to us as we got good leads from some investors and gained insights about the Indian healthcare system.

Alex Nitsch OxyPrem

The Market Validation Camp was a founding part of our plans in India. We extensively scouted and eventually connected with key industrial players including leading energy think tanks and policy influencers, getting their valuable feedback about validation of solutions deployment, which is now serving as the key factor for our market entry plans.

Dr. Saurabh Tembhurne SoHHytech SA

Partners

Contact

Rahul Kulshresth

Head of Innovation