An anti-burglary system called Kevin, a smart box that improves the energy efficiency of buildings and a tree planting service with growth monitoring – these are the projects of Fribourg start-ups Mitipi, yord and Almighty Tree, which have just joined our support program!
Mitipi: Kevin, home alone, puts burglars to flight. The Mitipi team took inspiration from a cult film to name their innovative anti-burglary device. “Kevin” is a small box the size of a Bluetooth speaker, capable of realistically simulating human presence in an empty house or apartment. It controls lights, creates shadows and plays music, as well as noises and conversations of all kinds that the user can personalize. Thanks to Kevin’s deterrent potential, Mitipi breaks new ground compared with conventional security systems by acting before a burglary occurs, before it’s too late. Believing that someone is at home, the thief will choose another target. Fri Up will support Mitipi in its market access, marketing and capital raising.
yord : Founded by four engineers from HEIA-FR, the start-up yord offers an innovative solution to the problem of over-consumption of energy in Swiss buildings. It takes the form of a box called “yox”. Using artificial intelligence, yox is able to optimally and autonomously regulate the heating, ventilation and air conditioning of private and public buildings. The algorithm developed by yord combines internal building measurements (temperature, humidity andCO2) with external data such as weather forecasts. Thanks to this data, yox understands the building’s thermal behavior, is operational from the very first day of installation, and delivers energy savings of up to 30% of normal consumption. Fri Up will provide yord with marketing and fundraising support.
Almighty Tree: As a result of climate change, Swiss forests are in distress. To help the Swiss ecosystem, former HEG-FR student Gilles Suard and his sister Aline founded Almighty Tree. Together, they offer private individuals and companies a personalized tree-planting service. The aim is to make tree planting accessible to everyone. To improve traceability and monitoring of the trees planted, Almighty Tree has also developed a “Tree Tracker” enabling planters to know the exact location and characteristics of the tree they are sponsoring. With over 7,000 trees already planted, 600 planters and 60 partner companies, the start-up is a great success. Fri Up will support Almighty Tree in its organization and acquisition of market share in German-speaking Switzerland.