Founded in 2020, TWIICE designs modular exoskeletons for the lower limbs that enable paralysed people to stand up and walk again. The Tech Seed loan from the Foundation for Technological Innovation (FIT) will allow the start-up to conduct the clinical trial for its exoskeleton leading to its commercialisation in 2023 in Europe, Canada, and the US.

CHF 100'000 to enable TWIICE restore paralysed people mobility

07.06.2022 15:25, Tracy Woodley
For the second consecutive year, the Venture Leaders Medtech will represent Swiss innovation in the United States. To select the 10 featured startups, a jury of professional investors and medtech experts reviewed 60 applications. These startups improve diagnostics, treatments, and well-being with innovative solutions that cover artificial intelligence, sensors, smart devices, and robotics. Allow us to introduce you to each of the Venture Leaders Medtech 2022 ahead of the June 2022 roadshow in Boston and Cambridge: Meet Tristan Vouga, the CEO and co-founder of TWIICE. Every year, 250,000 people suffer a spinal cord injury leading to permanent paraplegia. TWIICE is a modular and customizable exoskeleton for walking assistance that allows people with paraplegia to regain independence in their daily activities. The device was designed to meet a variety of pathologies, symptoms, morphologies, and needs. The startups mission is to reconnect people to their communities by giving them back their access to life. Name: Tristan Vouga
Job title: CEO and Co-founder of TWIICE
Number of employees: 8
First touchpoint with Venturelab: Academia-Industry Training program in Rio de Janeiro in 2016
Explain in one or two short sentences what your startup does and why. TWIICE has developed the most lightweight lower limb exoskeleton that enables people with complete paraplegia to stand up and walk again. Our mission is to help people reconnect with their community by giving them back their access to life. How and where did you come up with the idea for your startup? While studying at Duke University in the United States, I was working on a brain-controlled monkey exoskeleton. I realized how challenging and risky it was to install the thought-sensing implant into the brain. Thousands of electrodes needed to be installed for the monkey to be able to walk in the exoskeleton. Wanting to have a more pragmatic impact on people’s lives, I was inspired to develop an exoskeleton with a simpler design, which can be easily modified to meet the user’s needs. Besides, it has been my dream since childhood to work on wearable robotics and my first sketches date back to when I was 12. What do you expect from the Venture Leaders Medtech roadshow, and how will it help you achieve your vision? We aim to bring on board one U.S.-based VC who is active in the medtech field. Secondly, we hope to receive feedback from international and U.S. investors on our pitch deck and business plan. Finally, the roadshow will help us expand our network of fellow entrepreneurs working in similar deep-tech fields. Participating in the Venture Leaders program will allow us to grow beyond the European style and spirit of the company and tap into the American style of management, execution, and investment practices. We expect to increase our understanding of pitching and investor relations ahead of our Series A round closing in Q3 of 2023. What is one thing not many people know about you? I’m an acting instructor and perform in improvised musicals. Also, I played ice hockey and baseball as a teenager. What was your dream job when you were a child? Roboticist. Her, because it asks us to consider what humans really are. What is always in your fridge? Rum and Suze: Ruze. A phone number for the next pizza. The light at the end of the tunnel (hope)! How did you come up with the name of your startup? Julien came up with it. it represents the duality of the human and the robot, and the intricate physical and behavioral interaction. What is your favorite productivity hack/tool and why? Notion. It means everything to me, and it’s the one and only thing in my life that doesn’t crash. Where and when are you most productive? Between 7 PM and 9 PM and midnight and 4 AM. How and where do you clear your mind? Ironing, every morning. What is the most challenging aspect of being a founder? Being a founder comes with great responsibility. It’s not easy but I am honored to have the freedom to choose to be entrusted with responsibilities. What’s challenging is when people don’t understand that choice. What is the most rewarding aspect of being a founder? Being a founder is a blessing. I’m super humble and grateful for this opportunity. Building a trustworthy relationship and connection between the people making this possible is very rewarding. Also, seeing the impact of what you’re doing. Working towards a common goal, imagining a brighter future, and seeing the impact of what we’re doing is very much rewarding. What is the most important lesson you have learned as a founder? So many. First, not to have expectations— A lesson I taught myself well before I started my PhD. It has changed my life. Second, don’t fall in love with the solution, but rather fall in love with the problem. Thirdly, resilience and acceptance. I'm more able to cope with being disappointed and failing than I was before. What is your greatest professional failure, and what did you learn from it? For the sake of profit or hard skills, I have had to let people go from the team because we realized after recruitment that they weren’t a fit. Also, making compromises on culture during the recruitment process and not making compromises on hard skills: What I learned is that you should not compromise on your core values. It is my duty to find a strategy that would optimizing the recruiting process to find the best talents who are also aligned with the company’s values. What is the best advice you have ever received and from whom? Fall in love with the problem, not the solution. For more information and updates on TWIICE and the Venture Leaders Medtech 2022, follow #VLeadersMedtech on Twitter or on www.venture-leaders.ch/medtech . The Venture Leaders Medtech program is organized by Venturelab and supported by EPF Lausanne, ETH Zurich, Hansjörg Wyss, Helbling Technik, Kellerhals Carrard, Paul Scherrer Institut, Swissnex Boston, Canton of Vaud, Canton of Zurich, and Venture Leader alumnus Dominik Lysek. TWIICE SA: Powered exoskeletons for walking assistance
Every year, 250000 people suffer a spinal cord injury leading to permanent paraplegia. TWIICE is a modular and customizable exoskeleton for walking assistance that allows people with paraplegia to reg... Read more
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TWIICE: The Venture Leader Medtech creating powered exoskeletons for walking assistance

La 1ère édition du prix ODDO BHF YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS AWARDS récompense 5 start-ups prometteuses : PostExo, Twiice, Proteme, Rea Diagnostics, Broke and Abroad

Voici les 5 lauréats des ODDO BHF YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS AWARDS

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Swiss insurer Baloise has partnered with TWIICE, which specialises in the development of exoskeletons, to expand its mobility ecosystem. Under the tie-up, TWIICE will help the insurer to better integrate the mobility requirements of people with musculo-skeletal conditions. The exoskeletons developed by the start-up is a kind of external skeleton that allows people with conditions such as spinal cord injuries to stand up, walk and even climb stairs. According to Baloise, the technology developed by TWIICE aligns with the company’s sustainability strategy. The company added that it is taking this opportunity to promote a concept that makes the future of mobility more inclusive. Baloise Mobility unit head Patrick Wirth said: “We are looking forward to our collaboration with TWIICE, which restores mobility to people with musculo-skeletal conditions and thus makes a fundamental difference to their lives.”
Baloise supported TWIICE at the ‘cybathlon’ hosted by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, as part of its corporate social responsibility activities. This competition, which is participated by people with musculo-skeletal conditions, is said to host events that involve practical challenges encountered in everyday life. TWIICE co-founder Tristan Vouga said: “We are delighted about this new partnership with Baloise and look forward to a productive collaboration.”
The start-up is now planning to leverage its technical advances to design products for people whose mobility has been affected on account of old age. This is expected to help the company to expand its target group and thereby increase the added value it offers to the society.

Baloise teams up with TWIICE to expand mobility ecosystem

Twiice joins Baloise’s mobility ecosystem
The partnership between Baloise Group and Swiss startup Twiice will enable Baloise to better integrate the mobility needs of a specific target group, i.e. people with musculoskeletal conditions. Founded in 2016, Twiice specializes in ‘exoskeletons’, a type of external skeleton that enables people with conditions such as spinal cord injuries to stand up, walk and even climb stairs. “We are looking forward to our collaboration with Twiice, which restores mobility to people with musculo-skeletal conditions and thus makes a fundamental difference to their lives,” says Patrick Wirth, Head of the Mobility unit at Baloise. Over the coming months and years, Twiice is also planning to develop products for people whose mobility has deteriorated due to old age. Share this
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Twiice joins Baloise’s mobility ecosystem

Baloise Group (SWX: BALN) is an insurance company. It offers car insurance, household insurance, life insurance, and more. The company also provides pension solutions. It serves both private and corporate clients. The company was formerly known as Basler Versicherungs-Gesellschaft gegen Feuerschaden. It was founded in 1863 and is based in Basel, Switzerland.

Baloise Group

` We are delighted about this new partnership with Baloise and look forward to a productive collaboration , ' says Tristan Vouga , co-founder of TWIICE .

Bâloise : Baloise expands its Mobility ecosystem through a partnership with exoskeleton specialist TWIICE

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne

Duke University

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TWIICE develops customer-specific exoskeletons for walking assistance and rehabilitation of people with mobility issues. The company's goal is to give back to users the sensations and benefits of standing and walking, as well as help them regain some independence in their daily activities. It was founded in 2020 and is based in Renens, Switzerland.

Name	Tristan Vouga
Work History	Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, and Duke University
Title	Founder
Status	Current

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