Meet the six startups joining the i4Challenge 2025 accelerator program cohort

Colomba Link addresses the challenge of maintaining IoT infrastructure for manufacturing companies. By handling IoT device configuration and management, its customers can reduce their maintenance costs. 

Daes provides its customers with numerical simulations, allowing them to assess equipment and components virtually that can’t be easily tested physically, thereby saving them time and money. 

Hapster‘s digital ecosystem promotes the improvement of industrial performance by passing on the best practices of companies’ experts to their employees, thereby drastically reducing training time. 

Inveel provides technology for low-cost and high-speed production of extreme high-resolution printed electronics. Its primary customers are robotics companies for proximity sensors and robot gripper companies using its touch sensors, which benefit from Inveel’s advanced sensory skin technology, enhancing robots’ precision and safety. 

Manukai’s software makes the process of turning CAD designs for metal machining into machine instructions faster and more efficient. It significantly reduces wear of machining tools, and increases production speed and part quality. 

Shayp has developed an IoT-enabled SaaS platform that helps building managers to eliminate water leakages and related anomalies, and improve building water efficiency by up to 22%. 

As participants in the i4Challenge accelerator, these companies now have access to an extensive, highly individualized support package, including benefits such as: significant in-kind support; real-world market validation; networking and strategic partnership opportunities; advice from industry experts; visibility at key industry events; and much more. 

Are you interested in registering for next year’s i4Challenge? 

Whether you’re an individual with a groundbreaking idea, a startup poised for growth, or an SME ready to pivot, the i4Challenge can help you accelerate your journey. Please feel free to express your interest here and be notified when our 2025 competition opens. 

About the i4Challenge 

The i4Challenge is an initiative of the Industrial Transformation team of Basel Area Business & Innovation to foster regional economic growth and innovation. 

For startups, SMEs and individual innovators who want to bring their industry 4.0 project to market, the i4Challenge is a 6- to 18-month program that helps them make the next step towards that goal. 

We help entrepreneurs develop proofs of concept and define business models. We enable startups to develop and test their solutions in a secure environment. Finally, when projects are ready for the market, we help ventures connect and establish a successful collaboration with established companies that are looking for solutions like theirs. 

To date, the i4Challenge has supported 52 projects, unlocked CHF1.7m of in-kind benefits, and delivered over 1,000 hours of personalized coaching.