EarlySight: The Venture Leader Medtech providing imaging for early signs of retinal diseases years ahead of standard practice

30.05.2022 10:00, 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 Mathieu Kunzi, the CTO of EarlySight.

EarlySight is an EPFL spin-off that has developed a novel ophthalmic camera to help doctors detect and monitor eye diseases at early stage. About 25% of people over 60 years of age in industrialized countries are affected by eye diseases. Most of these diseases (e.g., AMD, glaucoma) begin with the degeneration of the eye retina cellular structure, which is invisible in currently available examinations. Consequently, the diagnosis and treatment of retinal diseases often comes too late. EarlySight’s proprietary eye imaging technology allows for the close observation of the tissue degeneration process that is associated with eye diseases, thus detecting its evolution, enabling early diagnosis and precise monitoring, and allowing for better treatments.

Name: Mathieu Kunzi 
Location: Geneva, Switzerland 
Nationality: Swiss 
Graduated from: EPFL, Master of Science (2016) 
Job title: CTO of EarlySight
Number of employees: 7 
Money raised: CHF 3 million 
First touchpoint with Venturelab: Business Creation Medtech course in 2019 


Explain in one or two short sentences what your startup does and why. 
EarlySight aims to reduce vision loss by enabling the efficient detection and better monitoring of eye diseases. Our company develops a high-performance eye imaging instrument that empowers doctors to see the first impacts of disease.

How and where did you come up with the idea for your startup? 
It started in 2016 with a discussion between Timothé Laforest, who was a post-doc at EPFL at this time, and Francine Behar-Cohen, the former head of research at Lausanne Eye Hospital. Both are now co-founders of the startup. They wanted to explore new ways of imaging the eye. The idea was that sending light through the white part of the eye could help visualize tissue structures affected by diseases that were invisible to existing examination tools. After developing a prototype and getting first results, we presented our findings to the research community. We were met with an enthusiastic response, and doctors told us that there was high potential for such a tool in clinical use. This convinced us to create the startup. 

What do you expect from the Venture Leaders roadshow, and how will it help you achieve your vision? 
The Venture Leaders roadshow is a great opportunity to develop our skills in presenting what we are doing and the problem that we are solving. Being exposed to the U.S. startup and investor scene will help us develop our understanding of the U.S. market, which is the largest market for new medtech technologies. We hope to get in touch with several stakeholders and find business partners. Beyond investors, we are also looking for clinical development, manufacturing, and distribution partners in the U.S. Expanding our network in the United States could have a real impact and reduce the time it takes for our product to benefit patients and reduce vision loss. 

What is your favorite book and why? 
A Walk in the Sky (original title: La marche dans le ciel) by Alexandre Poussin and Sylvain Tesson. The book describes their 5000 km crossing of the Himalayan mountains on foot using minimal equipment. It combines my biggest passions: natural environments, spectacular mountain scenery, and athletic challenges. 

What is always in your fridge? 
Cenovis. It is a salty paste made from yeast extract that is spread with butter on a slice of bread for breakfast. This iconic product is only found in Switzerland, and people either love it or hate it. 

What are you most proud of? 
Being the father of a five-month-old son. It is unbelievable how much a child can bring joy and blissful feelings to those around him. 

How and where do you clear your mind? 
The best way for me to clear my mind is to go out for a run. I love the simplicity of running and the peace it brings afterwards. I will run anywhere but I try to avoid paved roads and look for trails instead. 

What is the most challenging aspect of being a founder? 
Organizing and prioritizing tasks. There is always so much to do, and it is important not to forget the big picture while executing daily tasks. Anticipation is key to being as efficient as possible. 

What is the most rewarding aspect of being a founder? 
Seeing your initial idea and vision turning into a real company with people believing in it. 

For more information and updates on EarlySight 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.