The next stage of the Open Horizons journey has officially begun. After receiving 282 applications through Open Call #2 and completing the Inception Phase, 7 women-led deep-tech startups have now been selected to enter the Pilot Phase of the programme.
Pilot Phase marks one of the most important moments of the Open Horizons’ journey. Startups will work together with leading corporates for six months to demonstrate technical feasibility, business relevance, operational value, and future scalability within real operational and market-oriented contexts. Because innovation becomes truly valuable when it moves beyond concepts and starts responding to real industry needs.
The objective is to create meaningful collaboration opportunities that can support:
- future scale-up,
- commercial adoption,
- strategic partnerships,
- potential investment opportunities.
At the same time, Open Horizons will continue supporting startups through visibility, ecosystem connections, mentoring, and follow-on activities aimed at strengthening future growth opportunities.
The startups entering Pilot Phase
The selected startups work across sectors including AI, predictive systems, industrial optimisation, water resilience, sustainability, advanced computing, and food waste reduction.
Aixima GmbH
Challenge targeted: IoT-Driven Asset Integrity and Predictive Maintenance
Aixima GmbH develops validated, physics-informed digital twin solutions for asset integrity and predictive maintenance of safety-critical infrastructure. The company addresses the challenge that conventional monitoring and inspection methods detect damage too late and provide limited insight into underlying degradation mechanisms.
Aixima’s technology combines multiphysics modeling, real-time sensor data, and physics-informed AI to assess structural condition, predict failure risks, and support condition-based maintenance decisions. Its solutions are applied to pipeline and energy infrastructure, enabling earlier intervention, reduced downtime, improved safety, and extended asset lifetime.
Aixima works with industrial partners to translate scientifically validated models into deployable, regulator-ready decision-support tools.
More: https://aixima.de/
Sqwish
Challenge targeted: Deep Learning Models for Predictive Lead Generation and Market Insight in Real Estate
Most generative AI foundation models are optimised for technical metrics (e.g., accuracy), not business results. Sqwish bridges this gap. They provide an AI optimisation platform for software businesses building AI software that uses reinforcement learning to autonomously tune AI systems (parameters, prompts, models, context) based on their real-time business signals such as conversion rates and customer satisfaction. This ensures their AI improves continuously and delivers measurable Return on Investment (ROI).
They are a venture-backed team of 7, working with 5 design partners including Samsung and Aikido, and are poised to make generative AI a reliable driver of business growth.
More: https://sqwish.ai
GULSINE LTD
Challenge targeted: Advanced Wastewater Recovery for Circular and Resilient Industrial Water Use
Gulsine Ltd is a deep-tech company specialising in physics-based prediction of material ageing, degradation, and lifespan in safety- and performance-critical systems. The company addresses the widespread reliance on slow, trial-and-error qualification methods by replacing them with accelerated ageing science and physics-informed artificial intelligence.
Its flagship platform, A2P2-AI, enables predictive management of membranes and polymer-based components. In this way, they can help industries extend asset lifespan, reduce energy and material waste, and deploy more sustainable, circular solutions across healthcare, water treatment, and advanced manufacturing.
More: https://www.gulsineltd.com
Quantonite
Challenge targeted: Quantum-Accelerated Resolution of Linear Maxwell Equations for Electromagnetic Field Simulation
Quantonite develops quantum computing algorithms and applications for real-world use cases. It’s time to unleash quantum computing’s capabilities helping companies to stay relevant in 2030. Their solutions are hardware vendor agnostic. They have developed a proprietary API to access superconducting quantum computers from various vendors without a lock-in effect. They have a proven track record of developed and deployed quantum algorithms with MVPs ready for Quantum Monte Carlo Simulation and Quantum Principal Component Analysis.
More: https://www.quantonite.com
Smart Indicators
Challenge targeted: AI-Powered Food Waste Reduction System
Smart Indicators is a women-led deep-tech startup developing ultra-low-cost freshness indicators for food packaging and reusable meal-prep containers. Their patented-potential pigment chemistry reacts to biogenic amines produced during spoilage, changing color when food quality declines. A smartphone scan (computer-vision with a calibration reference) converts this color change into an objective “OK / Not OK” result, reducing subjectivity and enabling better stock rotation, discounting or donation decisions. They offer indicator prototypes, integration concepts for packaging/containers, and a pilot-ready scanning workflow for food businesses.
More: https://www.linkedin.com/company/94289433
Osborne Systems
Challenge targeted: Enhancing Energy Efficiency and Reducing Carbon Emissions in Refinery Operations
Osborne Systems is a deep-tech engineering software company developing AI-driven tools to automate and standardize the design of industrial measurement systems used in energy and process industries. Acting upstream during engineering phases, the platform embeds validated engineering rules, standards, and physical models into a structured digital workflow for EPCs and system integrators. This reduces errors, overdesign, and engineering rework while improving design consistency and predictability.
Beyond oil and gas, Osborne Systems is expanding its R&D toward low-carbon infrastructures, including CO₂ capture, transport, and storage, enabling reliable measurement and monitoring of avoided emissions.
More: https://www.osborne-systems.com
H+H Labs PSA
Challenge targeted: Advanced Wastewater Recovery for Circular and Resilient Industrial Water Use
H+H Labs is a climatetech startup founded in 2022 in Poland. They developed a water treatment method using hydrodynamic evaporation based on supercavitation. The technology treats any water source, uses up to 10 times less energy than traditional methods, and is designed for mobile, modular deployment.
Their mission is to deliver affordable, sustainable water treatment to industries and communities, while protecting water resources. Their product Hydratico helps clients comply with environmental regulations, reduce costs, and improve operational sustainability. They reached TRL 6 and are currently raising 1.5M EUR in pre-seed round.
More: https://www.hhlabs.tech/
These startups are now one step closer to bringing innovative technologies into real-world application: the journey from idea to impact continues.