xista science ventures

Qwen3.5-9B, 82% smaller and still capable. The core question in LLM compression is simple: how far can you compress it before the model becomes useless? Our answer is called OraQuant. The idea is intuitive: not every part of a model deserves the same resources. OraQuant finds where the "intelligence" actually lives and spends its budget there: generous where it counts, frugal where it doesn't. We shrank Qwen3.5-9B from ~18GB to 3.2GB and compared it to the best quantized open-source models. The smaller we went, the further ahead our smart bit allocation stack pulled: at the tiniest size, ours scored 40 on AIME-25 while the competition scored a flat 0. Compression isn't about size. It's about knowing what to keep and what to throw away. At Ora, we're pushing that boundary: making models smaller without sacrificing capabilities. Links to the blog post and models are in the comments! #AI #MachineLearning #OpenSource #LLM

𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰! In a busy quarter, XISTA opened its third spin-out building, made its 30th investment and crossed the EUR 300mln mark of total capital raised for our portfolio. Read all about it in our latest newsletter. Newsletter Link: https://lnkd.in/degB6Q9c #XISTA #ScienceVentures #DeepTech #InnovationEcosystem #VentureCapital #Scaling

𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐗𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐀 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐑𝐢𝐯𝐮𝐬 𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 Rivus Batteries has closed a EUR 2 million seed round to accelerate customer pilots and scale up electrolyte production, with new investments from Turbine Capital and Almi Invest GreenTech, alongside continued support from existing investors including XISTA Science Ventures. This is complemented by an additional EUR 2 million in non-dilutive grants. Rivus has developed a proprietary organic electrolyte chemistry that stores more energy while working with existing flow battery hardware, making energy storage solutions cheaper, easier to manufacture, and faster to deploy. As Europe expands renewable energy capacity, the need for large-scale energy storage solutions that reduce reliance on critical minerals and strengthen energy security is becoming increasingly urgent. At XISTA Science Ventures, we are proud to support Rivus Batteries as part of our portfolio and to see its technology gaining growing recognition globally. A special thanks to Alexander Schwartz for driving this investment forward.

𝐄𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐋𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 €4 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐞-𝐒𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐑𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 New XISTA Science Ventures portfolio company Epitome Therapeutics, a biotechnology company advancing precision epigenome editing, launched today with total funding of €4 million. The funding includes an oversubscribed €2M pre-seed round co-led by XISTA Science Ventures and caesar. Ventures, with participation from NAVEC Investment Management, alongside €2M in non-dilutive grant funding from Austria Wirtschaftsservice and FFG Austrian Research Promotion Agency. The spin-off from EMBL was co-founded by Guido Gualdoni, MD, PhD and Jamie Hackett, implementing a radically new approach to treating genetic and complex diseases using their platform, CADENCE, which is designed to precisely regulate gene activity without altering the underlying DNA sequence. We were impressed by the breakthrough nature of Epitome Therapeutics’ approach to epigenome editing, especially its focus on targeted upregulation, and by the team’s ambition to translate this science into therapeutically relevant programs. A special thanks to Alexander Schwartz for driving this investment forward.

Ora computing raises €3.5M seed round to build 𝗔𝗜 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲. Congrats to our portfolio company, Ora Computing for closing a €3.5Millions Seed round with Constructor Capital and Greencode Ventures co-leading the round and continued backing from foundational investor XISTA Science Ventures. Founded by physicists Dr. Stefan Sack and Dr. Raimel A. Medina, Ora Computing applies quantum–inspired methodologies to drastically compress AI models.  🔸 Their proprietary algorithms enable compression of frontier-scale models by more than 80% and optimization for specific deployment scenarios and hardware.  🔸 This enables enterprises to deploy state-of-the-art models efficiently across both edge and cloud environments, unlocking new levels of scalability, speed, and cost-effectiveness. Ora Computing’s long-term vision is to build a fully automated platform that compresses, deploys, and optimises AI models, making high-performance, edge-ready AI scalable and accessible across industries. Proud to partner with Dr. Stefan Sack and Dr Raimel Alberto Medina Ramos and special thanks to Annu Gmeiner for driving this investment forward!

𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐗𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐀 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐝 €6 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. We are thrilled to welcome CollimateHealth to the XISTA portfolio! The pioneering life sciences startup has officially closed an oversubscribed €6 million seed financing round, supported by life science investors XISTA Science Ventures, VP Venture Partners, Positron, HTGF | High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) and caesar. The teams goal: To radically redefine cancer treatment with their microbeam radiation therapy. For that, the team has developed a clinically scalable microbeam radiation therapy that relies on bundled, ultra-narrow, high-dose beams. Their innovation: 🔸 Targets cancerous cells with a footprint of less than 10 square metres. 🔸 Triggers the body’s own immune system to fight and potentially cure previously untreatable tumors. 🔸 Radically minimizes the devastating side effects typically associated with traditional radiation. The €6 million seed financing will be used to build the first clinical prototype and generate preclinical data intended to pave the way through future regulatory approval processes. At XISTA, we invest in world-class, cutting-edge science paired with the raw ambition needed to build global deep-tech powerhouses. CollimateHealth embodies this entirely, with the potential to transform the lives of millions of patients worldwide. We are excited to back this team in the next stage of its journey. A special thanks to Stephan Huber for driving this investment forward. #DeepTech #LifeSciences #VentureCapital #Biotech #CancerResearch #Innovation #XISTAScienceVentures

𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞-𝐋𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐋𝐚𝐛𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬 €1.5 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐞-𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨-𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 XISTA Science Ventures 𝐚𝐧𝐝 aws Gründungsfonds, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 Fund F 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐳𝐞𝐫. With their flagship product, EMILIE™, the deep-tech Technische Universität Wien spin-off Invisible-Light Labs GmbH addresses the gap between the increasing importance of ultrafine particles and the struggle of conventional analytical methods to chemically characterize such materials with a new generation of highly sensitive and easy-to-use tools. This marks an important step forward in supporting the development of new products for environmental monitoring, pharmaceutical analysis, and nanotechnology applications. We have been deeply impressed by how the founding team of ILL has translated strong scientific insight into an exceptional technology and product, achieving a result that speaks to the team’s capabilities, focus, and drive. We are excited to support ILL in the next stage of its journey and a special thanks to Alexander Schwartz for driving this investment forward. Full announcement link pinned in the comments below. @Romana Maalouf Photography

𝐗𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐀 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐜𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 4𝐃𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐋𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝. This week, 4DMedical, a global leader in advanced respiratory imaging, announced the signing of a binding agreement to acquire contextflow, the Austria-based category leader in AI-driven lung cancer detection and radiology workflow solutions. With this acquisition, the Melbourne-based medtech giant 4DMedical will bring contextflow’s technologies to radiology and respiratory care in the US and Australia, while accelerating its global expansion into Europe. Over the last decade, contextflow has built a reputation for quality and efficiency in AI-driven lung cancer detection. As one of XISTA's earliest investments, they have consistently demonstrated the scientific excellence, adaptability, and drive required to build a category-leading radiology company from lab to scaleup. It was an absolute pleasure working with this ambitious group of professionals and supporting them from day one. We wish the team all the best for their new adventure with 4DMedical and extend a special thanks to Florian Resch for driving this investment forward! 👇 Full announcement link pinned in the comments below.