Avogen Tech, a Valais-based start-up founded by two chemical engineers, is developing a new type of electronic cigarette that uses water instead of traditional glycerin-based liquids. After four years of research and development, the company is preparing to raise funds to launch its innovative product, which is less harmful to health than traditional e-cigarettes.
The story of Avogen Tech, currently based at the technological site of BioArk in Monthey, began with a technical question. “We were trying to understand why there was no water in traditional e-cigarettes,” explains Yannick Gendre, co-founder of the start-up. The answer lies in the boiling technology used in conventional e-cigarettes: water causes corrosion of the coils and the water vapor burns the lungs.
Faced with this observation, the two chemical engineers took up the challenge. They developed an aqueous liquid formulation with or without nicotine, as well as a new technology for generating an aqueous aerosol. “Our technology and formulation are not compatible with existing e-cigarettes,” says Yannick Gendre.
A product with multiple benefits
For users, this innovation offers several advantages: a more intense flavor thanks to the water, no need to change the wick, and a product that is less irritating and more moisturizing. But the major advantage lies in the product’s safety.
“E-cigarettes generate about 100 times fewer carcinogens than tobacco, but they still generate some. By design and according to our initial measurements, which need to be confirmed, our technology does not generate any carcinogenic by-products,” emphasizes Yannick Gendre. The start-up is primarily targeting smokers and vapers who want to combine pleasure with limited health impact.
Marketing in sight
After more than four years of research, development, and prototyping, Avogen Tech is in the final phase of product development, at the pre-industrialization prototype stage. The startup took advantage of the latest Foire du Valais to conduct a series of consumer tests at the Espace Innothèque in order to validate its hypotheses and make modifications for the next version.
“Following these tests, we want to raise funds to launch production and marketing of the product,” says Yannick Gendre. To carry out this ambitious project, the company has received support from CimArk, Innosuisse, and Platinn for the production of the first prototypes and research into the patentability of their invention.
