CHF 150k · Other round · Hardware · Zurich, Switzerland
RAROG, the Zurich engineering startup building a portable detector for search-and-rescue teams, has received CHF 150k in funding from Venture Kick. The company will use the support to finish product development during live pilots, complete CE marking, manufacture its first batch and prepare for market entry.
Turning devices people already carry into rescue signals
RAROG's system detects radio signals emitted by smartphones, smartwatches, fitness trackers and other personal electronics. It does not depend on a functioning mobile network or an external communications system, which matters in remote terrain and disaster zones where coverage may be absent, overloaded or damaged.
The product changes one part of the search problem: missing people do not need to buy, carry or activate a dedicated beacon. Their everyday electronics become signals that rescue teams can look for directly. Venture Kick says the detector can operate through vegetation, fog, snow and rubble, although field performance figures and detection ranges have not been disclosed publicly.
The customer is the rescue organisation rather than the person being found. RAROG is piloting the technology in mountain-rescue settings in Ireland's Wicklow Mountains and the Swiss Alps, and plans to address firefighters, civil-protection units and other emergency services. Those deployments give the team environments in which to refine the device, but the commercial test is whether it can work reliably across different terrain, weather, radio conditions and operating procedures.
From pilot signal to field equipment
The CHF 150k has a tightly defined job: complete the product, secure CE marking and fund an initial manufacturing batch. Each step moves RAROG from an engineering demonstration toward equipment that emergency organisations can procure and carry into real operations.
That transition depends on more than detecting a signal in a controlled test. Rescue teams need predictable range and direction-finding, durable hardware, simple training and dependable support. Certification and first-batch production can establish a sellable product, while successful pilots must produce enough operational evidence for buyers to trust it in time-critical work.
RAROG is led by CEO Alexander Marinšek, COO Uroš Hudomalj and CTO Marko Hudomalj. The team is using Venture Kick funding to grow alongside product development. The next milestone is not simply another pilot: it is turning field feedback into a standard device and deployment process that can be repeated across rescue organisations.
Explore this theme
Industrial robotics is a deployment problem, not just an AI challenge — EUVC · 15 October 2026. The article's cross-industry test of reliability, installation and repeatable hardware delivery also applies to emergency-response equipment, where performance has to survive uncontrolled environments.
Sources checked:
Venture Kick · RAROG · Tech.eu Funding Explorer · startup.ch
