CHF 50,000 · Grant · Hardware · Geneva, Switzerland
Roofless Labs has received CHF 50,000 through Geneva's FIF Seed Tech programme to move its K4MERA camera towards industrialisation. The grant will support preparations for commercial launch and the startup's intellectual-property strategy, according to the Greater Geneva Bern area announcement.
Founded in Geneva in 2025, Roofless Labs is developing a compact digital camera that produces wigglegrams: short looping images that create a sense of depth by switching between viewpoints. K4MERA combines four 12-megapixel camera modules, synchronises and calibrates their output on the device, and automatically generates the effect within seconds. The original images remain available, while a companion app is intended to let users adjust focus, speed and lighting.
Turning a visual effect into a dedicated camera workflow
The product is positioned as a modern alternative to multi-lens film cameras such as the Nishika and Nimslo. Those cameras can capture the viewpoints needed for a wigglegram, but film development, scanning and manual alignment make the result slow and difficult to reproduce. Roofless Labs says its integrated hardware and software pipeline handles the capture and processing in one device, without cloud processing, a subscription or generative AI.
That distinction is commercially important. The company is not merely selling another camera body; it is trying to turn a specialist editing workflow into a repeatable creative tool. On-device generation offers creators an immediate result, while retaining the source images leaves room for more deliberate post-production. If the system performs consistently outside controlled demonstrations, the combination could broaden the format beyond enthusiasts willing to assemble it manually.
Industrialisation is the next test
K4MERA is not yet generally available. The company's FAQ says the product remains under development, and its website describes the current design as still being refined. Roofless Labs reports that its free waitlist is full and that the refundable CHF 10 deposit places for a first production run have been taken, but it explicitly says those deposits are not pre-orders and gives no release date.
The funding therefore arrives at a transition point rather than after commercial scale has been established. Moving from a working concept to a manufacturable camera will require a stable design, reliable component sourcing and repeatable calibration across four sensors. The FIF grant is modest beside those demands, but its focus on industrialisation, launch preparation and IP matches the immediate work needed to test whether K4MERA can become a dependable product rather than a compelling prototype.
Sources checked:
Greater Geneva Bern area · K4MERA · K4MERA FAQ · Tech.eu Funding Explorer
