Contact us:
CyanoGuard AG
Badenerstrasse 790
8048 Zürich
Switzerland
Based in Switzerland, we manufacture and provide the best solution for safe and efficient cyanide monitoring and management.
We are on a mission to make the world's largest industry– mining to become more sustainable and efficient. Our reliable, user-friendly, real-time cyanide monitoring solution offers mining companies a way to minimize toxic reagent usage, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improve precious metal recoveries. Ultimately, we want to empower everyone to make analytical chemistry decisions with our device – from blood testing to food applications and everything in between.
On August 4, 2016, CyanoGuard AG was born. But the road to its birth had started before, although it was not always so linear. From an early age, the Founder Benedikt Kirchgaessler, had a particular interest in chemistry. However, he decided to do something that he believed to be more practical at the time and pursued a degree in Business and Finance. After working in investment banking for a few years, he decided to switch and started studying chemistry at the University of Zurich. That is where he met Prof. Dr. Felix Zelder.
Despite being a first-year student, Felix decided to take a chance on Benedikt and put him in a challenging, hands-on research project involving a novel cyanide sensing compound. Focusing on ending cyanide poisoning caused by the consumption of cassava plants, Benedikt first considered creating a social enterprise and working with an NGO in that field. This way, cassava eaters could test cyanide levels and avoid unintentional poisoning. He got the necessary funding to create new prototypes for his device by joining and winning a few competitions.
On one fateful day, however, he was contacted by a mine in Peru that was disappointed with the currently available technologies to measure cyanide accurately as none of them were able to measure their cyanide levels. They asked CyanoGuard to develop a technology to better monitor and optimize their cyanide consumption and, the rest they say, is history.
2015
CyanoGuard wins an award at the ETH Entrepreneur Club Competition.
2015
CyanoGuard wins the first stage of the Venture Kick program.
2016
CyanoGuard is selected for the first MassChallenge cohort.
Benedikt Kirchgaessler is the founder and CEO of CyanoGuard AG. He started his studies in biochemistry and biotechnology at the University of Zurich, where he founded CyanoGuard. Before this, he obtained a degree in business & finance from Hochschule München and ESG Paris and worked in investment banking at UniCredit in Munich.
Benjamin holds a PhD in energy from EPFL and an engineering degree from the University of Stuttgart. He's worked at corporation and startup environments such as General Electric and Climeworks. He has over 13 years of experience in engineering groundbreaking solutions and driving disruptive technology innovation.
Alex is Founding Partner at Wingman Ventures, a Zurich-based venture capital fund, and has many years of experience working with B2B technology startups and supporting their founder teams as a strategic sparring partner and by serving on their Boards of Directors.
William is Chief Investment Officer at QdN Partners Family Office. He has more than 20 years of experience working in private equity, venture capital, and strategic consulting in North America, Europe, and Asia.
CyanoGuard AG
Badenerstrasse 790
8048 Zürich
Switzerland