Nine start-ups win pitch finals for InnoStars HS/PoC grants

€330 000 in grants given to EIT Health Headstart/Proof of Concept winners

Nine start-ups won grants of up to €50 000 in the 5 July finals of EIT Health Headstart/Proof of Concept pitch competition, held in Brussels at EIT’s offices.

Twelve innovative healthcare start-ups from Innostars countries were competing in three categories (medtech/biotech/digital health) and presented their business to an international jury composed of business experts and high level representatives of EIT Health InnoStars industry partners, such as GE Healthcare and CelonPharma. The top three applicants in each category were awarded with valuable grants for business development and international market expansion. First prize was €50 000, second prize €35 000 and third prize €25 000.

The event also served as the first stage of European Health Catapult competition, and the best two applicants in each category proceeded to stage two bootcamps, as part of that competition, which will culminate with finals in the December EIT Health Summit in London.

The following companies were winners of the 5 July event:

Biotech:

• 1st prize: Lifetag – developing a brand-new diagnostic kit for gut permeability
• 2nd prize: NoMicro technology – offering increased healing of the wound along with prevention of microbial infection in wound
• 3rd prize: Pertinet – producing a novel class of cell culture dishes able to control and guide stem cell fate

Medtech:

• 1st prize: ICan Robotics – producing homecare neurorehabilitation robots for stroke patients allowing the administration of intensive therapeutic protocols, in the form of interactive and stimulating games, while strengthening residual motor ability
• 2nd prize: Quantbio – increasing the success rate of Iin vitro fertilization by providing molecular tools for the better characterization of the endometrium and by predicting the “implantation window”
• 3rd prize: Neurab – developing an innovative device for neuropsychological rehabilitation addressed to patients
  with acquired brain damages

Digital health:

• 1st prize: dr Pocket – producing HealthPoint devices that dispense medications, vitamins and supplements without the package in a medicine cup for an immediate use
• 2nd prize: MedSimTech – developing and commercializing advanced medical simulators, especially in the training of cardiologists
• 3rd prize: AssisTech – developing C-Eye, a unique eye tracking system for the objective evaluation of patients with neurological and developmental disorders

For further enquiries please contact peter.nagy@eithealth.eu