European Health Catapult Digital Health Semifinal Winners selected

Seven start-ups will pitch at the EIT Health Summit

Seven start-ups were chosen to go on to the finals after the last of the three European Health Catapult (EHC) Semifinals. The part focusing on digital health, was held in Erlangen, Germany on 8-10 October 2018 and jointly organised by EIT Health Germany and Medical Valley EMN e.V. Eleven excellent start-ups participated in a two-day intensive training working on strengthening their value proposition and their pitching talents.

Pictured right: Sleepiz – One of the seven Digital Health Finalists

On the third day, the EHC start-ups delivered a pitch in front of an expert and investor jury and around 100 participants from the investors and business representatives side. In total, the eleven Digital Health Catapult Semifinalists asked for approximately €43 million for future investments.

In the afternoon, the start-ups had the opportunity to network and establish further connections with investors and health industry representatives. Around 50 one-on-one meetings between the start-ups and investors had been pre-scheduled, much more initialised during the event.

A key note was given by Sramana Mitra, head of 1Mby1M Incubator. She announced a partnership between EIT Health and 1Mby1m Incubator. Each of the digital health semifinalists will get the opportunity to take part for three months in the 1Mby1M Incubator programme.

Finally, the EHC investor jury selected seven digital health start-ups to go through to the finals of the European Health Catapult competition which will be held during the EIT Health Summit on 3-5 December 2018, in Lodz, Poland. There they will be joined by Biotech and Medtech start-ups and all the finalists will pitch their innovations to compete for recognition, the attention of investors and prizes worth a total of €135 000.

The 2018 EHC Digital Health Semifinal Winners:

Consense Data Exchange (EIT Health BeNe):

One-stop-shop for informed consent in medical research – At Consense we understand the importance of data privacy and good data practices in scientific research. Therefore we are building a platform where individuals express their preferences for data sharing and are matched to the right researchers. Individuals and are then streamlined into a personalised informed consent collection process which stores an immutable integrity proof of participant’s understanding.

The benefit for participants is less hassle and more control. The benefit for researchers is lower cost and improved auditability of consent forms in case of an inspection from regulatory bodies.

FeetMe (EIT Health France):

Improve mobility outcomes and home rehabilitation through smart active wearable technology – Loss of mobility is a growing unmet medical need, 100 million people are suffering from mobility disorders worldwide. FeetMe has a mission to simplify and accelerate therapeutic and rehabilitation evaluations through continuous real life mobility assessment.

FeetMe Monitor is a connected insole and an associated mobile software that collects and analyze gait spatio-temporal parameters and variability in real life thanks to embedded smart algorithms and wireless connection. Our solution is sold to pharma companies for clinical trials, or to hospital and rehabilitation centers for mobility assessment and gait training and to patients for home rehabilitation.

iBreve (EIT Health UKI):

The wearable that helps people with stress, anxiety and chronic respiratory diseases by analysing breathing patterns – Founded by two former Google employees, iBreve’s vision is to create a world free of stress related diseases. Chronic stress is linked to heart disease as well as mental health disorders. iBreve’s digital health solution is able to prevent stress in an early phase by correlating breathing patterns, activity and stress level in real time.

With the help of machine learning iBreve suggests personalised treatment with clinically proven relaxation exercises. iBreve won several innovation challenges, received funding for its dedication to sustainability and got featured in large newspapers around the world.

Kinesis Health Technologies (EIT Health UKI):

Proven tools for falls risk assessment – Kinesis Health Technologies are an award winning falls prevention company, a leader in digital health. Falls are a major global healthcare challenge, 30% of adults over 65 years of age fall each year, with one in five dying within 12 months and one in three never returning home after a fall-related hip fracture.

We strongly believe in the power of prevention and are dedicated to engaging and empowering older adults to reduce falls in order to live longer, healthier and independent lives. Kinesis has developed proprietary technologies that are used to Screen, Assess and Intervene and work with health and social care teams around the world to prevent falls among older adults.

Sleepiz (EIT Health Germany):

Non-contact clinical grade home diagnosis of sleep apnea – Sleepiz AG is a Swiss start-up by graduates from ETH Zurich and St. Gallen (HSG), backed by leading hospitals. Around one billion people suffer from sleep apnea and more than 80% are undiagnosed! If untreated, it leads to heart failure, diabetes, accidents and productivity loss.

The state of the art demands hospitalisation, full-night supervision with 30+ cables. As a result, doctors are requesting more efficient screening solutions without compromising reliability. Using wireless signals, our device measures vital signs without touching the patient – enabling non-contact home diagnosis of sleep apnea. Coupled with machine learning and secure cloud sharing, we empower doctors to diagnose efficiently.

Mindpax (EIT Health Germany):

Mindpax is the new digital medicine company in the psychiatric field developing a monitoring system to predict severe mental health attacks – First positive results could be shown in a trial, screening schizophrenia patients. This basic system is currently integrated in clinical use in CZ. The underlying algorithm of this monitoring tool is the basis of the development of new digital markers for schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorders.

The marker will be generated of a longtime monitoring of sleep additionally to physical activity, measured by a sensor, and a questionnaire chronicling behavioral patterns. To identify clinically validated markers for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder Mindpax is preparing two clinical studies (CITADEL200 and BIPO50DE). In the next three years, Mindpax will need €3 million to finance the clinical studies for the identification and validation of the two new digital markers in addition to the CE-mark certification.

NeuroPsyAI (EIT Health Innostars):

Precision in Neuropsychiatry – NeuroPsyAI uses artificial intelligence to identify disease ‘signatures’ of neurodegenerative illnesses in conventional brain scans. As currently 1/3 of cases of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease are mis-diagnosed, this software-as-a-service allows for the timely detection of the two most common neurodegenerative illnesses, for an earlier and more accurate diagnosis (>90%), by clinicians and pharma companies.

As the right treatment can thus start earlier, disease progression is slowed and healthcare is more cost-effective. With a served market of 1.3 Million new patients every year (US and EU), and a highly scalable technology, NeuroPsyAI promises to revolutionize mental healthcare.

About European Health Catapult:

The EHC is a training and competition programme, jointly organised by EIT Health. It awards the best-of-the-best business concepts from MedTech, Biotech and Digital Health across Europe.

During the two-day Semifinals, 42 European high-profile health start-ups are teamed up with mentors (i.e. experienced entrepreneurs, investors, experts in the field) to optimise the companies’ business plan and provide intensive pitch training in order to improve the start-ups’ ability to perform a funding roadshow in front of top-level seed or A series Investors.

The Semifinal is closed during the third day of a public event when the start-ups will meet investors and industry representatives and seven of them will be selected to participate in the EHC Finals during the EIT Health Summit in December 2018.

For further enquiries contact:

• Matteo Consonni, matteo.consonni@eithealth.eu