EIT Health nominates outstanding healthcare innovators for prestigious EIT Awards 2019

Recognizing Europe’s successful start-ups, innovative projects and entrepreneurial talents

EIT Health’s nominees for the EIT Awards 2019 have promising innovations:  A wireless, contactless system for unobtrusive home monitoring of patients while they sleep; a system to help children with type 1 diabetes use a chield-friendly artificial pancreas; a solution to improve reliability in managing cancer biopsy samples; and an AI-powered rehabilitation innovation helping stroke patients recover more quickly and efficiently.

The innovators behind these ideas will represent EIT Health in the EIT Awards, which celebrate exceptional achievements of members of the EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities.

The EIT Awards give recognition and support to Europe’s successful start-ups, innovative projects and entrepreneurial talents. They are among the most prestigious awards for innovation in Europe, and EIT Health nominees have been very successful in the competition: In 2018, EIT Health nominees won three of the five awards. In 2017, projects supported by EIT Health won three of the four EIT Awards.

This year’s nominees will be looking to repeat EIT Health’s excellent performance when the EIT Awards ceremony is held in Budapest, Hungary, on 15 October 2019 during the EIT’s annual Innovation Forum INNOVEIT.

The nominees are:

• EIT Venture Award: Max Sieghold, Sleepiz
• EIT Innovators Award: Marc Julien, Diabeloop D4Kids
• EIT Woman Award: Maria Sievert
• EIT Change Award: Kristaps Krafte

Below is more detail about the nominees.

EIT Venture Award

The EIT Venture Award recognises successful start-ups and scale-ups that have been supported by the EIT’s Innovation Communities through dedicated business creation and acceleration programmes. EIT Health’s 2019 nominee for this award is:

Sleepiz (EIT Health Germany): Using wireless signals, their device measures vital signs without touching the patient – enabling non-contact home diagnosis of sleep apnoea and other sleeping disorders. Currently, diagnosis of sleep disorders involve a patient sleeping overnight in a hospital, attached to more than 30 cables and being monitored all night by a technician. This is costly, consumes time of medical professionals, and it requires patients to sleep in an unfamiliar place, rather than their own bed, where their sleep will be more natural and typical.

Sleepiz was the winner of the Digital category EIT Health’s European Health Catapult contest.

“Through EIT Health, Sleepiz has been able to generate visibility among the medical community. This has not only strengthened the network to clinics and partners, but has also supported the fundraising process. Furthermore, working with EIT Health has increased the trust in Sleepiz as a brand and helped the company in building its innovative image,” said Max Sieghold, Sleepiz cofounder and CFO.

Find out more about Sleepiz here:

• EIT health interview with the Sleepiz team
• Coverage of their European Health Catapult win
• Sleepiz online
• See a video about Sleepiz

EIT Innovators Award

The EIT Innovators Award recognises teams from EIT Innovation Communities that develop high-impact products and services for a sustainable future. EIT Health’s 2019 nominee for this award is:

Diabeloop D4Kids (EIT Health France): Developed an automated type 1 diabetes management solution aimed specifically at helping children with diabetes live life to the fullest while making it easier for their families and carers to manage the disease. The project develops a kid-friendly version of Diabeloop’s “artificial pancreas”, a system of wearables that automatically monitors and controls blood sugar, administering insulin as needed – so that people with severe type 1 diabetes can live more independently.

“Firstly, EIT Health has helped us refine and improve our project during its design,” said Marc Julien, Co-CEO of Diabeloop. “Although they judged our application very favourably, they helped us identify weaknesses that we subsequently addressed in the final version of the project. Secondly, EIT Health helped us tap into its vast network of partners across Europe to ramp up our communication and make ourselves known.”

Find out more about them here:

• Diabeloop 4Kids page on EIT Health’s website
• EIT Health Success Story about D4Kids maker: Diabeloop
• Diabeloop website

EIT Woman Award

The EIT Woman Award recognises the outstanding achievements of women entrepreneurs and leaders from EIT Innovation Communities. EIT Health’s 2019 nominee for this award is:

Maria Sievert, CEO and Co-Founder of Inveox (EIT Health Germany): Inveox solves the single biggest problem and safety risk in histopathology by introducing the world’s first automation system for sample entry. By using big data and Artificial Intelligence, Inveox is making cancer diagnosis faster and safer. Inveox is digitalising pathology labs to strengthening the reliability of cancer diagnostics with products like an intelligent sample container for biopsies, a machine for automated sample entry, and a platform for communication between the physician and the pathology lab. The company was a winner of the EIT Health Headstart Award and a participant in the EIT Health GoGlobal programme.

“I decided to become more engaged with the EIT Health community because I think it’s important to help others succeed, especially future generations. I know that sounds a bit cliché, but it’s precisely in the word ‘community’ that you find the importance of being involved. We can accomplish more by working together, and therefore it’s more efficient to use the lessons of a community (instead of an individual) so we can push the boundaries of innovation together,” said Maria Sievert.

Find out more about Maria Sievert, and her company, here:

• Inveox website
• EIT Health Success Story
• EIT Health Headstart Award victory
• EIT Health GoGlobal participation
• Xing profile

EIT Change Award

The EIT Change Award recognises graduates of EIT education programmes who spur innovation and entrepreneurship, inspiring change for a sustainable future. EIT Health’s 2019 nominee for this award is:

Kristaps Krafte, CEO and Founder of Vigo (EIT Health Scandinavia): Vigo offers a rehabilitation guide that uses artificial intelligence to help people recover faster and more efficiently from a stroke by providing therapeutic guidance, practical assistance and tools based on cognitive behavioural therapy in a smartphone interface. Kristaps Krafte is a graduate from the EIT Health Master Innovation in Healthcare (IHC), an EIT Health degree programme with the EIT Label.

“EIT Health and the EIT Health Alumni network constantly provide great opportunities for young entrepreneurs and start-ups and they’ve helped me with pitch training, regulatory workshop, access to medical and participating at technology conferences (like Frontiers Health or MedtecLIVE),” Kristaps Krafte said. “Since completing my Master’s I have remained very active in the EIT Health Alumni network.”

Find out more about Kristaps Krafte and his company here:

• Coverage of his visit to MedTecLive
• Vigo website