New Year, New investments: EIT Health-accelerated start-ups from Italy and Romania gain funds

Recently three promising teams, SurgiQ (Italy), PatchAI (Italy) and .lumen (Romania) which took part in last year’s EIT Health programmes have just announced obtaining funds in total amount of €3,1 mln.

SurgiQ, an Italian start-up received mentoring and financial support in the EIT Health Headstart programme 2020 now closed a €410 000 seed round for further developing their innovation, the Q-planner, an automated, artificial intelligence-based tool. The solution is developed to save hospitals time and reach a more efficient allocation of their assets. The seed round was led by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, the largest Italian institutional investor, and has been followed by a number of private healthcare entrepreneurs under the guidance of Michele Nicchio, the president of AIOP Giovani, the young entrepreneurs chapter of the National Association of Private Healthcare providers. SurgiQ has raised approximately €1 million investment altogether in the last 4 years from a mix of sources, including healthcare entrepreneurs.

Another successful Italian example is PatchAI, a start-up that aims to improve clinical research through its focus on patient engagement. The team closed a €1,7 million round this January, divided into two tranches led by UV Cap and SFEM Italia, joined by a follow-on investment from Healthware Ventures. PatchAI’s solution aims to transform clinical research with an emphatic virtual assistant to engage patients involved in clinical trials and keep them informed and supported. The start-up achieved third place in the EIT Health Catapult competition in 2020 and was the finalist of the EIT Health InnoStars Awards in 2019.

.lumen, a Romanian start-up, which builds glasses that use advanced robotics technology to help the visually impaired to navigate has attracted over $1 million in investment rounds last year. The organization, which was granted in the EIT Health Headstart programme 2020 has tripled in size in the last few months and is expected to increase to over 100 employees by the end of this year.

“We get really proud when we hear that EIT Health accelerated start-ups attract new investments – this is the proof that their solutions are well developed and needed, especially during these unprecedented times. It is great to know that we have helped them to embark on this journey and this is definitely the silver lining for our 2020 efforts and the perfect motivation for 2021” –  says Inês Matias, Business Creation Manager at EIT Health InnoStars.

Let’s hope 2021 continues this way for as many start-ups as possible!

Check 2021 EIT Health’s opportunities here.